Kinky 2006: Why the Hell Not?

August 21, 2005 10:43 PM

"Kinky Friedman's candidacy is bound to be something;what that something is is still up for debate." The New Yorker checks in on Kinky's gubernatorial campaign (previously discussed here and here).

My platform is to remember that when they went out searching for Sam Houston to try to persuade him to be the governor--and he was the greatest governor this state has ever had--rumor has it that they found him drunk sleeping under a bridge with the Indians.

[more inside]
posted by kirkaracha (18 comments total)

Kinky liked the article, especially this part:

"I'm for you," Cook said, sitting down to write the campaign a check. "I'm sick of these assholes who don't represent me, or represent people." By now, this sentiment had become a common refrain. "They represent A.T. & T. and Enron. How you gonna come and beg for my vote and then have nothing to do with me? Did Enron elect you or did I? I'm paying your salary, hoss. How'd it be if someone went up to the capitol and did what they said they would?"

"It'd be a first," the candidate said.

"I believe it, hoss," Cook said. "That's why you're gonna win."

Other recent Kinky news: an action figure, a recent interview, and interest from the Texas Democratic Party.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:43 PM on August 21, 2005

Take a look at Kinky's Official Website. You'll see multiple links for products to buy. What you won't see is actual policy statements.

There is nothing I'd like more than a viable independent candidate, but it's not Kinky. In fact, joke campaigns like his make it more difficult for a third-party candidate to be taken seriously.
posted by Jatayu das at 4:39 AM on August 22, 2005

Bridges? Tejas had bridges in Sam's day?
posted by jfuller at 4:48 AM on August 22, 2005

That salsa is damn good. I've had it.
posted by grouse at 5:46 AM on August 22, 2005

He's running on the Monty Brewster platform.
posted by scallion at 7:51 AM on August 22, 2005

Jatayu das, what you mean these policy statements?
posted by invisible_al at 7:59 AM on August 22, 2005

Take a look at Kinky's Official Website. You'll see multiple links for products to buy. What you won't see is actual policy statements.


What would you call this?
posted by delmoi at 8:07 AM on August 22, 2005

I laughed and laughed my way through this piece. It brought fond memories of reading late-sixties and early-seventies magazine profiles of absurd and larger-than-life characters to mind.
posted by mwhybark at 8:07 AM on August 22, 2005

"Why The Hell Not?" is just one of Kinky's campaign slogans; the best one, given the previous officeholder, is "Kinky for Governor: How Hard Can It Be?"
posted by nicwolff at 8:13 AM on August 22, 2005

My favorite policy statement:

DE-WUSSIFICATION
Our icons are being demeaned. Cowboys are no longer heroes for our children, but subject to derision. We are being laughed at instead of respected in the rest of the country. What has happened to our glorious heritage? This is the great state of Texas! We are not wusses, we are Texans. "We will beat back the wussification of Texas if we have to do it one wuss at a time." - Kinky Friedman.

I was skeptical too, Jatayu das, but after reading the article I don't think this is a joke campaign. It's a campaign with a sense of humor. There's a big difference.
posted by fletchmuy at 8:28 AM on August 22, 2005

"A fool and his money are soon elected. " - Kinky Friedman

Priceless!
posted by alumshubby at 8:48 AM on August 22, 2005

I love Kinky Friedman. Almost makes me wish I was in Texas so I could vote for him. Almost. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:37 AM on August 22, 2005

He's got my vote.
posted by dios at 10:16 AM on August 22, 2005

As seen recently on TV (paraphrasing)...

Reporter: Do you support gay marriage?

Kinky: Yes I do. I support their right to be as miserable as the rest of us.
posted by a_day_late at 11:48 AM on August 22, 2005

I'll vote for anyone who'll have a Lieutenant Governor named Jewford.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:59 PM on August 22, 2005

There is nothing I'd like more than a viable independent candidate, but it's not Kinky. In fact, joke campaigns like his make it more difficult for a third-party candidate to be taken seriously.

Let me tell you one time-- the campaign is anything but a joke. It'd be best if Rick Rylander-McClellean-Keeton-Strayhorn-Leghorn Perry continued to think of it as a joke for as long as possible-- that way they'll get blind-sided-- but take it from someone peripherally involved with the organization, he means business. The money's flowing in the right direction, the Democratic party is trying to draft him (he's declined), and there's an authenticity to the Kinkster that people are noticing. He's drawing THOUSANDS to his rallies already, over a year out. Plenty of folks are ready for something like this.

There are lots of plain, ordinary country folk who tend to the conservative side in Texas who are just as fed up with the Republican Gummint as their Democratic neighbors, and the time for this is actually ripe. It's way to soon to call odds on the thing, but to dismiss it as a joke is just plumb foolish.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:12 PM on August 22, 2005

The "asshole from el paso" should be elected. I even have my Kinky for Governor bumper sticker! The tag line "Why Not?" I live in Texas and I will vote for him. Look at what we have had in the past.
posted by razzuli at 2:16 PM on August 22, 2005

For what it's worth, I can't wait to set my little voting dial to Kinky.
posted by rush at 3:25 PM on August 23, 2005