Vote Kinky!

I can't believe I've not blogged yet about Kinky Friedman's gubernatorial campaign, and now it is Election Day 2006.

While I myself have never lived in Texas, I have four half-brothers that do, and at least one of them is voting for Kinky. That brother, Pete, also said that everyone he knows is voting for the Kinkster. Fingers crossed that the turn out is good, with no issues like the flooding going on in my own state.

I first learned about Kinky when I was working at the American Jewish Historical Society. My boss, Dr. Kaganoff, avidly collected anything from anyone even remotely Jewish. And so Kinky Friedman's mystery novel, Frequent Flyer came along my desk to be cataloged. Very occasionally, I "borrowed" a book from the library before it was cataloged (the AJHS library has never been a circulating collection). I enjoyed it enough to seek out the rest of his mysteries. When I moved to the Seattle area, I checked out a CD of his band, Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, thoroughly enjoying the music, especially the lyrics, despite my general dislike of the country music genre.

I was thrilled to hear Kinky was running for Governor of Texas, especially given one of his slogans is 'How hard could it be?' I've watched some of his ads from his Web site (http://www.kinkyfriedman.com) and found them refreshingly focused on issues and what he wants, rather than reacting to or mudslinging at his opponents. He is a statesman.

I've no idea what his real chances are of winning, but I'd love to see it happen. So, if you can, Vote for Kinky! And, if you can't, go ahead and vote anyway.