Posted on 08/20/2007 12:06:39 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Ted Nugent might run for Governor of Michigan
By: Adam Tanner
Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:24 AM EDT
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Ted Nugent is exuberantly excited most of the time, but he grows even more animated when asked if he ever tires of playing "Cat Scratch Fever," the 1977 hit he's played thousands of times in a 40-year career.
He shouts repeated obscenities, then picks up a guitar and plays part of both "Cat Scratch Fever" and his 1975 song "Stranglehold" with unbridled enthusiasm.
"When I get on stage, I know what it means to people, I know what it means to me. It's a timeless masterpiece guitar song, how can I not play that?" he said in his dressing room before a recent concert at the House of Blues in Las Vegas.
At age 58, Nugent still brims with teenage enthusiasm for hard rock music. He is also one of the nation's most outspoken gun and hunting advocates. And he is considering a run for political office.
Mixing the unbridled personality of actor Robin Williams with the vocabulary of an urban rapper, the father and grandfather still performs about 70 concerts a year in which his music stays true to his hard rock roots with a relentless beat.
"I haven't lost the energy but I have learned how to better and more efficiently channel it."
People close to Nugent confirm his manic ways. "He's pretty much that way all the time," said singer and guitarist Derek St. Holmes, who has played with Nugent since the 1970s.
A board member of the National Rifle Association, Nugent says he spends about 200 days a year hunting, guiding clients to places such as his Michigan hunting preserve, as well as Alaska, Africa, California, Colorado, Texas, and Canada.
He favors hunting many different species, including elephants, mountain lions and tigers, and only when pressed comes up with a few animals he believes should not be hunted, such as penguins.
From Detroit and known as the "Motor City Madman," he has performed nearly 6,000 concerts in his career and releases his 32nd album, "Love Grenade," on September 4, which sticks with the sex and rock formula.
GOVERNOR NUGENT?
For all of his wild-man antics, the politically conservative Nugent is talking about following in the footsteps of celebrities such as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger or wrestler Jesse Ventura, who won gubernatorial races.
"That would be beautiful," Nugent said when asked if he would run for governor of Michigan in 2010. "I have threatened to do so and I was sincere."
Some of Nugent's antics make even Schwarzenegger's past outspokenness appear measured by comparison.
"Michigan was once a great state. Michigan was a state that rewarded the entrepreneur and the most productive, work-ethic families of the state. Now the pimps and the whores and the welfare brats are basically the state's babies."
Nugent refuses to mince words and often uses a racial epithet to describe blacks that normally would mean political suicide. He says his embrace of the word reflects his respect for the black contribution to rock and roll and has another expletive for anyone who disagrees with him.
Heavy duty weapons decorate the stage during his concerts and at his Las Vegas performance he condemned Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Long a critic of drugs, Nugent wrote a recent opinion article for the Wall Street Journal condemning the widespread drug use during the Summer of Love in 1967. He drank just cold water before his Vegas concert.
Nugent still embraces the carnal part of the sex, drugs and rock and roll formula and peppers his concert dialogue with a word describing women that many find offensive.
He described the availability of sex earlier in his life like this: "It was like when carp breed. You walk across the stream and they are ... splashing in the shallows. Just jump in."
Now Nugent says he is a one-woman man, living with his wife and youngest son in Crawford, Texas, near President George W. Bush's ranch. Life is "peaceful, barbecue every day, a lot of school activities with my son Rocco, a lot of charity work."
Although Nugent appears younger than his 58 years (he says freshly hunted venison meat is one secret to longevity), loud music for decades has caused major hearing loss in one ear.
"The ear's not too good, especially with background noise. That's a small price to pay," he said. "Believe me the journey was worth it."
Nugent, who is more Libertarian than Republican, would be following the likes of Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzennegger...
Who knows, he might win.
Nuge ping
Can’t even remember all the times I have seen him in concert, the new years eve bashes and several times while with the Damn Yankees or solo. I would vote for him simply because, well, he sure as hell can’t be any worse than Granholm is.
I’d rather that he run for president.
From Wikipedia.org (sic):
Nugent and the animal rights movement have long had an adversarial relationship. In 2000, Bhaskar Sinha was jailed briefly following an incident with Nugent outside a department store in San Francisco in which he allegedly threatened and physically assaulted Nugent, who in turn took Sinha into custody until San Francisco Police arrived and arrested the protester.
Nugent has reported receiving death threats against him and his family from animal rights activists. On the Penn & Teller’s Bullshit! episode about PETA, Nugent claimed, “We’ve got reports and files with law enforcement across America where animal rights extremists are on record threatening to kill my children on the way to school because we eat pheasant”. In 2006 he stated in an interview that “anyone who thinks hunting is terrible can kiss my ass.” [11]
In a 1992 radio interview, Nugent referred to Heidi Prescott of the Fund for Animals as a “worthless whore” and a “shallow slut,” asking “who needs to club a seal, when you can club Heidi?” and was ordered by a court to pay $75,000. [12]
Nugent owns a hunting ranch near Jackson, Michigan, called Sunrize Acres. Anti hunters claim this fenced facility offers “canned” hunts. Nugent has said, “I understand the criticism” from those who say canned hunting violates the ethic of fair chase, though he still operates the facility. Nugent was recently interviewed by Field & Stream magazine regarding “canned” hunts.[13] At Sunrize Acres he personally guides customers on a hunt for trophy bull bison ($5,000), Russian boar, or white-tailed deer ($10,000 each). [14]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nugent
run, nuge, run!!
I cannot improve on that title quote. LOLOL
he would be 100% better than the canadian feminazi socialist we got in the governors chair now....he has my vote
He’s probably a much better candidate for Governor than anyone else who’s running.
LOL, I've never heard that one. Awesome.
LOVE the nuge!
This could be a good year. Sammy Kershaw recently threw his hat into the ring for Lt. Governor of Louisiana...
What a lowlife this guy is....YECH!
He would be running to replace current Democrat Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm.
Count me in. I would vote for him.
Nothing in his current vocabulary makes me believe he would be anything like Ventura and Schwarzennegger. He would make a great governor, IMHO.
Ted suffers from Cat Scratch Fever, but I say bring it on!
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