FORWARD SPIN

By Joel Stein

There are no bad places to stump. So 1998 Republican Alabama Governor hopeful and Houston Rocket forward Charles Barkley, on trial last week for punching a guy in a bar (he won the case), used his time on the stand for gubernatorial trash talk. Among Sir Charles' policy statements:

In a bold move to mobilize black Republicans, he called his accuser a "drunk redneck."

Riding the anti-lawyer wave, he didn't mince words with prosecutors: "I think frivolous lawsuits--what you do for a living--are a scam."

When the jury was asked if "anyone had a problem with [the plaintiff's] being from around Rochester, N.Y.," he milked anti-Yankee sentiment by raising his hand.

--By Joel Stein