Posted on 07/24/2006 6:42:58 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Candidate Kinky holds court at Bleacher's Cafe RUTH BRADLEY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
When Kinky Friedman walked into Bleacher's Sports Cafe Sunday afternoon, a cigar in his mouth, he stopped for a moment to take a picture with a constituent before taking his place on stage next to a sign reading "Keep Austin weird, make Lubbock Kinky."
This is not your typical gubernatorial candidate.
And that's the way Friedman wants it.
"I think that most of us have come to the conclusion that we could use a non-politician to run the state of Texas," he said, a cigar in one hand and a beer in the other.
Nearly 200 supporters showed up at the meet-and-greet, discussing issues with Friedman as he signed their campaign merchandise.
"I'll sign anything but bad legislation," Friedman said.
One-liners like that are one of the leading characteristics of Friedman's campaign.
"I've just returned from a fact-finding tour of Las Vegas," Friedman said, speaking of his platform to legalize gambling in Texas to support education.
Referring to an incident earlier in his campaign, Friedman defended his appearance in Dallas where he came under fire for drinking a beer while riding in a moving parade vehicle.
"I admit that I drank the Guinness," he said, "but I did not swallow."
But when it comes to talking about education, energy, care of state parks or immigration - the four issues Friedman is most concerned about - he sobers up a little. But he'll still light up a cigar before he answers a constituent's question.
"The politicians have let education down in Texas," Friedman said. "They're working on a shell game that will look good for election time."
Friedman said Gov. Rick Perry's school tax plan and other similar initiatives aren't getting the job done.
"We invented Texas Hold'em, we can't even play it here," Friedman said. "Get the money coming back in."
Friedman said he plans to use money raised by legalized gambling to solely support education, but that he will leave legalized gambling as an option to be determined by individual districts of Texas.
"If they don't want it, they should vote it out of this area," he said.
Friedman said he also hopes to reform education by getting rid of the TAKS test, which he said dumbs down the system. He also plans to work to put prayer back in schools.
"What's wrong with a kid believing in something?" he said.
Concerning the energy crisis, Friedman said he plans to encourage energy reform by promoting the use of biodiesel. He is also looking to other energy sources, such as wind farms, to help end the crisis.
Finally, Friedman said he hopes to see attention brought back to the improvement of state parks.
"The people belong to the land, and the land belongs to the people," he said. "I want (the land) to be vibrant."
Finally, Friedman said he hopes to be able to take a hard line with the issue of illegal immigration, something he said has been sorely neglected.
"The Mexican government is the only one that's doing well on it," he said.
Next up in his campaign, Friedman said he plans to speak with the governor of New Mexico about the problem of illegal immigration.
Between this and all his upcoming stump stops, Friedman has a lot on his plate. But that's OK.
"I'll sleep when I'm governor," he said.
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I like Kinky.
Constituent:
n.
1. A constituent part; a component. See Synonyms at element.
2. A resident of a district or member of a group represented by an elected official.
3. One that authorizes another to act as a representative; a client.
4. Grammar. A functional unit of a grammatical construction, as a verb, noun phrase, or clause.
I don't think this guy is using the word properly
Anyone thinking someone named "Kinky" will make a good Governor is smoking some Columbian Reserve.
He kind of sounds like a leftward version of William F. Buckley, Jr., who ran for mayor in 1965. By the way, have you heard that WFB has come out "against" GWB, saying that the president is not a "true conservative." WFB opposes the Iraq war.
WFB also wants to decriminalize drugs.
WFB also invented conservatism.
Yea, I know that WFB used to boast about using marijuana and not being caught. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh will continue to imitate WFB in awe now that WFB is "anti-Bush."
But he'd probably make the rounds on the Sunday pundit shows..
Yes, it is all a joke isn't it? That's because most of the Republicans want the Democrats to say something nice about them, rather than doing they they claimed they would do if elected.
I disagree.
Common sense invented Conservatism.
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