[auntie janie]

I know Monica Seles is registered to vote, because she served on Jury Duty one year. I bet any other player would have gotten out of jury duty, but Monica is an enthusiastic American citizen and she took it seriously, even though it badly disrupted her training that summer.

 

[JasonW]

I know Arantxa is a Conservative! <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> I am surprised that most tennis players appear to be conservative, and that Johnny Mac supported Bradley. Bradley is definently more Conservative than Gore, He is an Eagle Scout, (which I almost am). Are you sure Venus and Serena are Non-Political, they supported both Gore and Clinton in the only two elections they could vote in.

 

[Dado]

I think Ivanisevic is shit.<br />I think that we never must make a mix sports/political.

He won't danced with her. But who knows, maybe she won't danced with him.

Monica i a yugoslav-girl. Her father was from Hungary, but he loves Yugoslavia much more. I've heard that he want going back to Yugo before few years but Monicas mum won't.

 

[Halardfan]

I think John Mcenroe is cool...in his own way. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

He's just mis-understood. Sort of.

Anyway, I still like him. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

 

[ttaM]

It might also depend on where the players live. Florida is a republican state, California is a democratic state. Monica lives in Sarasota, which is Republican heavy when it comes to elected officials there (Don't go right Monica!).

I remember a reporter asking Monica is she voted in the 2000 election, she didn't. I guess she got an adsentee ballot (?) but it was too late to send it in or something. I wonder who she voted for?

 

[JasonW]

Monica didn't vote. She said in an interview after "If I had remembered to register I definently would have voted."

 

[Celeste]

With regard to the finances, unlike most other celebrities, tennis players' window of time to make the really big money is much shorter. By the time most are 30, they retire. Can you imagine living the rest of your life on the money you saved by your 30th birthday? While they can certainly make a load of money after this, I don't think it's the same. I'm sure endorsement-darling Chris Evert still rakes it in, but not like she used to when she was playing. And particularly women tennis players don't make the money most men athletes make in other sports with equally-limited "earning life spans" so it does make sense many are fiscally conservative politically. What they earn before age 30 is the lifestyle to which they become accostomed, and these are the funds that will have to support them until they die, most of the time, many decades later. Maybe Venus' Reebok contract will become the standard in the sport, but I doubt it. I can't think of any active Republicans on the circuit, though, sometimes I wonder if Lindsay is like Pam but less vocal, just my opinion.

 

[Zummi]

Among the American tennis players, most of the recent few have been bigtime Republicans - Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Lindsay Davenport etc. etc.

The handful of Democrats include Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Andre Agassi, Venus & Serena Williams.

Martina said that when she first came to the U.S. she identified as a Republican (the Rockefeller kind) but after the Reagan Right took over, she became an ardent Democrat. Martina did support Bill Bradley in the 2000 Democratic primary along with McEnroe; Martina is also a regular contributor to Emily's List, the powerful political organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women. Billie Jean King was a big contributor to Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign last year, along with Andre Agassi, who also gave big to Vice-President Al Gore's campaign.

Evert, Austin & Shriver were/are huge Republicans and got invited to the White House on a number of occasions during the Reagan/Bush I years; also both inaugrations (1985 & 1989). Bush Sr. plays in Evert's charity event every year. Tracy Austin is very close to Nancy Reagan. Pam Shriver used to gush endlessly about President Reagan (he and his wife used to call her "Pammy"). Pam was also a contributor to Dubya's campaign last year. And she was vice-chairman of "Athletes for Bush/Quayle" in 1988. Oddly enough though, Pam & Tracy participated in a fundraiser for Congresswoman Jane Harman in California last year (she's a Democrat, who ran unsuccessfully for California governor in 1998 and reclaimed her House seat last year). Congresswoman Harman is reputed for her fiscally conservative, socially liberal, hawkish on defence positions so that certainly must fit in well with Pam.

Ivan Lendl is a firm Republican. There's the story about the time someone told him he voted for Dukakis in 1988, to which Lendl replied, "So you're a Communist?" Lendl & Martina were the total opposite. They got along fine, but Lendl said he felt Martina was too radical and Martina thought he was too set in his ways.

I remember Monica was asked about the 1996 election back in the day, and she said she didn't vote b/c she didn't like the candidates. Both Clinton & Dole were moderates within their own parties. So I guess it's safe to deduce that Monica is either a flaming liberal or a dyed-in-the-wool conservative...

 

[ttaM]

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't know Andre was a big time Democrate. I am more surprised McEnroe is. He was/is so sexist I thought he'd fit right in with a lot of the far right Republicans. I thought Davenport would be a Democrate since California is usually a liberal minded state. Billie and Martina doesn't really surprise me. What exactly is a "Rockefeller" Republican? Courier I thought would be a liberal. Llendl is the type of Republican I hate. Bush 1 was the worst President. Read the book The Bombings, The Betrayls, And a berieved families search for Justice: Pan Am 103 and you'll understand. Though I doubt Dukakis would have been much better himself at the time. Well, Sampras I would have guessed he would be a conservative, although I wonder if being married to a Hollywood actress might turn him? Interesting stuff

[ December 13, 2001: Message edited by: GoMonica ]</p>

 

[Adrian]

If you read your post again Gomonica, I think you may of turned Sampras <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

 

[ttaM]

[Editing]...[Editing]... <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

 

[aliceb]

Hey JasonW, how do you know Arantxa's a Conservative? Although it dosen't surprise me. She's one of those 'I'm so patriotic that I'll not pay taxes I can well afford to help my less well-off fellow citizens' types, in her case, Spain and Andorra. My favourite Amelie is just the same, having moved from France (which you'll remember give Gay and Lesbian citizens more rights than most places, to which you think she'd be grateful to the current government) to neutral and Conservative minded Switzerland (when did they give Women the vote?).<br />Thanks for the info about Bradley, although some of you seem to think he's more Conservative than Gore, and others are saying he's more Liberal!<br />A lot of poeple in the UK, btw, think it's funny how anyone mildly Liberal is considered a Communist by some people in the States. Some of my political heroes, like Tony Benn or the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, would've been in trouble if they's tried and stood for office in the States, I think!

 

[VSFan1 aka Joshua L.]

When I say Venus and Serena are non-political, that is they don't vote or associate themselves with any party. However, thier views are fiscally conservative meaning they appreciate the tax cuts by George Bush, and are more for a flat-tax (which I hope does not happen) and socially moderate, meaning, they agree with abortion within a certain time frame, minorities rights (including gay & lesbian), etc.

 

[moon]

Didn't Serena & Chanda skip the Charleston tourney last year because of the NAACP boycott?

 

[Celeste]

Yes, they have skipped it the last two years. Serena was going to play there in 2000 (Hilton Head), but a reporter asked her about the boycott at a tournament earlier that year right after she announced she was playing there, and she didn't know anything about it. Shortly thereafter, she pulled out on those grounds saying something to the effect of she wasn't going to play in a state that degrades her race. Alexandra Stevenson went that year and had a meeting with the governor to address it. I'm not sure what was said.

 

[Zummi]

According to Stevenson, it was because of her that the Confederate flag issue in South Carolina was solved. All thanks to her superior skills of persuasion and her amazing intelligence. (She is, after all, going to college, you know.) The Governor & numerous state senators & representatives send her thank-you messages to express their gratitude for her efforts, without which no progress would have been made.

Here is a photo of Chris Evert with her good friend, Katherine Harris, at Evert's recent charity event. Also present in the photo is former mayor of New York, David Dinkins.

[ December 22, 2001: Message edited by: Zummi ]</p>

 

[Celeste]

I take it you're joking about Alexandra Stevenson. <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> ? If not, well, good for her, but I don't recall she had more than one meeting. I guess that girl works wonders.

That top looks awful on Katherine Harris. I heard a rumor she's running for Congress, but I don't know if it's true. Maybe Chris will help her with her campaign and give her a plug during the French Open: "My mentee Martina Hingis, former World No. 1 and 208 weeks as No. 1 and 5-time Grand Slam Singles champion, was over for one of my Boca Raton barbeques, along with Heidi Graf and her grandson. My friend Katherine Harris was there also helping me flip the weenies. She's running for Congress so I was happy she could take some time out for my family gathering." I can see her saying this during a match.

Where do you think Chris' left hand is in the picture?

 

[Brian Stewart]

I would hope such a plug wouldn't happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.

On a sort of different political skew, one of the things I found amusing a few years ago, when the Williams sisters first blossomed and their background became public, was the tennis announcers' recounting of their own "humble" backgrounds. A sort of, "I had it tough, too" contest. Tracy told us how both her parents had to work to pay the $20,000 a year for her tennis training. I'm sure we all got out our violins. (I'm only a bit older than Tracy, and when I was that age, we were living on $80 a week. My heart bleeds for her.) And we had Chris recounting how she came from parents with "not a lot of money". Could you be a bit more vague, please? (Keep in mind, her political friends consider an annual income of $200,000 "middle class".)

It just demonstrates once again how out of touch the tennis community is with the outside world. (Like whenever they compare tennis players to football players.) But, it's always good for a laugh. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

 

[CCCP1]

Bump, intresting thread

 

[Borris]

I can't understand how you can be conservative concerning taxes and liberal concerning social rights.....

The republican attitude towards taxes shows their a-social politics.