Kinky Developments in the Perry Primary Race [Politics]

Yesterday, everyone's favorite Texas Jewboy and erstwhile political candidate made headlines by supposedly endorsing Governor Rick Perry for president in a Daily Beast editorial.

This came as a surprise to many, especially those paying attention to Kinky Friedman and his political opinions over the last few years. As recently as September 2009, as a matter of fact, the Kinkster had plenty of choice words for the governor:

And of course Rick Perry and Kay Bailey [Hutchison] are fresh out of ideas. They've been in politics the whole of their adult lives, they're in the hands of the big rich. They won't have any ideas. So I really see myself as more of somebody who can be a true populist, who can represent the people of Texas, and I think we're the ones getting left out by Rick Perry. He always says the state's in the black, but we're all in the red.

This morning Kinky semi-walked his endorsement back in an interview with KTRH 740 AM Houston Morning News, claiming he only meant to say a few nice things about Perry the man, not necessarily Perry the candidate. He pointed out that the editorial also said that he'd vote for Charlie Sheen before he'd vote for President Obama. So... maybe not so much an endorsement, after all (although he did call the governor a mensch for ringing him up after the 2006 gubernatorial election to say some nice things).

It's not surprising that Kinky Friedman might feel some kinship with Rick Perry, though. They have more in common than the casual observer might realize. For example:

Menschenness (yes, we just now made that word up. Sue us): If one can score high on the mensch meter with a friendly post-election phone call, surely saving thousands of abandoned animals scores higher, right? Which is what Kinky's Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch in Medina, Texas, has reportedly achieved. Utopia Animal Rescue, co-founded and financially supported by Friedman, rescues abandoned pets and farm animals, including dogs, cats, horses, and even raccoons. If that's not the act of a mensch, we don't know what is.

Barbecue: Kinky appeared in the documentary "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story," where he declared, "Jesus loved barbecue." Rick Perry ordered enough barbecue for his inaugural dinner (paid for by philanthopist Red McCombs) to feed 10,000 people. He even combined a love of barbecue with get-out-the-vote tech savvy in a personal 2008 video invitation to a barbecue lunch.

Hating on Washington and politics: The Kinkster has frequently denounced American politics, saying, among other things, that it's easier to defend a coyote than it is a politician. Rick Perry said Thursday in a radio interview with conservative host Laura Ingraham that Washington is a "seedy place."

Shooting from the hip (also known as mouthing off): Both Friedman and Perry have caught heat for things they've said before and during campaigns. For example, during his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Kinky earned a scolding from the governor for his use of the N-word in a 1980 comedy routine. And for his part, Perry has taken a fair amount of flak from both the left and right for his off-the-cuff comments about Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

And finally... the hair: Let's face it. Without the hair, who would Kinky and Perry be? A bald Kinky would be plain old Richard S. Friedman. Governor Goodhair might very well be just James R. Perry, a conservative rancher from West Texas, especially considering that the last follicule-challenged governor we had was Preston Smith, back in 1969. Kinky, however, is on record as saying, "I have a better head of hair than Rick Perry. It's just in a place I can't show you."