Armstrong as politician

There was a bit of noise following Armstrong's seventh Tour victory that he might seek political office. Dave Zirin does some commentary on this below. I'm actually a bit surprised. I followed and will continue to follow the Tour faithfully: live via the Tour website every morning, reading all the post-race commentary in the US and French papers, and constantly exchanging emails with friend Dan about the daily races, even going so far as to nerd-blog about it. But I saw absolutely nothing about Lance's politics, simply that John Kerry said something along the lines of hoping Armstrong wouldn't be a Republican. This is all interesting only because Armstrong is a notoriously tough, take-no-prisoners, committed, and intelligent guy. Plus, he's adored in Texas. Here's some of what I had missed from any post-Tour coverage.

...considering Armstrong's comments after winning his seventh yellow jersey. They weren't about the Alps, the cobbled Paris streets, or the new bell on his handlebars. They were about Iraq. "The biggest downside to a war in Iraq is what you could do with that money," Armstrong said through gritted teeth. "What does a war in Iraq cost a week? A billion? Maybe a billion a day? The budget for the National Cancer Institute is four billion. That has to change. Polls say people are much more afraid of cancer than of a plane flying into their house or a bomb or any other form of terrorism." His timing was fortuitous. A report came out of the Congressional Budget Office the next day that indicated the war in Iraq will cost more - adjusted for 2005 dollars - than any war since the Second World War, with a price tag that may near 800 billion dollars....

In 2004, Armstrong's anxiety about the war was rising, perhaps affected by the French protests during that year's Tour. But despite his stronger objections, Armstrong still reserved praise for his "friend" in the Oval Office. "I don't like what the war has done to our country, to our economy," he said. "My kids will be paying for this war for some time to come. George Bush is a friend of mine and just as I say it to you, I'd say to him, 'Mr. President, I'm not sure this war was such a good idea', and the good thing about him is he could take that."

Now in 2005, Armstrong has taken a much harder stance. This could be attributed to possible aspirations for political office. Armstrong in a recent interview laid out his views on a number of issues, describing himself as "against mixing up state and Church, not keen on guns, pro women's right to choose. And very anti war in Iraq," - which may lead some of us to wonder exactly what political party in our glorious duopoly would even allow him to stand as a candidate.

And then here's some reaction.

He will assuredly face words such as those from one internet blogger who wrote "Lance Armstrong should be detained the moment he steps back on American soil, and then he should have a bicycle tire pump shoved so far up his ass that he whistles Dixie when he breathes."