Kinky Friedman, in case you don't remember him because you smoked too much you know what in the 70s, the musician, author and pal of the musical outlaw Willie Nelson, is running for Governor of the great state of Texas this year. His campaign slogan is "Why the Hell Not?"
Of course, immigration reform is one of Kinky's top priorities. A recent poll he conducted about the immigration problem went something like this:
Q. Do Texans think illegal immigration is a serious problem?
A. 41%: "Yes, it is a serious problem."
A. 59%: "No hablo ingles."
He backs biodesiel, saying "it's good enough for Willie Nelson's bus" so it ought to be good enough for Texas. And speaking of Nelson, if elected Kinky promised to appoint Nelson as the Texas Energy Czar. When asked about their pot-smoking background by Jay Leno, Friedman replied his administration wouldn't get up early in the morning, but would work really late at night.
When asked about his support of gay marriage, he had this to say, according to his website. "Q: What is Kinky's position on gay marriage?
"Kinky supports gay marriage and equal rights for homosexuals. He believes that the constitution protects everyone. As he says, 'I believe love is bigger than government. And besides, they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us.'"
Good government should include a few laughs, I believe. And after all, according to Kinky, "How hard can it be?"
And whomever you choose in the upcoming elections, be sure to vote.
3 comments:
I was on the fence about Kinky for a while, but now I’m no longer considering Kinky as an option.
My problem with Kinky is basically this: we have the worst governor in Texas history, and we have three opponents to the governor who are dividing the anti-incumbent vote in a manner that virtually guarantees the governor's re-election, and so anyone disinterested in re-electing the governor must seriously consider the three alternatives.
You have Strayhorn. She's a Republican running without the benefit of Republican Party support (in Texans, over half of Republicans vote the straight party ticket so this is significant), but she is not as beholden to the far-right fundamentalist Christian elements of the party, nor as mean-spirited, nor as blatantly anti-consumer/pro-corporatist as Perry, and she’s raised a ton of money.
You have Bell. He's a Democrat and has the institutional support of the Democratic Party (including the fact that Texas Democrats also vote the straight party ticket about 50% of the time), but he’s neither terribly charismatic nor very well funded, but generally he’s reasonable on the issues and not as vile as Perry.
Then you have Kinky. He talks one way, but acts another (he makes pro gay marriage jokes but then doesn't bother to vote when the gay marriage amendment is on the Texas ballot; he says he's not anti-death penalty but then he testifies at Max Soffar's trial that he's against the death penalty and tells the anti-death penalty crowd he'll impose a moratorium on capital punishment; he says he voted for Gore in 2000 but his voting records confirm he didn't vote at all from 1994 to 2004; he tells an anti-Bush crowd that Bush isn't too smart and he's messed up but he tells a pro-Bush crowd that Bush is an honorable cowboy who did a good job in the Middle East and that's why Kinky voted for Bush in 2004). Ideologically, Kinky's plans run form the farthest right-wing nonsense (his anti-immigration blather about 5 Mexican generals) to bed-wetting liberal pablum (his plan to outlaw the declawing of cats) to almost every half-assed idea in between. Plus, one cannot escape the conclusion that while Kinky stands no chance of getting elected he is succeeding wildly at reviving his music and book sales with his campaign.
One of the three anti-incumbent candidates has got to go because the anti-incumbent vote is very strong but it cannot stand to be split three ways. Of the three candidates, Kinky is the one who is ideologically incoherent, Kinky is the one who is running as a self-promotional joke, and Kinky is the longest of the longshots because he lacks Bell's organized party support and Strayhorn's money. Kinky is funny, but Texas is in bad shape and the future for the version of Texas we will leave to our children isn’t a laughing matter. It’s time to cull the heard. Kinky, we love you, but you have to go. And please endorse either Bell or Strayhorn on your way out.
Texas Tom: I have happily posted your response to my Kinky blog entry. However, I have been a Democrat (formerly an independent then wooed over by the Dems in the early '90s with this same talk -- let's not split the party and get that darn Republican back in office AKA -- an Independent vote is a vote wasted). As evident in in Connecticut's race, there is little room left in the Democratic party for a rather conservative Democrat. It's very difficult for me (twice I've done it) to vote for any Republican although I was raised Republican, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to vote for the majority of Democrats who do little but politic and divert attention from the real issues facing America.
I am tired of voting for the least objectionable candidate, which is not often the one who can throw enough money at the election to win anyway. In fact, I am tired of politics in general where no matter who is in office, they pretty much feed at the same trough. So, I find Kinky's campaign amusing, no more, no less. He makes me laugh, which in this day and age is in short supply.
I am not from Texas, so I really don't have a big worry about who gets elected. I do wish your state good luck. These are grave days and our leaders should be leaders, not political hacks. Personally, I'd rather have Willie Nelson as the Texas Governor's Energy Czar than many I could think of in Texas at the moment. Again, though, since I don't live there, my opinion doesn't count much.
Thanks for writing. Have a great day!
twodogsbarking,
I don't feel very differently than you do. I was on the fence and considering Kinky, Strayhorn, and Bell (I was not on the fence with regard to Perry).
I like Kinky's image. I like the fact that Kinky has built-in name recognition. I like the fact that Kinky is not Rick Perry.
Ultimately, I found Kinky's website frustrating because I was hearing pro-Kinky arguments and anti-Kinky arguments, and I was not finding answers to my questions on Kinky's website.
So I tried to do some research on the issues.
I learned that I have a hard time with Strayhorn because she was the tie breaking vote in favor of Tom DeLay's plan to illegally gerrymander Texas congressional districts. Also, it seems like Strayhorm has flip-flopped on school vouchers (an important issue to me), TAKs testing (another important issue for me), and the Trans-Texas Corridor (maybe my biggest issue).
If someone flip-flops on some minor issue, I have no problem with that. If someone flip-flops on a big issue, I have no problem as long as it doesn't involve a pattern of indecisiveness. It seems like Strayhorn has been indecisive on too many important issues (not to mention the fact that she's been a Democrat until she turned her back on them to become a Republican until she turned her back on them to become an Independent).
That bothers me about Strayhorn, but -- still -- if I have to choose between Strayhorn and Perry, I am going to choose Strayhorn hands down. If I have to vote for Strayhorn to beat Perry, I will hold my nose and do it.
I also looked into Bell. I am impressed with Bell's views on most issues. I learned that Bell is the only candidate for Texas Governor who
1. didn't vote for Bush/Cheney,
2. supports raising the minimum wage,
3. hasn't flip-flopped with regard to his political party,
4. hasn't been a cheerleader for the Iraq war,
5. opposed DeLay's gerrymandering,
6. would reverse the law where Texas doctors are required to misinform women seeking abortions that abortions give you cancer (which isn't true),
7. favors raising teacher pay $6,000 to bring Texas teacher pay up to the national average, and
8. respects the separation of church and state.
While I like Bell on the issues, I haven't been impressed with his campaign, and I haven't been overwhelmingly impressed with his personal charisma. If I thought Bell could win, there would be no debate for me, but I have my doubts (especially in light of the fact that Strayhorn has raised much more money).
We've already discussed what I learned about Kinky.
At the end of the day, I'll probably vote for whichever candidate has the best chance of beating Perry. From what I can gather, that candidate won't be Kinky in light of Strayhorn's mega-bucks and Bell's straight party ticket voter advantage. I'd dearly love to see Perry stuck in a three party race because I think he'd lose, but I guess that simply won't happen.
So far as my vote is a statement, I want that statement to be "not Perry." If none of the candidates have any chance whatsoever of beating Perry, the next best message I can convey with my vote is to side with the only candidate who agrees with me on most issues.
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