Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star and veteran football commentator for ABC Sports, is expected to declare his candidacy for Pennsylvania governor Wednesday. Lynn Swann is apparently leaving ABC Sports to run as a Republican for the governor of Pennsylvania. Swann planned to open a three-day tour of the state at a rally in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, before flying to similar events in six other cities - Erie, Altoona and Scranton on Thursday, and Philadelphia, Allentown and Lancaster on Friday. Aides declined to confirm the purpose of the tour, but Swann's political committee - Team 88, named after the number on the former wide receiver's football jersey - has been raising money for 11 months. Swann also has billed himself as a prospective candidate as he has courted GOP activists across the state. "It might be easy to assume" the subject of Swann's announcement, acknowledged his campaign spokeswoman, Melissa Walters, who also referred to the upcoming flyover as an "announcement tour." Swann, 53, will be the latest Republican hopeful to make his candidacy official. Already declared are former Lt. Gov. William Scranton III, state Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola and retired business advocate Jim Panyard. http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5218282 Well, He's already got the western half of the state wrapped up. I mean the only way he could lose Pittsburgh is if Bradshaw himself ran. He's got a ton of experience with the media and already has a hero status in Pennsylvania. Should be an interesting race.
Why do so many pro athletes enter politics as Republicans? I would expect it to be an even mix of Dems and Reeps but the GOP seems to have caught the eye of pro athletes. Does this happen with European and South American soccer stars too? By the way, the article states that Gov. Rendell leads Swann and Scranton by more than ten points in recent polls. Also, according to this article, the Republican majority leader, State Rep. Sam Smith, mentioned that Swann is "articulate".
Health Schuler is running for Congress as a Democrat. We'll have to see whether Swann's popularity translates into a congressional seat. Remember the abortive "Draft Ditka" campaign for Senate in Illinois?
His talents are better served peddling rogue football video games. Plus I can't get past the diamond LT earring he still wears.
Why stick with football? What about SOCCER folks....SOCCER The successful coach of our US Team-Bruce Arena-could be President. I'm starting his campaign right here, with this post. I believe the kind of leadership he shows with his soccer teams is the kind of leadership we need in our Commander in Chief.
So, what are Swannie's positions? I'm not surprised a rich and famous guy is running as a reep. I just wonder if he's closer to the Santorum wing or the Specter wing.
Phil Simms once noted that football players more than any athletes he has known, "want to be lead." And I think there is something to that and the makeup of future pols who come from sport and register as Republicans. I think some ex-jocks are also swayed by their own achievments-they see them coming from a combination of individualism, hard work, and discipline-which can easily be folded into the standard GOP mantra. There is also the "God Squad" element that is now a part of many US pro sport dressing rooms. I expect some of the more articulate and high profile Christian athletes in US sport to pop up as potential GOP candidates in the future.
Yeah. I think it has to do with being a group of peole who come to wealth from what they percieve to be their own hard work. People like that often end up being fairly conservative because they either concsciously or subconsciously assume others could and should do the same.
By the way, based upon a few second-hand comments I've heard about Arena's view of Howard Dean and Vermonters, I'm guessing he leans to the right.
Well, if the Republicans AREN'T less serious about gvt., then why do they want to privatize so many things? Why is it the Dems who, for example, want to interfere in the market with a minimum wage? Why is it the Dems who favor universal health care? It's ok to be a prick*, nice, but when you argue against tautalogies you're an ignorant prick, which is a bad combination. *not a personal attack since his sig shows he's proud of being one.
Jesus ********ing Christ dave, its because they see government differently, not becaue they're "less serious" about it. BECAUSE THEY SEE THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT DIFFERENTLY. Here's the next superdave post - fat kids take food more seriously because they eat more of it. You used to be a decent poster dave. I rather miss those days. Now you're reduced to calling people liars, racists, arguing that Everton are a "top team" and a "bottom 8 team" at the same time and posting this nonsense, which qualifies you for the Fox News Objectivity Award.
You used to be a good poster till I reduced you to a vein-bulging strawman builder on the Premiership boards. Well, actually, that's not true, but I'm being nice. It's incoherent to say that the party that wants a smaller gvt. and fewer gvt. programs is as serious about gvt. as the party that wants a bigger gvt. and more gvt. programs. Literally incoherent. How's this for a food analogy? Chefs are more serious about food than a grocer. The former wants food to work as food, the latter sees food merely as product.
I think a better analogy would be the pizza guy from Brooklyn and the pizza guy from Orange County. Both are serious about their pie. The pizza guy from Brooklyn thinks that the role of pizza is to taste like pizza, so he uses 3 ingredients. He believes that using anything else is not a correct way to make a pie. The pizza guy from Cali will put all sorts of extra ingredients on because it's in the best interest to represent as many flavors as you can in one slice. Republicans are very serious about certain components of the government while believeng that many are extranious and should go away. Well, traditionally. Not the crop we have in office now.
Which is my whole point. You didn't see so many celebrities running in the 70s. But it's not the Democrats who came up with the "joke," "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." It's not the Democrats whose most recent hero said, "Government isn't the solution, it's the problem." It's not the Democrats who have as one of their leading strategists a man who says he wants to make gvt. so small you can drown it in a bathtub. And even the inevitable rebuttal, Clinton's "the era of big government is over," was a tactical move, not a philosophical one. There's a movement called conservatarian. You're one. There's not a movement called liberalitarian.
I agree with both you and Superdave. Yeah, they're wealthy and "self-made," which makes it more likely that they would be a Republican. But it's also true that anyone who thinks that a WR or Nascar driver (or mediocre son of ex-President) is qualified for a serious governmental position just doesn't take government all that seriously.
No, you're being thick. That board is your ego at work. You are completely wrong. Every single poster there, American or English, most of whom know English and European football far better than you do, have told you that you're wrong. Yet you persist with this nonsense. Give it up dave. You and Karl Keller deserve each other. Neither of you are capable of independent thought. No dave, it really isn't. Being serious does not mean wanting more. You truly think like a fat kid - if its not more, its not as good or as serious. What do libertarians have to do with this?