Just when you thouht everyone
and anyone had jumped into the gubernatorial election to replace
Davis, along comes a first: an animated candidate — what
a concept.
By George Wolfe
LOS ANGELES – With only several days left to be eligible
as the next governor of California, and hundreds of people already
signed up to replace Governor Gray Davis, Homer Simpson is the
latest candidate to register.
AN ANIMATED CAMPAIGN:
Simpson says that while he doesn't consider himself "one
of them political kinda guys," nonetheless he'll give it
his best shot.
The Fox Network's move to put Simpson on the ballot comes
after allegations that MTV put Ozzy Osbourne on the ballot
to add political drama to its reality-TV script for The Osbournes
—thus boosting ratings. It now seems that the necessary
sixty-five signatures gathered by Osbourne's campaign are
those of MTV employees.
"Homer
Simpson embodies earnestness, honesty and middle-America family
values."
— Dylan Silverstein, Fox Network exec
Dylan Silverstein, a Fox executive, said, "We're dead serious.
At his best, Homer Simpson embodies earnestness, honesty and middle-America
family values."
And when cell phone giant Verizon heard about Fox's
entry, they promptly entered their "Can-You-Hear-Me-Now?"
guy into the race.
While the rest the of the U.S. weighs the larger
issue of California being the country's laughingstock, California
itself is sorting through the ethical and legal nitty-gritty of
whether an animated character really could govern the world's
sixth-largest economy.
It seems, however, that Governor Davis may have
the final laugh in California's battle for the absurd. According
to sources close to the governor, it would take only 11 million
eligible people (roughly, the adult population of Los Angeles)
to register and pay the $3500 gubernatorial entry fee in order
to wipe out the state's entire $38 billion deficit.
Those same sources suggest that Gray Davis himself
started the whole recall campaign in order to raise money to cover
the deficit.
A BRIGHT VERIZON: The
"Can-You-Hear-Me-Now?" Guy wants to know if California
voters will receive his political message loud and clear.