U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wouldn't mind watching basketball with Barack Obama.
The Winston-Salem Republican was on Charlotte sports talk show "Primetime with the Packman" this afternoon.
Repeating a question from the Democratic primary last year, host Mark Packer asked if he would rather have dinner with Hillary Clinton or Obama.
"Hillary Clinton in a heartbeat," Burr said. "I've had an opportunity in the last week to have dinner with Barack Obama. I passed on that one."
Obama held a bipartisan "timeout dinner" at the White House last Wednesday with about 180 guests from Congress and his Cabinet as well as staffers and spouses.
Burr said the president is a "straight-up guy," a "tremendous athlete" and "a very disciplined individual," but he disagrees with him on the issues.
"I think what we've seen from the first 60 days is he has an agenda as to where he wants to take America," he said. "I'm not interested in going there."
Packer followed up. What about at the Final Four?
"Sporting event — I'm sitting beside Barack," he said. "No question."
| Burr on Obama |




Sen. Burr pans the President
...I mean, maybe this is just me, but is our senior senator really saying he would pass at a chance to eat with the President of the United States? Doesn't he think that, perhaps, some personal networking time with the nation's chief executive might help our state in some way?
I mean, Sen. Burr just comes off sounding like a ... you know what... stating how proud he is to diss the president. There's just something downright un-American about that. Heck, if ol' 43 invited me to the Texas ranch for the weekend, I would go!