http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_y...8vLYF?slug=ap-b
arkley-governor&prov=ap&type=lgns

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Former basketball star Charles Barkley says he's
switched political teams from Republican to Democrat and is again talking
about running for governor in his home state, possibly in 2010.

"I really believe I was put on Earth to do more than play basketball and
stockpile money," said Barkley, known as the Round Mound of Rebound. "I
really want to help people improve their lives, and what's left is for me to
decide how best to do that."

Barkley, a Leeds native who has been an NBA analyst with cable network TNT
since his 2000 retirement, has been talking about running for governor of
Alabama since he was playing with the Phoenix Suns in the 1990s. In 1995, he
said he was considering running in 1998 as a Republican, but that never
materialized.

Barkley continued to identify himself as a Republican until recently, when
he switched parties. "I was a Republican until they lost their minds," he
said earlier this month.

Barkley said his immediate goal is to get his 17-year-old daughter through
high school and into college. Then he plans to decide on his future,
including whether to run for governor.

"I say welcome Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley has been a Horatio Alger
story for many people, not only in sports but in business and broadcasting,"
Joe Turnham, Alabama's Democratic Party chairman, said Wednesday.

But Jim Seroka, a political science professor at Auburn University, said the
former Auburn basketball star is getting ahead of himself. "He doesn't have
any of the bases necessary to run a statewide campaign," Seroka said.

The head of the state GOP said she has no idea whether Barkley is serious
when talking about a future race for governor as a Democrat. "To be governor
requires more than a publicity stunt. It requires real leadership," said
Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh.

Barkley is eyeing a job that has had more than its share of scandal, with
criminal convictions against two of the last four people elected to the
office. Former Gov. Don Siegelman was convicted of government corruption
charges last month, and Guy Hunt was forced to step down as governor in 1993
when he was convicted of an ethics violation.

Barkley has been an idiot since the first day he ever opened his mouth...
Would it matter if he was Democrat or Republican? Not really outside of
political voting. He wouldnt win as a Democrat in Alabama. He has a huge
mouth and says stupid stuff all of the time. Furthermore, just because you
disagree with one party doesnt mean you suddenly change sides. It means you
become independent if youre serious. You don't just throw away conservative
or liberal values just because you disagree with the way a party is running
things. That's illogical.. Instead you define yourself in terms of
capitalistic, socialistic, moderate,etc...

This is just another mark for Barkley on the idiot board.


"s_knight8" <s_knight8nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eabrb8$4bp@dispatch.concentric.net...

"s_knight8" <s_knight8nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eabrb8$4bp@dispatch.concentric.net...

Twinkle? She sounds like she knows about publicity stunts. : )


So the odds are at least 50-50 that Chuckles can't be any worse than his
predecessors, eh?

Go Blazers !

That rules that Barkley is becoming a Democrat! I'd vote for him if I
lived there.

WAR IS TERRORISM

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 02:42:33 GMT, "*mavs*" <gomavz@gomavz.com> wrote:


Actually, you've got it backwards. You don't stick with a party that
has abandoned their values or gone too far with ideological extremism.
Ronald Reagan switched parties.

will(from the reality based community) wrote:

Right. Theodore Roosevelt started his own party, and his
"New Nationalism" philosophy is one to which I heartily
subscribe:

http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa...democrac/31.htm

-Johnny (Oh, for the presence of TR in the White House in
this time of crisis.)

On 27 Jul 2006 22:04:24 EDT, "s_knight8" <s_knight8nospam@hotmail.com>
wrote:


I would think that after the fiasco of this Bush administration
that any sane or self-respecting Republican would be thinking
about switching parties...to Democrat, to Independent, to
Libertarian, or basically to any party OTHER than the Republican
party today. It's either that, or trying to wrestle the party away
from the far-right loonies and the neo-conservatives that
have hijacked it over the last few years. Good luck with that.

No REAL Republican would have anything to do with today's
Republican party, since they have strayed so far away from the
core ideals of the true Republican party.

A great book on this subject is "Impostor: How George W. Bush
Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy" by
Bruce Bartlett (Reagan's former economics advisor and a lifelong
Republican). It illustrates just how far the Republican party has
strayed from it's core values...and it's quite far these days.

Good for Barkley (even though I still think the man is an idiot).



- Scott Smith: scott@sludgereport.org
Books Blog: http://scottsbooks.blogspot.com
Blue States Rising: http://www.bluestaterising.blogspot.com

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 02:42:33 GMT, "*mavs*" <gomavz@gomavz.com> wrote:


Actually, yes, that is exactly what it means.


Becoming Independent *is* changing parties.




- Scott Smith: scott@sludgereport.org
Books Blog: http://scottsbooks.blogspot.com
Blue States Rising: http://www.bluestaterising.blogspot.com

"S. Smith" <scott@sludgereport.org> wrote in message
news:b37kc2h07ojp8mmeveueg3jng0mpslm0cs@4ax.com...

Besides the fact that your analysis is flat ass wrong, you're in the wrong
group for your stupid comments.

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 09:20:20 -0600, "John" <John@earthlink.com> wrote:



Care to explain why my analysis is "flat ass wrong", Einstein?

Have you followed political news lately? Or within the last few
years?



- Scott Smith: scott@sludgereport.org
Books Blog: http://scottsbooks.blogspot.com
Blue States Rising: http://www.bluestaterising.blogspot.com