Kinky fan? yes; endorsement? no
Gossip column makes hay over how Ann Richards might have voted
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - A week after speaking at the late Gov. Ann Richards’ memorial, syndicated columnist Liz Smith sparked an uproar in the Texas governor’s race Tuesday by implying that Richards had been supporting independent Kinky Friedman.
But after a day of angst by the Richards family and Texas Democrats, Smith recanted.
“Let’s just say I was mistaken,” Smith said in an interview.
Smith’s column in Tuesday’s New York Post was e-mailed to reporters by Friedman’s campaign as a sign of good news in the ongoing storm of controversy over the racially charged humor he has used in past satirical stage shows and in novels.
Democratic nominee Chris Bell, who invokes Richards in his own speeches, called Smith’s column “an outrage.”
Richards’ four children issued a statement saying the former governor was not supporting Friedman and was a loyal Democrat.
Smith said she knew Richards liked Friedman but said she had taken it a step too far in her column to imply the former governor was supporting him.
‘Jumping to an assumption’
“I was jumping to an assumption because we had talked a lot about Kinky and weird candidacies and offbeat candidacies, and things are so pathetic in Texas, I jumped to a conclusion that I shouldn’t have printed,” Smith said. “She said not too long before she left New York that anything could happen and he might have a chance.”
Friedman, who said Richards was a personal friend, said he thinks Smith knew what Richards was thinking about in the governor’s race.
“I know Liz was Ann’s best friend,” Friedman said. “To me it makes spiritual sense that Ann would feel that way, and Liz would know it.”
The column noted that Smith had attended a New York fundraiser for Friedman that had been hosted by Houstonian Carolyn Farb.
Smith said the controversy was breaking at the time about Friedman’s use of an offensive racial stereotype of blacks. She said she did not think Friedman is a racist and that he uses humor to tell hard truths.
“If you were an Ann Richards fan, you could memorialize her by endorsing her own candidate — Kinky,” Smith wrote in the Post. “And if you are a real Democrat, a populist or a liberal-thinking person, I’d say Kinky is your man. I hope he wins.”
The Richards children — Cecile, Dan, Clark and Ellen — issued a statement saying Richards did not support Friedman.
“Ann Richards did not support Kinky Friedman for governor of Texas nor endorse him before she died. She was very concerned about this election. She always voted a straight Democratic ticket,” they said.
Bell claims Richards’ legacy
Bell said Smith and Friedman should have respected Richards’ family.
“Ann Richards’ legacy is my agenda. She was a true-blue Democrat, and we should respect the family at this time,” he said.
On Monday, Bell invoked Richards’ name while speaking to a Democratic gathering in San Antonio. When he started thinking about running for governor against incumbent Republican Rick Perry, many people told him he was crazy, he said.
“I heard one of the people who thought I was crazy was Ann Richards, and that I would need to go by her office as a courtesy so she could tell me I was crazy. I was really looking forward to that, as you can imagine.”
Bell said he ran into Richards in an Austin hotel and asked for an appointment at her office.
“In her own inimitable way, she said, ‘Honey, you don’t need to come by my office, I can tell you you’re crazy right here,’ ” Bell said. “But after a couple of months, Governor Richards started seeing a lot of what I had already seen regarding Rick Perry’s vulnerability. ”
Friedman said he does not think he has been hurt by a week’s worth of stories.
“The unforeseen event is it is shoring up the support of every redneck in Texas. That’s a lot of votes,” Friedman said.
r.g.ratcliffe@ chron.com
————————————————————————————————————————

HoustonChronicle. com—http://www.HoustonC hronicle. com | Section: Houston & Texas
This article is: http://www.chron. com/disp/ story.mpl/ metropolitan/ 4217362.html
————————————————————————————————————————Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.

._,_._
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages
Please give us your town state and zip code when you post a message. Also please avoid personal attacks and policy pronouncements and try to stick to what you have heard or read in your neighborhood or in a publication regarding opinion in this election.

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity

1New Members
Visit Your Group
SPONSORED LINKS
Campaign and election
Yahoo! News
Sports News

Get up to the

minute sports news

Yahoo! TV
Want the scoop?

Check out today’s

news and gossip.

Yahoo! Groups
Start a group

in 3 easy steps.

Connect with others.

But I fail to see why there are any quotes in this headline. Is Kinky Friedman a racist? Probably. But are the remarks racist? Absolutely. Just because someone isn’t genocidal doesn’t mean they’re not racist. Just because something is a joke doesn’t mean it’s not racist. Politicians shouldn’t make racist remarks unless they want to be called on them. It’s pretty simple, really. Then again, in an enlightened state like Texas, it probably isn’t exactly political suicide to be outted as a knuckle-dragging racist.

Jews are a protected minority group, so therefore, this is a moot point.

However, due to the public candidacy, there are PC “no-no’s” that you’ve gotta be watchful for.

And, for AP Style reasons I have to point out that only single ‘quote’ marks are used in headlines, whereas “double” quotation marks are used in the story.

Just throwing that in there…

He’s no libertarian, so he’s gotten not a dollar from me. But I do admit, I like his style.

I’ll go on record now—I predict Kinky Friedman will be the next governor of Texas. If not, he will come in second.