Colorful Candidates Spruce Up Midterm Races
By Bonnie Shelton 10.18.06

As mid-term elections draw near, some politicians are pulling out all the stops with unique slogans and stunts.

“These types of things basically draw attention to a situation. Politics should be fun,” said Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan in an AP report. “I’m pleased when somebody does something a little different.”

Lundergan was referring to the recent antics of Otis Hensley and the fresh style of Kinky Friedman.

Otis Hensley, a Kentucky gubernatorial candidate, rode a 12 foot fiberglass bull around the state capitol to show he would “control the bull in Frankfort.”

“The bull is going to help me get the attention I need. And then I’ll have to convince people that I am the right man for this state,” Hensley said in a press conference after the stunt.

Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman is turning heads with his slogans “Why the hell not” and “How hard can it be.” Having never held political office, Friedman, a musician and a novelist, is campaigning on his celebrity status. He even has his own action figure available.

“It’s a risk worth taking,” Stromberg said. “They’re fans as much as they are voters.”

Other candidates are using an authentic edginess to win. One such candidate is Iowa’s James Hill who literally claims to be a pirate for the people. Seeking the U.S. Congressional seat, Hill is running with the slogan “Pirate for Congress.”

“What you see is what you get. I am the only drunken pirate seeking office in this great nation,” Hill states on his Web site where he makes his pirate claims. “Every day I fight the urge to drink, debauch women out of wed-lock and beat people on the street.”

While Hill represents the extreme side of unusual politicking, more conservative candidates also favor using non-traditional means. Carole Keeton Strayhorn does this with her “One tough grandma” slogan.
“She was tough long before she was a grandmother,” said Brad McClellan, Strayhorn’s son and campaign manager.

Strayhorn, another Texas gubernatorial candidate and grandmother of six girls, earned the name grandma early in her political career.

“She was a single mom raising four teenage boys while being mayor of Austin,” Mclellan said, “She is tough.”

While education, healthcare and taxes remain issues, these candidates’ non-traditional campaigns are their ticket to being recognized among the other politicians. November’s elections will determine how successful these candidates were at trying something new.