“I’d rather give it to charity than to him [Barack Obama].  If you do it this year or you do it next year, the difference is humongous because of the taxes.”

Huizenga was referencing the selling of the remainder of his shares to Stephen Ross.  He wants to speed up the negotiations due to an impending capital gains tax hike if Obama takes the White House.  Huizenga represents wealthy America, who notoriously vote for Republicans due to the party’s inclination to keep taxes low on the rich.  It seems like Huizenga is already projecting the Obama camp as the winners and is looking to unload his shares before taxes rise.  He clearly would rather give the money from such a sale to charity (or maybe his family) over passing it on to the government.

Usually one thing that athletes and owners agree upon is who they will vote for in an election.  Both entities tend to qualify for entry into the higher tax brackets.  It is very interesting to see how many athletes are switching away from Conservatism to publicly supporting the Democratic candidate, Obama.  How many owners will be bucking the trend to vote Republican?

Wayne Huizenga’s Political Statement from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Leigh Steinberg, known as an agent who is always bucking the general trend (Jerry McGuire was supposedly based on his life), has also publicly announced his support for Senator Obama. In fact, he has created a group called Athletes for Obama with the help of Reggie Bush and Charles Barkley.

No matter if you think an athlete or agent should publicly support a candidate or drive people to vote for a particular person, I think we can all agree that it is worthwhile for people in high positions to have a goal of trying to broadly influence people to vote (not specifically who to vote for). That is why I particularly liked the way that Oden ended his post:

If the person I vote for wins it’s gonna be because of my one little vote, at least that’s what I’m gonna think. I think everyone should think that way. This will be my first presidential election to participate in as a voter and I hope that you younger voters will get involved. I think that our votes can really influence the outcome so go out, register and vote for who you think is the best candidate to be the best leader for this country and make sure you and your family will feel good about the new president that is elected in November.

I also urge all of this site’s readers to stay up to date with the Presidential race and vote this November. This will be the first opportunity for many of you to vote in a Presidential election. Make your voice heard. Each vote counts.

Publicly Endorsing Political Candidates from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules