Texas says "Kinky" can be on ballot

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Catchy line:
"I support gay marriage," Friedman said in 2005. "I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us."

Texas says "Kinky" can be on ballot

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Writer and musician Kinky Friedman, who once sang "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore," may include the name by which he is best known on the ballot to choose Texas' next governor in November, the state's top election official said on Monday.

Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams said Friedman's nickname was not a slogan and thus did not violate state law. His name will appear on election ballots as Richard "Kinky" Friedman.

But Williams, a Republican, said Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is also running as an independent against incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry, cannot include "Grandma" as a nickname on the ballot.

Strayhorn's campaign advertising calls her "One Tough Grandma."

Williams said Strayhorn, the state comptroller who left the Republican Party to challenge Perry, never used "Grandma" as a nickname before the campaign.

Perry is leading the polls but if either Friedman or Strayhorn win, it would be the first time an independent won a race for Texas governor since Sam Houston did it in 1859. Friedman would be the state's first Jewish governor.

Friedman, who has written a series of detective novels, first became famous as the leader of satirical country and western band The Texas Jewboys.

Some have dismissed Friedman's campaign as a publicity stunt, but Friedman has hired a consultant who helped former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura win the Minnesota governor's race in 1998 to run his campaign.

In conservative Texas, Friedman has used humor to state his support for controversial ideas like same-sex marriage.

"I support gay marriage," Friedman said in 2005. "I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us."

Gov. Perry is also being challenged by Democrat Chris Bell, a former legislator from Houston, who lost his seat in the redistricting engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

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I loved Kinky's riposte to 'Okie from Muskogee' 'A55hole from El Paso'

We dont have no lovins in el paso
We dont go to porno picture shows
We dont swap our wives with our neighbors
And we keep our kids away from mexico.

And Im proud to be an a55hole from el paso
A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered.
You walk down the street knee-deep in tacos
Ta-ta-ta-tacos
And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour.

We dont wipe our asses on old glory,
God and lone star beer are things we trust.
We keep our women virgins till theyre married
So hosin sheep is good enough for us.

And Im proud to be an a55hole from el paso
A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered.
You walk down the street knee-deep in tacos
Ta-ta-ta-tacos
And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour.

Im proud to be an asshole from el paso
A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered.
You walk down that street knee-deep in tacos
Ta-ta-ta-tacos
And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour

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Kinky for Gov!

Hubby's been wearing his Kinky campaign t-shirt a lot lately.

We love him, I have slightly mixed feelings about him actually WINNING, but watching with interest and cheering him on.

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sozobe wrote:

We love him, I have slightly mixed feelings about him actually WINNING.....

So, why's that?

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god I just hate loathe and dispise kinky freedman.

he is such an embarrassment.

talk about throwing your vote away.

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Chai Tea wrote:

talk about throwing your vote away.

Well, let's see you're "fast ball" then!

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Hey, nice bandana! :-D

Why do we love him, or why slightly mixed feelings?

I'll answer both -- we (I started it, E.G. agreed) have both read and enjoyed his novels for the past 10 years or so. He's hilarious. He used up his best material in his first five or so books, and he took a book or two to hit his stride in terms of writing. (I'd believe that this whole thing is to generate some new material -- can't wait to see what writing comes out of it, regardless.)

He's like Dys and Slappy and Kicky and Blatham all rolled into one.

As for slightly mixed feelings about him winning -- he's explained that the Texas governorship doesn't actually have that much power and he couldn't mess things up too much even if he wanted to. I'm still not sure what I think about how he'd handle the finer points of politics/ governance, but I think his heart is in the right place and further that a lot of his political stands are good. (Emphasis on education, etc.) And we've had a few threads about him on A2K and I'm amazed at the spectrum of people who are fond of him or at least tolerate him -- that's cool.

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I was wondering what Chai thought of him -- couldn't imagine it'd be positive.

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Love your new look, Reyn . . . do you spend a lot of time at the hairdresser?

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sozobe wrote:

He's like Dys and Slappy and Kicky and Blatham all rolled into one.

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And Kuvasz and patiodog.

Does that help?

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sozobe wrote:

Hey, nice bandana! :-D

Yeah, I saw this lovely lady wearing it, and I thought - hey - this would look great with my "do". :wink:

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It's a lovely do indeed.

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Setanta wrote:

Love your new look, Reyn . . . do you spend a lot of time at the hairdresser?

This is Kim, for Pete's sake!

Reyn's out back painting.....in the rain.

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well soz....it's great that you like his humor and read his books, but unfortunately that doesn't make him qualified to the the Governor of Texas.

As for what others say about him on other threads, I've seen them floating around, and looked at one a long while ago, for about a minute, which was long enough to make me want to puke my guts.

The man has never held political office, is not qualified to, and his whole schtick is saying off color, stupid crap. If you push all that aside, what is there? Nothing. Plus, he's a dirty old man.

His slogan? Kinky for Governor, why the hell not?

Oh yeah, real funny, hahaha. Is that what we would hear for 4 years every time an important issue comes up?

Yes, that's who I would like to be in charge.

Let him stick to writing his sophomoric books and dirty songs. He's just a big jackass.

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For what it's worth, here's his "issues" page:

http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/

I like a lot of things about it. I agree with his stance on all three issues listed*, and admire that he's so concise and colloquial about it, qualities that I think Democrats in general could learn from.

*Especially stuff like:

Kinky Friedman wrote:

Teachers' salaries in Texas are over $6,000 below the national average. This lack of respect for the people who do our state's most important job must stop. As governor, Kinky will work to make sure that teachers are paid what they're worth. Period.

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I think Chai should run for public office. She seems like a "get things done" kinda broad.

Just keep your hands off my nukes though, okay?

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sozobe wrote:

For what it's worth, here's his "issues" page:

http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/

I like a lot of things about it. I agree with his stance on all three issues listed*, and admire that he's so concise and colloquial about it, qualities that I think Democrats in general could learn from.

*Especially stuff like:

Kinky Friedman wrote:
Teachers' salaries in Texas are over $6,000 below the national average. This lack of respect for the people who do our state's most important job must stop. As governor, Kinky will work to make sure that teachers are paid what they're worth. Period.

I have to honestly say soz, I am absolutely shocked with you....You are one who always thinks out everything so carefully at looks at things from all possible angles.

I already HAD looked at that site before posting to make sure he had never held office....for christs sake, the man is selling ACTION figures of himself!!!

As far as his "stance" of things, he's saying no more than any other half-way educated poster on A2K would say. For all I know, someone wrote all that stuff and he just said "yeah, yeah, whatever." He was interviewed for the New Yorker in the last couple of years, and he said "Stance, I don't have any f*cking stance!" Great. That's just what I like to hear.

Colloquial? That's a laugh. His way of expressing himself is what makes people around this country are ignorant boobs sitting on their front porches swilling from a jug.

Again, maybe that stuff funny until Ralph Kramden runs for governor of your state, with Ed Norton as LG.

Tell me the truth, you're just leg pulling, aren't you?

UUGGHHGGG! That man is just SO disgusting!

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Chai, I'm sure I'm more blase about this because a) I don't live in Texas and b) I don't think he'll actually win. (Last poll was something like 16% vs. Perry's 41%.) And I've already said I had mixed feelings about him actually winning.

But I've read every book he published up until 2002 or so and have met the guy, and the stuff on his website is very much in keeping with his political stances all along. He has a ton of respect for teachers, thinks we're destroying the earth and that something has to be done about it, etc., etc. So, I don't think "If you push all [his schtick] aside, what is there? Nothing." is quite accurate.

Further, I think the schtick itself is really interesting, from a political-junkie perspective (and again from an outsider's perspective, he won't be MY gov if he wins). Whether it's him or his handlers, there's some masterful stuff on that website.

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Hold the weddin'!

Seems closer than I thought -- most recent poll I found seems to be Perry 35%, Kinky 21%.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/12426

Maybe he does have a chance...!

I do step back a bit when I think he might actually get it... I've been impressed by his campaign so far and he's made some convincing statements about how the Texas governorship is unique in how many limitations there are, but if he has a real chance, I'd dive back into that research (not that it has any direct bearing on me).

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