They might not be “makin’ Jews like Jesus anymore,” but
they have made Kinky Friedman into a politician. The star of the Texas Jewboys
in the 1970s is now on the ballot for Governor of Texas.

His presence is sure to make for an interesting
campaign. At least there will be a choice on questions that most politicians try
hard to avoid. Questions like gay marriage where Kinky has declared: “”I support
gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of
us”.

Despite views like that, Kinky has pulled off the quite
remarkable feat of getting himself onto the Texas ballot paper.
That required gathering a minimum of 45,540 petition signatures from registered
Texas voters who did not cast ballots in the Republican or Democratic primaries
this northern spring. Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams announced on
Friday that 137,154 of Friedman’s signatures met the requirements.

So now the country singer, who turned to penning detective
novels (such as God Bless John
Wayne in 1995 and The Curse of
the Missing Puppethead in 2003), is off and running with his plan for
the “de-wussification” of Texas politics. For a taste of his campaigning style
go to kinkytoons
where musical buddies from around Texas helped him with an
animated cartoon to attract the petition signatures he needed. Willie Nelson,
Billy Joe Shaver, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Pat Green, and the Dixie Chicks
are all featured.