Most of their conversation centered on Barack Obama but at the end it turned to Barkley's own political ambition. Though he lives in Arizona, he has mentioned running for governor of his home state of Alabama.
Campbell Brown: So are you going to run for governor?
Charles Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.
Brown: You are serious.
Barkley: I am, I can't screw up Alabama.
Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?
Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere.
I'm not sure Charles Barkley would make a good chief executive. But if Minnesota can survive a Jesse Ventura administration, Alabama can make it through four years of Charles Barkley running Montgomery. And, man, would he be entertaining.
I wonder if his first official act would be to push for repeal of the state's proposed fat tax.
2 comments:
I've interviewed Barkley's mom on several occasions. They are far more in tune with what is happening than they are given credit for.
He was on local sports talk radio here about three months ago, and essentially said he wasn't going to run. He said he realized that no matter how much good he did, he would always be a distraction.
He said he wanted to do other things that were more meaningful, like bringing a Publix and a Gold's Gym and better retail options to Leeds.
I'm willing to bet that a track record of building business would do more to enhance his political resume than his track business has done to sully his reputation.
Barkley's certainly a bright guy. The question I'd have is whether he'd be willing to put the detail work into politics he'd need to succeed.
His frankness would cause him problems too. "We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere" is not exactly a campaign slogan.
But, hey, like Barkley earlier in the interview, I did not expect to see a black man elected President in my lifetime. That's about to happen. Could the Heart of Dixie be ready for a black governor only six years later?
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