To be fair, Favreau has also likened the job to being Ted Williams' hitting coach. That's not to say he isn't talented. Just that he's already working with someone so gifted it may not matter who his coaches are so long as they know when to get out of the way.
You raise a good point. Obama probably likes having someone so young and inexperienced writing his speeches. There's no ego to deal with. If Obama's speechwriter thought he was a better writer than Obama, there'd be problems.
Jon was a friend of a friend when I was in college. Very sharp guy. He was working in Washington for another senator a couple years ago. That is where he met Obama.
Jon also worked on the Deval Patrick campaign for governor in Massachusetts, too. Jon wrote his speeches, too.
