The Rent Is Too Damn High

Politics today has taken an interesting twist. I almost didn't write about this, but I figured – the readership deserves to know about all things making the news in the world of INFOtainment.

Jimmy McMillan is a candidate for the office of governor in the state of New York. Mr. McMillan is running in the Rent Is Too Damn High Party !!

Official document here:

After looking over Mr. McMillan's website here, I found that he does strive to focus on core issues that affect many, if not all of our communities here in the United States (poverty, education, employment, and yes the price of rent).

Check out some clips from Mr. McMillan's recent gubernatorial debate

Now, with the likes of Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino also running for office, I don't see Mr. McMillan actually winning this race, but you have to give him some serious credit for giving us something to talk about.

Background on Jimmy McMillan

Jimmy McMillan, also known as Papa Smurf, is the founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, a New York-based political party. Since his latest appearance at the 2010 New York State gubernatorial debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. that was held on October 18, 2010 he has become a news and media celebrity. Foxnews.com reported that McMillan is a retired postal worker and he is the party's current nominee in the New York gubernatorial election. In 2005 and 2009 McMillan was the party's mayoral candidate for New York City.

In 2005, he received over 4000 votes (.03% of the total vote). In 2009, he received 2615 votes for his second campaign for Mayor.

During an appearance at a 2010 gubernatorial debate dominated by McMillan and the four other minor-party candidates, he stated his views on gay marriage, by saying “The Rent Is Too Damn High Party believes that if you want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you.”

Regarding his use of black gloves during the debate, “I’m a war vet,” McMillan said. “Don’t forget I was in Vietnam for two and half years and I have three Bronze Stars, but the chemicals of Agent Orange — dioxin and a lot of other chemicals mixed up — I would get sick. When I get home tonight, I know I’m not going to be able to breathe if I take them off. It could be psychological, I don’t know, but I just put em on and wear them anyway.”

McMillan has long been a fringe fixture in New York politics, running for mayor of New York City in 2005 and 2009. During the 2005 campaign he ran under the moniker “Prince Jimmy McMillan (a.k.a. Papa Smurf),” the Village Voice reported at the time.

In 2000 he tried to qualify to run against Hillary Clinton for Senate but was bounced from the ballot, the newspaper said; in 1994, he walked across the state in a bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but was kicked out of the state convention for heckling former Gov. Mario Cuomo. And in a 1993 run at the New York City mayorship, McMillan scaled a cable on the Brooklyn Bridge, the paper said (police coaxed him down, and he was hospitalized).

Be careful out there Jimmy.