Barack Obama compared Mitt Romney to Jeremy Lin

Linsanity was at its peak, with Jeremy Lin lighting teams up. He'd just come off a couple explosive performances, including a 38-point outburst against the Lakers.

But he and the Knicks were headed to Miami for a true test. The Heat's defense was the best in the league and had the chops to give Lin fits. What ended up happening? Lin went 1-of-11 from the floor and turned it over eight times. The Heat completely ate him alive.

What does this have to do with anything? Via the New York Times:

No matter what moves Mr. Romney made, the president said, he and his team were going to cut him off and block him at every turn. “We're the Miami Heat, and he's Jeremy Lin,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide.

Funny how things change. A year ago, comparing yourself to the Miami Heat would be like comparing yourself to Lex Luther. They were the bad guys, the people everyone was rooting against. Now they're champs so it's all good.

But what was the president going for? I like Dave Zirin from The Nation's explanation: "Both Romney and Jeremy Lin went to Harvard, are overpaid, and can't go left?"

The president is trying to say, I think, that they've got a counter to everything, that they're going to stop every Romney move and trap him at every turn. I think.