Texas Governatorial candidate, Richard \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kinky\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Friedman has unveiled his first cartoon for the 2006 campaign.
\nThe KinkyToon features an animated Friedman, in his usual outfit, a black cowboy hat, white shirt, black coat and his infamous cigar.
\nThe 60-year old candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cartoon is about as untraditional as the candidate himself.
\nFriedman, born and raised in Texas, leader of the Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys band, a novelist and most recently a columnist for Texas Monthly, announced his campaign earlier this year with his campaign slogan, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why the hell not.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nSince then he has found unique ways to make his name known and raise campaign funds as an independent candidate.
\nA few months ago he released a talking Kinky action figure that repeats a number of Friedman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s witticisms. The doll is available on his website to donors of $100 or more to his campaign.
\n“If you elect me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be the first Governor in Texas history with a listed phone number,” Friedman writes on his website, www.kinkyfriedman.com.
\nHe touts education reform, a Texas Peace Corps, criminal justice reform, new energy — including bio-diesel fuels and the de-wussification of Texas.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the great state of Texas! We are not wusses, we are Texans,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Friedman said. “We will beat back the wussification of Texas if we have to do it one wuss at a time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nBut Kinky faces a huge uphill battle as an independent candidate in Texas.
\nThe Texas Constitution stacks the cards against a third-party candidate.
\nHe must get more than 45,000 registered voters’ signatures on a petition in just 62 days after the March primaries. If a runoff happens, he’ll have half that time.
\nAnother issue Friedman faces is that petition signers must not have voted in either primary.
\nSo to encourage voters to stay away from the polls he is urging voters to “Save Yourself for Kinky.”
\nSo how and why does an outsider use a cartoon on the web to boost his campaign?
\nFriedman uses the cartoon to tout his independence, while standing in front of a picture of Texas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 own Sam Houston. He says people want something different.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our schools leave every teacher behind,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Friedman says in the ad. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in a race with Mississipi to the bottom of the barrel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every few years its election time again, which means it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to choose between paper and plastic,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Friedman said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not much of a choice\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 maybe that is why 75-percent of you voters avoided the polls in 2002.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThe ad takes jabs at \u00e2\u20ac\u0153politics as usual\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with politicians who continue to tout their love of Texas and their love of Jesus — including a politician yelling, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jesus es grande!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d atop an oil pump.
\nThe ad also takes a jab at the Texas Legislature and their debate over \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sexy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d cheerleading.
\nIn interviews since the cartoons release, Friedman and his campaign have explained the Jesus references are not a jab at Jesus or Christianity, but a jab at politicians who continue to politicize religion, Christ and Christianity.
\nFriedman has also noted that his is proud to support prayer in Texas schools.
\nThe ad also contains a menorah spewing red, white and blue near the end of the ad.
\nThe ad is unusual, irreverent, but funny enough to get your attention.
\nI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t personally agree with all of Kinky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s platforms and beliefs, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll vote for him in November yet; but I can say, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be saving myself for Kinky in March.
\nHe can count on me to sign his petition.
\nTexas needs a third-party candidate to help steer us from politics and business as usual.
\nHe may not have a shot in the dark at winning the campaign, but then again California elected Arnold and Minnesota elected Jesse \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Body\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ventura.
\nSo who knows, maybe this cigar toting singer\/songwriter from Kerrville can make a big enough splash and win the campaign.
\nI for one want to give him at least a chance to get on the ballot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Texas Governatorial candidate, Richard \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kinky\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Friedman has unveiled his first cartoon for the 2006 campaign. The KinkyToon features an animated Friedman, in his usual outfit, a black cowboy hat, white shirt, black coat and his infamous cigar. The 60-year old candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cartoon is about as untraditional as the candidate himself. Friedman, born and raised in … Continue reading This weeks column: Getting Kinky<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-7n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}