Kinky Friedman: under the influence of his own Kool-Aid

Two days after the election, it's now clear that independent candidate Kinky Friedman actually was operating under the illusion that he would be the next governor of Texas.

In a telephone interview Thursday morning with Don Imus on the "Imus in the Morning" radio/TV show, Friedman sounded like a crushed man.

Winning only 12 percent of the vote will do that to a politician, but we didn't think it'd happen to Kinky. It's a sad, sad spectacle.

"The thing I guess I regret is Texas kinda turned her back on the cowboy ... You're tempted to say screw Texas and the horse she rode in on," he told Imus.

Later in the interview, he did what many defeated and/or scandalized politicians do -- he blamed the media!

"The Texas media were a disappointment in that they didn't get the significance of this race and all the international press did," Friedman said.

"It's a question of how hip is the room and Texas wasn't ready for me."

We know the media "got" the significance of the Friedman candidacy. It was good copy! Irresistable copy! And we thank Kinky Friedman for it. Plus, his t-shirts were pretty cool. (We could not come up with the scratch for one of the Kinky Friedman talking dolls.)

We here at The Brazosport News played along, first throwing our support behind Kinky, then withdrawing it, then giving it back in the final days, saying it might be the start of a serious Third Party movement. But we never believed any of it. It was just good copy! Or maybe it was just copy.

It saddens us to report that Friedman is taking his defeat so hard. We liked the happy-go-lucky, irreverent, anti-politician gubuernatorial candidate, not the guy who goes to the predictable political playbook of blaming the media when things go south.

Moreover, during this morning's interview, Kinky told Imus he planned to have lunch with Gov. Rick Perry, who won the election with a pathetic 39 percent of the vote.

If Friedman gets appointed to some state commission, I guess it wouldn't surprise us at this point.

Willie Nelson apparently is ready for another Friedman candidacy, according to Friedman, who said he chatted on the phone with the Red Headed Stranger. "He told me he'd back me again if he's still alive," Kinky said.

We would advise against a second camaign. The first visit to the fun house is a kick, but the second one never measures up. Say goodnight, Kinky.