Eat it, Gore! Charles Barkley Endorses John Edwards!

[robsul82]

Watching Woodruff right now, apparently Sir Charles has come out and said Edwards is "the only candidate who floats my boat." Personally, I just think he's angling for a run in 2008.

Later.

RJS

[Forkboy]

1. Thanks for the Round Mound of Rebound's view

:)

[JohnKleeb]

2. I was under the impression Barkley was a republican

:shrug:

[Gringo]

3. He is a right-winger.

Shows how disillusioned the repugs are getting with their clown prince.

[_Jumper_]

10. Barkley is an independent

n/t

[Patriot_Spear]

12. yeah, just like Bill O'Reilly in an 'Independent'.

Sheesh.

[Bombtrack]

16. I don't think Bill O'Reillys favorite modern president is Bill Clinton

Barkley's is.

[_Jumper_]

18. O'Reilly was also a registered Republican

n/t

[jfxgillis]

39. Barkley tells a highly amusing story in his book ....

.... breaking the news to his Grandmother that he's a Republican.

Grandmother says, "Why Charles!! How can you do that?!? The Republicans are the party of the rich!!!"

Sir Charles replies, "Ah. Gran'ma. WE'RE RICH."

[tjdee]

45. He didn't say that on The Daily Show.

He said he didn't know HOW people thought he was a Republican, he just told his grandmother that they were rich.

He has NEVER ever said he was a Republican, AFAIK.

[_Jumper_]

17. When exactly did he say he was a Republican?

He has repeatedly denounced both parties and has stated that we need to vote based on ideas, not political labels.

[OhioStateProgressive]

52. and his ideas are ultra conservative

but I have a feeling that Sir Charles is one of those Populist Republicans, which in todays world, is a moderate Democrat

[JohnKleeb]

Gotcha

[Nomad559]

35. Independent

Barkley Is an Independent ... Video of Barkley on Real Time With Bill Maher

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/nomad559/Independent.wmv

[The_Counsel]

4. Charles Barkley?! He's Not Even A DEMOCRAT....!!!

Who's going to publicly endorse a candidate next? Ralph Nader? Jesse Ventura? Zell Miller?

Oh wait... Zell's already pulling for SmirkBoy. My bad... :eyes:

[meegbear]

5. Why he was ....

The New Jersey GOP "Dude-of-the-Week"

http://www.jerseygop.com/GOP-dude18.html

[SahaleArm]

6. Not very GOP of him.

On former NFL player Esera Tuaolo's revelation on HBO this week that he is gay:
"If you're happy, I'm happy for you. It's not just athletes that are hard on gay people, it's men in general cause men are insecure. I have a lot of gay friends--I don't wanna kiss 'em, but I love them!"

[meegbear]

7. I know ...

it's funny that they would list him as that. Gotta check the full archives and see who else has been damned with the label ...

GOP "Dude-of-the-Week"!

[Jerseycoa]

34. Thanks

I was wondering who this guy was.

[OhioStateProgressive]

56. actually Nader publicly endorsed Dennis again today(nt)

[Terwilliger]

8. ooooooooo

:eyes:

[Patriot_Spear]

9. Uuhhhhhhh- Barkley's a Republican, dude...

Whew.

[Bombtrack]

13. wrong again

he's an independant

[Carolina]

36. he's a jerk

and besides who gives a fig what he thinks

[_Jumper_]

14. He is non-partisan

The myth about him being a Republican comes from one comment he made to his mother. She was saying Republicans were for the rich and he said "mom, we're rich!". People interpreted that as him becoming a Republican.

[Bombtrack]

11. Already have a dozen ignorant false posts. Barkley is an independant

and if you have seen him interviewed recently he leans left consistently.

[JohnKleeb]

15. I am sorry for my error, I thought I heard he was planning to run

for governor of alabama as a republican. Nothing wrong with supporting Edwards, Edwards is a good guy.

[_Jumper_]

19. I've heard that often too

However, he debunked that in his book and during a TV appearance on Hardball.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Hmmm,

then I wonder at this:

"If Barkley were ever to run for political office—he's repeatedly threatened to run for governor of his native Alabama as a Republican—he'd be constrained by certain ideologies."

http://slate.msn.com/id/2074459/

Tho I don't think he's a right winger, he's definitely said in the past that he's a repub.

[LondonReign2]

20. That will secure Edwards the ex-NBAer vote

all 320 of them.

[_Jumper_]

21. At least Barkley does not have ulterior motives...

...like a certain other individual who recently made an endorsement and who wishes to run for president in 2008...

[LondonReign2]

31. You're spewing a RW talking point

Do you *honestly* believe Gore said to himself, "Well, if only I endorse a candidate that will lose in 2004, give the country to Chimpy for 4 more years, THEN I can run in 2008"?

Sour grapes, methinks.

[Military Brat]

54. Everyone who wishes to run for prez in 2008, no endorsements!

Is that what you're advocating? I guess Ms. Rodham-Clinton needs to stay out of this, too, then.

[Bombtrack]

24. If he were to campaign for him it could help in Arizona

that's 12 electoral votes the GOP is unprepared to lose.

[Patriot_Spear]

23. Barkley Buddies: Rush Limbaugh and Dan Qualye

Give it up guys...

http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/30/barkley/print.html

"Off the court, Barkley continued to evolve. He entered a Republican makeover phase. His worldview began to mature; he became more focused on class and less virulent on race. He also grew close to Rush Limbaugh and Dan Quayle (a frequent golf partner), dined with Clarence Thomas and endorsed Steve Forbes in the presidential primary."

[Bombtrack]

27. he has become alot more liberal in the last few years

if you saw him on Bill Maher's last episode of Real Time, you'd realize that. It probably has alot to do with the guy who helped him write the book, Michael Wilbon, is very left-liberal

[jfxgillis]

40. No, I give Barkley more credit than that.

And I've actually seen a similar conversion/re-conversion in a friend of mine.

At a certain level of success and education, libertarianism MAKES SENSE. When you go from dirt nothing to something through your own efforts (sometimes even against a system stacked against you), the notion that individualism is the road to success really and truly seems so obvious. And there is no sense disputing the fact that the GOP is the individual-liberty/lassiez faire party. Hence, it's natural to gravitate to the GOP.

But when you bump up to the NEXT level of enlightenment, you see that community counts too, not just the individual, and there's sense disputing the fact that the Democrats are the community/Social justice party. And that the system IS stacked. DESPITE the fact that a Charles Barkley here and there might beat it, most people can't beat it.

On the other hand, Michael Wilbon is fabulous. Just fabulous.

[Patriot_Spear]

25. Sports Illustrated: "Citizen Barkley... golf-playing black Republican"

"Citizen Barkley He's a trash-talking, leg-pulling, high-rolling, golf-playing black Republican who says whatever's on his mind and doesn't care what you think of him. Would you vote for him to be goveernor?"

Date: 03/11/2002 ;6.
Publication: Sports Illustrated ; Author: Jack McCallum

[KFC]

43. I wouldn't exactly call that golf

Butt-ugly swing and about a 40 handicap.

But he is a funny guy.

[Patriot_Spear]

26. JerseyGOP.com: Barkley GOP Dude of the Week

http://www.jerseygop.com/GOP-dude18.html

[Bombtrack]

29. JerseyGOP will call anybody they want a republican even if they aren't

you'd realize that if you saw there "babes" section, where any attractive female who's ever had a close to conservative position on one issue is labeled a conservative

[Patriot_Spear]

28. Booklist.com: "...Barkley's a Strident Republican"

Former NBA great Barkley was known for his candor and humor in the postgame locker room. Since his retirement, he's been a studio analyst for Turner Broadcasting's NBA coverage. The candor and humor have continued unabated along with Barkley asides on such topics as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as he munched a hamburger onscreen, the New York Knicks (he opined that ratings were bad because the lackluster Knicks were always on), and politics (he is a strident Republican). Be forewarned; in his autobiography (Outrageous, 1993), he insisted he was misquoted when asked about a particularly controversial statement. Topically he ranges far and wide here, touching on everything from growing up poor to Tiger Woods to the positives and negatives of celebrity to his own twisted sense of humor. And speaking of the latter, one of his standard lines at a party is to claim that nothing makes him more nervous than watching white people dance. This is fun reading peppered with common sense. When Barkley explains his Republican affiliation, part of his rationale is that black people in Mississippi (his home state) have been voting Democratic for generations yet are as far down the economic scale as ever. It's hard to argue with his logic. Barkley's celebrity commands interest, and rest assured there will be controversy associated with Barkley's opinions. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

[goodhue]

30. that's cool

Nice to see Barkley endorse a democrat since he has previously been pretty open about being a republican.

[littlejoe]

32. As a Dean supporter,

I'm very thankful that Barkley did not endorse my candidate.

[thebaghwan]

33. I'll settle what Barkley is. He's an A.H.

Anyone that would pay any attention to Charles Barkley is out of his f**king mind.

[West Coast Democrat]

37. He's Not A Republican

He's a Moderate Independent.

[kodi]

38. barkley should stick to endorsing deodorant

i watched him and listened to his big mouth since he was at auburn. he has the brains and class of a frozen dog turd.

if my son grew up to be like him i would shoot myself in embarassment.

[wyldwolf]

41. In Barkley's own words: NOT a republican!

MAHER: Now, we have – what I – what interests me about you three is what you have in common, and I guess I would be in there, too – is we’ve all gotten a lot of grief about something we’ve drawn or said or produced. People have gotten mad at us. People hate us. I know people who hate you. I know people who hate you. I know – they hate all of us. Some people hate all of us. And what is interesting, though, is that I’ve heard you’re a Republican—

BARKLEY: No.

MAHER: Come on, you said you were going to run for governor of Alabama as a Republican.

BARKLEY: No, I never said that. I was having a disagreement with my grandmother one day. She says, “You gotta vote Democratic.” I says – and she was explaining to me; she says, “Republicans only look out for rich people.” I says, “I’m rich!” So everybody thinks I’m a Republican because of that. I’m an independent.

http://www.safesearching.com/billmaher/print/t_hbo_realtime_092603.htm

HOWEVER...

Off the court, Barkley continued to evolve. He entered a Republican makeover phase. His worldview began to mature; he became more focused on class and less virulent on race. He also grew close to Rush Limbaugh and Dan Quayle (a frequent golf partner), dined with Clarence Thomas and endorsed Steve Forbes in the presidential primary. Though exit polls showed that his imprimatur sealed Forbes' primary win in Arizona in 1996, Barkley didn't necessarily sign on to any particular ideology.

He's become impossible to pigeonhole. He regularly lambastes liberalism, to the proud applause of Limbaugh and Quayle; two years ago, he told me, "Welfare gave the black man an inferiority complex. They gave us some fish instead of teaching us how to fish." In the next breath, though, he's liable to skewer 1994's Republican revolution as "mean-spirited" and denounce Pat Buchanan as a "neo-Nazi." A junkie of CNN's political gabfest "Crossfire," Barkley became convinced, after reading Jonathan Kozol's "Savage Inequalities," that the way we fund public schools -- through local property taxes -- is designed to produce good schools in good neighborhoods and run-down schools in run-down areas. "My daughter goes to a private school because I can afford it," he once told me, giving voice to his natural inclination toward populism. "But shouldn't everyone have great education available to them?"

http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/30/barkley/print.html

So draw your own conclusions...

[BackDoorMan]

42. Who the fuck is Charles Barkley?

A has been athlete, who never won a championship (As Scotty Pippin said, the fucker was too lazy.)

What sport did he (Barkley) play anyway, was it ice skating or golf?

[JVS]

44. This thread is both inflamatory and stupid

Also you provided no link.

[spooky3]

46. I love Charles Barkley. He's clever. I'm glad he likes John Edwards.

[Terwilliger]

47. Could you imagine if a Green had posted a thread saying "Eat it, Gore!"...

that we wouldn't be banned? I mean, please!!!

I don't understand all the sudden anger for Gore. Talk about disunity.

[evil_orange_cat]

48. Barkley... LOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOzl

ssorry but I can't stop laughing...

[Closer]

49. Dropping

a little treat in this thread

[Ksec]

50. Hes the guy who spits on referees

Or was that someone else?

[ramapo]

51. So? He's not so smart

Who cares who a Republican endorses. Besides when Barkley was on Jeopardy he couldn't even ring in. Got no answers (maybe one). Even missed a Michael Jordan question.

[mbali]

53. I'll bet

had he endorsed Dean, he'd be a genius.

:-)

[ramapo]

55. Still no

No, I'm really not too thrilled with the endorsements being tossed about