FriedMan: It's Time For a Non-Politician

FriedMan: It's Time For a Non-Politician

Kinky Friedman is serious about his gubernatorial bid.

Amid the one-liners, Friedman -- who hawks a talking action figure, T-shirts and more on the Internet -- said he really wants to become Texas' next governor.

"We need a nonpolitician as governor," Friedman said Friday during a stop in Fort Worth. "Politics is the only field in which the more experience you have, the worse you get. It gets really bad because you've been selling yourself to the highest bidder.

"This is the heart of my campaign: The other candidates are very decent people, good people. And it's not personal. But between the three of them, they have 89 years of politics.

"And that is exactly what our founding fathers did not want us to do."

Friedman is running as an independent against Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, Libertarian James Warner and fellow independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

As he walked downtown Friday to a luncheon at the Fort Worth Club, several motorists slammed on the brakes as they recognized the black-clad candidate. Others rolled down car windows to shake Friedman's hand as he chatted with potential voters, lighting up his trademark cigar.

Friedman told a crowd at the downtown Rotary Club of Fort Worth that he's got big plans if elected, including legalizing gambling to help pay for education, making Willie Nelson head of a new Texas Energy Commission and being available for Texans, including hosting call-in radio shows and having a listed telephone number.

He said he's serious, but don't expect a boring Kinky.

During public appearances Friday, he described himself as a "compassionate redneck," likened toll roads to pay toilets and said cameras Perry put up along the border could be used for a new reality show Friedman dubbed "Mexican Idol."

He said he believes in prayer in schools, wants to eliminate the TAKS test in Texas and thinks the practice of arresting drunks in bars contributes to the "wussification of Texas."

He believes a large turnout at the polls in November could spell victory for him.

If not, Friedman has a backup plan.

"If I lose this thing, I'm going to retire in a petulant snit to a goat farm, not to speak to anyone," Friedman said. "I love this state. I hate what's happened to it.

"I'd like to turn it around."
Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610 atinsley@star-telegram.com

http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/2006/08/friedman_its_time_for_a_nonpol.html