The Other Big Wednesday Announcement

Nick Gillespie | August 4, 2003

As a lonely country turns its eyes to Jay Leno this Wednesday to see if Arnold will run for governor of California, let's not forget that Jerry Springer is also set to announce the same day whether he'll run for senator from Ohio.

Sonny Bono did it. So did Cooter from The Dukes of Hazzard. And Gopher from The Love Boat.

If Jerry Springer announces Wednesday that he is indeed running for the U.S. Senate from Ohio, he will be only the latest celebrity to try to jump from TV to D.C.

The Cincinnati Enquirer points out that Springer, who served as the Queen City's mayor, has virtually universal name recognition among Buckeye State voters. Alas, seven out of 10 have an unfavorable impression of the trash TV host.

Comments

joe|8.4.03 @ 3:30AM|#

Springer was mayor of Cleveland before he went into TV. A more apt comparison would be if Fred Thompson ran for Pres. in 2012.

|8.4.03 @ 3:40AM|#

joe - Springer was mayor of Cincinnati...

joe|8.4.03 @ 3:56AM|#

d'oh!

|8.4.03 @ 3:57AM|#

You know, Cincy, Cleveland...same difference. ;)

Gene Berkman|8.4.03 @ 3:59AM|#

I bet Jerry Springer is just sorry he does not live in California, where he could join 300 other candidates for Governor.

Madog|8.4.03 @ 4:45AM|#

Maybe he could have them all on his show.

|8.4.03 @ 8:31AM|#

The funny thing to me is that all Springer does is inject what is often highly intelligent (or just seems that way) and sometimes witty commentary to his guests pretty much self-directed, self-created, self-exposing, fully willing and voluntary displays of distasteful and immoral behavior for all the world to see. I'm even willing to bet that his guests are typically not even made substantively worse off - the 'victims' get the immorality and putridness of their 'oppressors' on TV, and the oppressors get...well, to be on TV. Win-win, it would seem.

But then, I've obviously an extremely counter-cultural streak of non-judgemental libertarianism in me. That, and I tend to value Springer for it's often stunningly clear insights into human nature - the beauty is simply that people are being so damned honest (on TV, anyway). Juxtaposing a politician with such honesty is nothing short out outright...well, shocking.

I still await the comment from a politician that they enjoy politics in no small part because it allows them so much dominance and control. I don't expect them all to even think that or be aware of it - I kind of just want to know that they all aren't just outright delusional with no real non-manipulative understanding of human nature.

Craig|8.5.03 @ 10:18AM|#

anyone know much about his record when he was mayor in cinci? i'd look into it myself but... well its not at the top of my "to do" list for today

Kevin Carson|8.5.03 @ 11:28AM|#

Plutarck:

I like Springer because he's not a hypocrite. He admits he's putting on a circus because there's a lot of sick people out there that like that kind of thing.

Unlike the sanctimonious Donahue, who used to go ballistic about "elitism" when the talking heads complained about tabloid TV, and start lecturing about the "social relevance" of the freaks on his show. The whole line of "argument" was classic Donahue moral relativism: "Who are YOU [rolls eyes owlishly] to say one thing is better than another?"

It was kind of like his standard reaction to religious people: "So you're saying there's only one truth? The other religions are all wrong?" No kidding, dipshit; people choose a religion (ideally) because they think it's true, and when different religions make competing truth claims that are mutually contradictory, some of them must be wrong.