Drew Brees says he may run for political office … but as a Democrat or a Republican?

Or neither? First, don’t get your Who Dat underpants in a bunch, Saints fans. Brees, speaking to Reuters during an awards ceremony on Saturday, said that he’d leave the door open to a political career only after he’s done playing football … and he’s not done playing football. But at 32, that political run may be in the relatively near future. Brees:

“Definitely, politics fascinates me, I find it very interesting. I guess, when you look at all the issues and certainly in the current economic times, at times you hate to see both parties going at each other like they do.

“You feel at times, man this is counter-productive, why can’t we just stick to the issues? Why can’t we just work to resolve some of the problems that our country has and the rest of the global economy has and (focus on) ways that we can help?

So the big question is, of course, what party affiliation are we talking about? Brees gave no hint of that in his comments on Saturday, so let’s examine some clues from his past.

Exhibit A: Brees is chairman on President Obama’s President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and filmed a commercial with him for the President’s Play 60 campaign that was shown during the NFL games on Thanksgiving weekend in 2009.

Exhibit B: In July of 2009, Brees visited the U.S. Naval base detention center in Guantanamo Bay, and told a San Diego-based radio station that it would be a mistake to shut it down. From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

“I think there’s a big misconception as to how we are treating those prisoners; those detainees over there. They are being treated probably 10 times better than any prisoner in a U.S. prison.”

“I mean, they’re allowed to call and write letters home, and receive letters and calls. They get five opportunities a day to pray, and they have arrows in the prison pointing towards where Mecca is. And the prison goes dead silent so these guys can have their religious time. They have rooms where they can watch movies and play Nintendo Wii. So I think that just goes ahead and says it right there.”

“And you just talk to all the guards that are Army and Navy personnel, they’ll tell you stories about how these prisoners … these guys get away with whatever they want. And the guards aren’t able to retaliate at all.”

Exhibit C: In 2006, Brees sued his mother, the now-deceased Mina Brees, for using his likeness in a campaign ad. Mina Brees, a Democrat, was running for a spot on Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals. From the Associated Press: He called his relationship with his mother “nonexistent” after it crumbled six years ago when he refused to hire her as his agent. “I think the major point here is that my mother is using me in a campaign, and I’ve made it known many times I don’t want to be involved,” Drew Brees said.

Exhibit D: Here’s Brees firing an automatic M-249 rifle during a USO trip to Afghanistan in 2009.

Several commenters on Saints message boards have referred to Brees as a conservative Republican, although with no links or attribution. I think it’s safe to say, however, that he leans right. And that he’s a pretty good shot with that rifle.

Reuters:

Brees, an articulate and effective communicator who is involved in several community projects, said he wasn’t ready to make the switch just yet.

“I’d consider it, I am not going to close any doors, hopefully that’s some way away, I’d love to be able to play football for as long as I can but we’ll see. There are lots of thing I want to do after I stop playing.”

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Super Bowl winner Drew Brees would consider political career [Reuters]