Run Jerry Run!: Jerry Springer Senate Exploratory Committee (via Chuck Kuffner)
Apparently, this is from all indications NOT a publicity stunt. Springer actually seems to have some ideas. Of course, this is hardly Springer's first foray into politics- prior to his talk show, he was mayor of Cincinnati. I always steadfastly refused to watch Springer's show, catering as it did to the lowest common denominator. Springer is an uncommonly intelligent and thoughtful man, and I could never reconcile that with his trailer-trash talk show. Still, it did make him fabulously wealthy, and you can't deny him his success, can you?.
Stripped to its essentials, it is this: an Ohio and an America where regular, ordinary, hard-working people aren't ignored at best, and screwed at worst by their own government. I know it might sound hokey, but I am living proof that at least once upon a time, the American dream really could and did work. In one generation, I went from a family that was largely exterminated in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany to this ridiculously privileged life I live today by virtue of my getting lucky with my television show. But I also believe that many, if not most, American families today do not have the benefit of equal opportunity. I want to turn that around and help redeem the American dream...I want to be in the forefront of a populist, grass roots movement that will demand economic and tax justice, equal educational opportunities, and access to basic health care and health insurance. Too many people today don't vote because they see no point; they don't identify with either Party because they believe ---and correctly, I might add ---that they and their concerns are not on the radar screens of the power structure...that it doesn't matter if a Democrat or a Republican wins because their lives never change no matter who wins.
At this point, it is not even clear that Springer can win the Democratic nomination. If he were to be successful, I would give him a better-than-even shot at defeating the incumbent, former Ohio Governor George Voinovich, a politician with all the charisma of Shredded Wheat.
Of course, I don't live in Ohio, so my opinion hardly matters, but Ohio Democrats could certainly do worse than Springer. On the plus side, he just might bring some welcome media attention (and money) to the campaign. At this point, Democrats need all the attention they can garner. Springer can produce that, and he just may turn out to be the right man for the job. The Senate would certainly be a more interesting place.
