Vote Kinky

I've been hearing about this, but Newmark's Door pointed the way to a CBS News article about Kinky Friedman's campaign to be the next governor of TX. If you know anything about Kinky (whether from his books or his music), you won't be surprised to find many amusing and potentially offensive comments in the article. Here's how CBS describes old Kinky:

[T]he latest eccentric with his eye on the prize may be the oddest ball of all, a man who boasts he never held a real job, did have a real drug problem, gets his biggest kicks from offending people, yet maintains a surprisingly large following. Morley Safer reports on Texas’s leading singing Jewish cowboy, Kinky Friedman, who is campaigning as an independent to be the next governor of the Lone Star State.

What exactly qualifies Kinky to be governor of America's second largest (sorry, TX, folks; unless/until global warming really picks up, Alaska's got ya' beat) state? Apparently not much:

When he was reminded that musicians are not known for their excellent work habits, Friedman replied, "OK, so we're not gonna get a lot done early in the mornings."

Of course, it also seems that Kinky doesn't think the job will be that difficult:

His two main issues are illegal immigration — he wants to close the border until Mexico cracks down — and education. He’s running as the teacher’s best friend.

Well you just knew the religion thing would come up. Does Kinky think a Jew win the TX governor's race? Yep:

"Absolutely. Listen, I tell people, trust me, I'm a Jew, I'll hire good people," Friedman says.

Yeah, there's a lot of tounge-in-cheek with Kinky, but I think it would be an interesting experiment. Does he have a shot? Conventional wisdom says NO, HELL NO, but he does have some factors working in his favor:

• Voter turnout was only 29% in the last election. If he can tap into the "apathy vote", it might get interesting. As Kinky puts it, "Every crazy redneck in Texas is already supporting me. "
• He has managed to hire the guy who ran Jessie Ventura's campaign in MN. If a former pro wrestler can be governor, why not an irreverant musician/novelist?
• Perhaps most importantly, Willie supports him! Yep, Willie Nelson threw a fundraiser for Kinky at his golf course (entertainment by Billy Joe Shaver). I don't know this for sure, but I suspect old Willie carries some weight in TX.

So, would I vote for Kinky? Probably not. It reminds me of the excitement that gets stirred up her in AL everytime Charles Barkley talks about running for governor. I like the idea of the "outsider" candidate, but someone has to "make the trains run on time" and I'm just not sure how effective Kinky or Charles would be at that. Still, I like the idea and if it gets people a little more excited about local politics, that's great. So, good luck, Kinky. If I lived in TX, I'd sure sign your petition. Fortunately, TX's ballot access law isn't as restrictive as AL's, so I expect he'll at least make it on the ballot.