LAST NOVEMBER, I POSTED THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE. I PREDICTED THAT MICHAEL JORDAN WOULD BE PICKED AS BILL BRADLEY'S RUNNING MATE. THIS WOULD BE DONE TO KEEP THE BLACK VOTE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

LENORE FULANI IS HAVING SOME SUCCESS WITH DRAWING THE BLACK VOTES AWAY FROM THEIR TRADITIONAL HOME.

TODAY, MICHAEL JORDAN ENDORSED BILL BRADLEY. THIS IS THE FIRST STEP. WITH JORDAN ENDORSING HIM, BRADLEY COULD VERY WELL PICK UP THE BLACK VOTE. IF BRADLEY WINS THE NOMINATION, WILL MICHAEL JORDAN BE HIS RUNNING MATE?

****************** FROM RMNEW NOVE 18, 1999

JESSE JACKSON IS PAVING THE WAY FOR MICHAEL JORDAN

Posted By: Rayelan

Date: Thursday, 18 November 1999, at 11:56 p.m.

In Response To: WHY IS JESS JACKSON FUELING THE FIRES OF HATRED? (Betty Jean)

While Jesse Jackson throws gasoline on the burning fires of race relations, the Democratic party is making a play worthy of Nike.... JUST DO IT, MICHAEL!!!

The Democratic Elders have decided that Al Gore is as appealing as day old oatmeal, and half as filling.

The Elders have decided that they will do anything to keep a Democrat in the White House. (These silly people. Can you believe they stil believe there is a difference between the parties?)

Evidently the deal with Jesse Jackson will be to have Michael Jordan team up with Bill Bradley and score a big one for the Democratic team.

Jackson of course, will be able to pick whatever position he wants. Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, Race Relations and Hate Crimes Czar!

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE PLUS ---- http://www.rumormillnews.com/members/cgi-bin/config.cgi?read=400

**************

FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE--

"I think it's a tremendous (boost) for Bradley for the following reasons," Rosenbaum said. "One, Bill Bradley needs all the help he can get with African-American voters. Two, Michael Jordan is a unique individual. He's a kind of universal American. He is probably at this point seen as one of the rare open, trustworthy figures in politics. People won't be suspicious that he is being paid or paid off for it."

(George Rosenbaum, chief executive of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a Chicago-based survey research firm)

*****

BRADLEY BIDS TO SCORE WITH ASSIST FROM MJ

By Michael Tackett

Tribune Political Editor

February 11, 2000

WASHINGTON -- Bill Bradley finally wheeled out perhaps the biggest cannon in marketing and advertising--Michael Jordan--to help his flagging presidential campaign with a series of endorsement ads to be aired Friday in several major markets, including Chicago.

It marked Jordan's first formal foray into politics and raised the question of whether his abundant star power could be transferred to Bradley, lifting the Democratic presidential candidate in the same way Jordan has elevated Nike, MCI Worldcom and Gatorade.

When Oprah Winfrey promotes a book on her show, it becomes a best seller. When Jordan wore Nikes or gulped Gatorade, sales soared. Celebrities long have been coveted to endorse everything from cereal to automobiles, often with profoundly successful results. Ronald Reagan was a celebrity-endorser who turned politician.

But never in the history of American politics has an endorsement, celebrity or otherwise, saved a listing campaign. Jordan long has been in his own league on so many levels that it remains at least possible that he can help. Even in a culture drenched in celebrity, Jordan represents fame of a different magnitude.

Experts in advertising and consumer opinion offered sharply contradictory views of the value of an endorsement by one of the best-known, most revered sports figures on Earth.

"I don't think that it's going to have much effect," said Frank Delano, a brand specialist and president of New York-based Delano & Young. "I think that if we were talking about Michael Jordan being in a brand alliance with something that relates to sports or what he does (it might be different)."

"If Michael Jordan were to say, `I just drink 7-Up,' that would have a major effect on a lot of people, because the alliance is with a product that has believability with this legend," Delano said. "But when Michael Jordan gets into the area of politics and starts saying he endorses Bill Bradley, there is not correlation between his brand and the brand of Bill Bradley. . . . It's not going to have any effect at all."

But George Rosenbaum, chief executive of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a Chicago-based survey research firm, strongly disagreed.

"I think it's a tremendous (boost) for Bradley for the following reasons," Rosenbaum said. "One, Bill Bradley needs all the help he can get with African-American voters. Two, Michael Jordan is a unique individual. He's a kind of universal American. He is probably at this point seen as one of the rare open, trustworthy figures in politics. People won't be suspicious that he is being paid or paid off for it."

At the same time, Rosenbaum conceded that inanimate objects profit more from endorsements than human beings do. Still, he says that because Jordan has never been seen as aligned with a political cause or a candidate his endorsement has enhanced credibility.

"One of the problems of endorsements in political life is that many of them can easily be dismissed as being suspect and of little worth, purely a matter of selfish interest," Rosenbaum said. "What is interesting about the Jordan announcement is I don't think people will see this as a matter of self-interest. It is a unique, very distinctive kind of endorsement. It's in a way maybe as good or better as Clinton endorsing Gore."

The ads were filmed in secrecy Dec. 22 at the suburban home of Sara Lee Corp. CEO John Bryan, a longtime Bradley supporter. The film crew signed a confidentiality agreement, and news of the endorsement did not leak. Jordan drove himself to the shoot and even edited portions of the script.

The ads are scheduled to run in Los Angeles; Cleveland; Cincinnati; Columbus; Portland, Maine; Hartford, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis; Minneapolis and Burlington, Vt.

"It underscores what has always been a huge part of the appeal of our campaign, bringing new people into the process," said Anita Dunn, communications director of the Bradley campaign. "Also, he is the best-known figure, probably in the world, making a strong statement about Bill Bradley and really the core message that Bill Bradley has run on."

Bradley finished second to Vice President Al Gore in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, showings that have driven down his standing in opinion polls in California and New York, the two largest states among the 15 that will hold primaries March 7. Because so many states are in play, there will be limited time for the kind of small-group campaigning that marked Iowa and New Hampshire. The Bradley campaign is hoping that the power of Jordan on television can somehow be transferred to politics.

Jordan, whose former coach Phil Jackson is a longtime Bradley friend, was unavailable for comment. Jordan and his wife, Juanita, last year each donated the maximum $1,000 to Bradley's campaign. Jordan was criticized in 1990 for his refusal to endorse North Carolina Democrat Harvey Gantt in his Senate campaign against Republican Jesse Helms. Jordan reportedly explained his decision by saying, "Republicans buy shoes too."

As for the Gore campaign?

In November it secured the endorsement of Jordan's mother, Deloris.

http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0002110119,FF.html