My Kind of Candidate

Meet Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman, who is running for governor of the great state of Texas.

I can't recall just how I happened upon Kinky. I swear it wasn't a Google search gone awry. I already know where the kinky sites are that I like.

Is this a candidate name with a limitless bounty of campaign possibilities or what? "Don't vote for [insert name of sex-hating right-winger here]! Go Kinky, instead!"

Why the hell not, indeed? If you need convincing, check out this pdf for Ten (presumably good?) Reasons to Vote for Kinky. If nothing else, vote for that massive cigar (see-gar).

How refreshing to discover a candidate who can say, frankly, "It's all screwed up now so what the hell have you got to lose?" I wish we could find a few national candidates capable of such candor. They might even get my vote.


I've looked over what (little) Kinky has to say about the issues. Things may be big in Texas but apparently detailed discussion of political issues isn't one of them, if Kinky's site is any example. I guess no one can match the guilt, angst and political intensity of those of us who grew up between Boston and the Beltway. We want to know it all. We want to believe we're smart. We are desperate to be "informed." Consequently, we are far too snooty to appreciate the simple pleasures of such a campaign. Maybe we stuck-up Northeasterners could learn a thing or two from Texans, after all, hmmm?


If I lived in Texas, I'd sure be pulling Kinky's lever come November, whether he stood on "the right side" of the issues or not (which he does, btw [Okay, on closer inspection, maybe he doesn't quite meet my criteria for someone I could endorse based on the issues. He's still a hell of a lot of fun to watch. He can't be all bad...he likes alternative energy!]). I'd do it for its WTF factor alone. A Jew in Texas making a kinky, Independent pitch for governor. You've just gotta love American politics.

(Psssst...some of the pictures are linked.)

tags: bitchy / fun / humor / kink / life / US politics