LeBron Raymone James Donates $20k to Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign

Actually to a committee dedicated to electing Obama since personal contributions are capped at $2,300 per election. Early in his career as pitchman for the Gods, Michael Jordan remarked, "Republicans buy sneakers too," when Harvey Gantt's senate campaign requested he donate money. Gantt was then embroiled in a nasty North Carolina race with Jesse Helms. Ultimately Gantt would lose twice thanks, in no small measure, to Helms' willingness to use blatant racial appeals. (Remember the white hand crumbling up the job application?) But now we seem to have entered a new era where athletes are more comfortable with letting their political viewpoints be known. This era, of course, isn't so much a new one as it is a return to the 1960's and 1970's when corporate synergy didn't dictate opinions. There are still vestiges of political silence among prominent athletes (Tiger, Tiger Woods y'all) but the trend is clearly towards openness. Which, I think, is a good sign. Plainly anyone who votes for a candidate because an athlete endorses that candidate is a blithering idiot, but being engaged in the process, regardless of political persuasion, is a nice step. Meanwhile, John McCain is patiently waiting for Shawn Kemp's check to clear. LeBron James dunks 20G's in the basket for Barack Obama [LA Times]