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Bradley shows off his fundraising 'team'
November 14, 1999
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley returned to his roots Sunday, assembling some of his Knicks teammates at Madison Square Garden at a fund-raiser. "I made my living on this hardwood for 10 years with a lot of the players who are here today," Bradley said on CNN's "Late Edition." "Why wouldn't you reach out to your friends? I'd be stupid if I didn't do that," Bradley said.
Among those friends was Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and a former Knick. Jackson said that Bradley's teammates referred to him long before he entered political life as "Mr. President" and talked about the three-time All American as a potential presidential candidate. An estimated 5,000 people showed up at the Garden, where campaign organizers said they expected to raise $1.5 million, or about $300 per head. Tickets were being sold for between $50 and $1,000 apiece, the maximum allowed by law. At the event, called "Bill Bradley: Back in the Garden," 20 Hall of Famers attended, including Bradley himself. Former basketball stars who participated included Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving, Bob Cousy, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Dave DeBusschere, and Willis Reed.
Though certainly Bradley's flashiest fund-raiser to date, this is not Bradley's most lucrative. In April, he raised $2.2 million at a dinner, also in New York City. The 6-foot-5-inch Rhodes Scholar said he intentionally avoided talking about his basketball career during his early years as a U.S. senator from New Jersey, which he began representing in 1979. "I wanted to make it under the Senate's own criteria and terms," Bradley said. After he left the Senate in 1996, Bradley taught at Stanford University, where he rediscovered his love for the game, he said. He authored a book in which he wrote that the values learned in basketball last a lifetime; they include courage, discipline, responsibility, imagination, perseverance, resilience, teamwork, selflessness. "All those things are a part of who I am," he said. "Basketball is a part of who I am. If I didn't talk about basketball, I would be denying a part of myself probably more fundamental than any other." Asked whether players' salaries have put the price of attendance at NBA games out of the reach of the poor and many middle-class people, Bradley said, "The market sets the values of people's services. They set the value of television commentators' services and basketball players' services. If we were arguing for a different system, who would set those salaries? The government?"
Still, the man who played for the 1964 Olympic gold-medal basketball team sees an important role for big government. He referred to the 44 million people in the United States who have no health insurance. "That's a big problem. You need a big solution to that," Bradley said. His program would replace Medicaid with a system of vouchers that could be used to buy insurance on the private market. Though he acknowledged that his plan represents "a big political risk," he said "I always thought that was the risk of leadership." Replying to questions raised on CNN's "Late Edition," Bradley responded to a laundry list of queries about his platform. He said he would consider raising taxes on tobacco, "but for a reason beyond revenue." He dismissed a flat income tax, a plan supported by fellow New Jersey native and Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes. He said a flat tax would result in low-income people paying a little less, the richest Americans would get a "gigantic" tax cut, and those in the middle "would be paying more taxes." Bradley said he would oppose agreeing to restrictions on United Nations-funded abortion services abroad in exchange for U.S. payment of its back dues. "A woman's right to choose is absolutely essential, and I think family planning ... should be permissible,"Bradley said. In addition, Bradley said the United States should involve itself in conflicts only when they involve the country's strategic interests and are "consistent with our values." Bradley pointed out that the United States alone cannot be expected to get involved in all of the current 32 ethnic wars in the world. Instead, "international organizations like the U.N." should shoulder more of the responsibility, he said. Bradley said he believes in God, but would not discuss the details of his beliefs. "I think that every American's private religious beliefs are private, and mine will be. You have to make the decision as to what you'll talk about. I drew the line at that point," he said. Asked who might be his modern day basketball equivalent, Bradley said, "I don't know if you could find anybody slow enough." Correspondent Frank Buckley contributed to this report. |
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