Barack Obama and Michael Vick Make Strange Political Bedfellows

When President Obama recently praised Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie for hiring convicted dog abuser Michael Vick when no one else would, was he channeling the spirit of the holiday season or laying political groundwork for the next election? I kept shaking my head when I first heard the story, wondering why in the world the president would choose Vick as his holiday example of giving people second chances when there have to be thousands of other stories of redemption and new leases on life that don't call up the issues of bloody dogfighting, animal cruelty, and special privilege that so often is bestowed on professional athletes.

According to reports of the phone call between the president and Lurie, Obama was pleased that the Eagles signed Vick because so few people get an opportunity to resume their jobs or professions after they get out of prison. There's no question that for most felons, getting a decent job after being released is a major challenge, especially in our current era of high jobless rates. For an already-high-profile NFL football player (who this year was elected to the Pro Bowl and could well lead his team to the Super Bowl), probably not so difficult.

So why praise the Eagles and Vick? Obama had to know there would be an outcry over whether a person who had committed such a despicable crime was worthy of laudatory mention, especially one who still has a multimillion-dollar career that 99.9 percent of convicted felons can only dream of. (That outcry hit its high point -- or perhaps its low point -- Tuesday when Tucker Carlson said on Fox News Channel that Vick should have been "executed.")

Obama's comments make more sense when viewed in the context of the 2012 election rather than Vick's story alone. First, Eagles owner Lurie contributed to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, but he donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign first. It's probably a safe bet that Obama is hoping for Lurie's support in 2012 -- financial and otherwise -- but history shows that his backing isn't in the bag. While contributions from Lurie would be helpful, the bigger factor in culling favor with the man who owns the Eagles can be summed up in three words -- Pennsylvania's electoral votes.

Obama knows he's got some serious work to do between now and November 2012 to beat back the Republicans who have announced that job No. 1 for them is to make sure that he joins George H.W. Bush in the White House one-termer club. Pennsylvania is a must-win, and in light of the 2008 midterms, the Keystone State is a toss up. Making inroads with some constituencies that didn't like Obama so much the last time around like, say, blue collar sports fans in a state with 20 electoral votes has to be high on the president's re-election "to do" list.

You might say this theory is a stretch and that Obama was merely extending a message of hope during the holiday season when he chose to make Michael Vick the new face of non-recidivists. But since Republicans have already said "game on" to Obama, everything the president does or says from now on must be calculated to achieve one goal -- a second term.

With that prize in mind, I think it's safe to say that President Obama wants to make sure that as many Philadelphia Eagles fans as possible remember that he was with their team and with their ex-con star quarterback when they were getting close to a possible Super Bowl appearance.

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