Barack Obama and Sarah Palin seem to have much in common: youth, charisma, lack of foreign policy experience, upbringings in the nation’s two newest states… and basketball.

Obama played for the Panuahou School in Hawaii, named by Sports Illustrated recently as the most domimant high school sports program in the nation. Palin graduated from Wasilla (Alaska) High, where she was a feisty point guard known as "Sarah Barracuda." She helped the team win the Alaska small-school hoops title in 1982, hitting a crucial free throw in the waning seconds despite having an ankle stress frature.

Next month, Palin and Joe Biden will square off in a vice presidential debate. Already the handicappers are declaring it a mismatch. Newsweek recently quoted an unnamed Republican operative who suggested half-jokingly that Palin’s best strategy might be to cede her time to Biden. The GOP strategists are afraid of a repeat of 1988, when Lloyd Bentsen dressed down the inexperienced Republican VP candidate Dan Quayle with his "Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy" remark.

Given Biden’s two episodes of plagiarism, as a Democratic presidential hopeful in 1988 and as a law student at Syracuse, it seems Palin’s strategy should be simple. The first time Biden attacks, she need only respond, "That’s a good line, Senator. Whom did you borrow it from?"

Some journalists are biased against Biden because there’s no greater sin in the profession than plagiarism. It’s a single-sanction firable offense. You copy someone else’s work without attribution, you’re done. Biden, though, seems to carry no baggage from these two episodes. Journalists also could be partial to Palin because she once aspired to be a sports broadcaster.

Which brings us to Obama, who likes to fancy himself as an ex-jock who still enjoys mixing it up under the boards. Obama downplays the fact that he has smoked cigarettes for years; he’s apparently using nicotine gum to kick the habit, which is a good thing for a guy who might have to dictate healthcare policy and attack the obesity epidemic. Regardless of what kind of game Obama once had, if he’s been chewing on cancer sticks for the last two decades, it’s going to show.

That’s why Palin should challenge him to a game of one-on-one. Let it coincide with the opening of NBA training camps. They could team with Biden and John McCain and make it two-on-two, but it’s probably best to let the old guys stay on the sidelines.

Nothing against the Panuahou School, but the competition Palin faced in Alaska probably was much stiffer. The wonderful book Eagle Blue by Michael D’Orso chronicled a high school basketball season in Arctic Alaska. Between the weather, travel, and tough upbringings many kids in Alaska face, high school hoops is brutal, more like rugby on hardwood. The photos that have surfaced of Palin playing basketball show her on the floor battling for balls. The picures of Obama show him taking uncontested layups.

In the next two months, much will be made of Obama and Palin’s inexperience, with good reason. If sports is truly the biggest test of character, as many believe, maybe we should let basketball be a factor.

After all, many believe the 2000 election was decided in court. In 2008, perhaps it should be decided on it.