Jimmy McMillan, the gubernatorial candidate on the “Rent Is Too Damn High” ticket in New York, tells National Review Online he’s pleased with his performance in last night’s debate. “There’s one guy who stole the show last night and that’s Jimmy McMillan,” he says. “Those other guys were just sitting there taking up space.”
Video of McMillan’s rhythmic responses has spread virally today. He’s an overnight star. “I’m on CBS tonight. I’m on the Oprah radio show on Friday. All across the state they are calling me like crazy.”
McMillan attributes the sudden interest to his winning message: Rent is just too damn high. “You’ve got to roll prices back. . . . You’ve got a store or a supermarket and you pay $12,000 for rent. Now I’ll cut it to $6,000 but it comes with a price: You’ve got to hire a least one or two people. Store owners pay property taxes and real-estate taxes, those are going to be cut in half as well.”
The reason for these policies is that they’re for the children. “You make the children suffer and you get on my nerve,” McMillan declares. “I will fight for these children. I will make sure that these parents can take their kids on a vacation. I do care about you and your suffering, and if you’re still voting for the same person, you don’t give a damn about your child. Daddy’s right here.”
For the longest time, McMillan argues, politicians weren’t for the children. They were for themselves. McMillan can’t think of a governor he esteems because they “all were behind the mortgage fraud and the housing discrimination. They knew it. I want to come in and clean up the mess.” To the business-as-usual crowd, McMillan warns, “You won’t get a pat on the back from me. If your birthday comes, I won’t celebrate it.”
That said, McMillan refuses to speak ill of his rivals, Carl Paladino and Andrew Cuomo. A veteran of the Vietnam War, McMillan says Paladino “is my brother because he was a captain in the United States Army for five years. I would never say anything negative about him. He told me his credentials backstage before the debate. I didn’t know. I wanted to eat him up. But now he’s my brother.”
Still, there’s one politician McMillan admires: Ronald Reagan. The 40th president charmed audiences with his impeccable sense of humor, and McMillan tried to emulate his example last night. For instance, at one point he rhymed his answer: “There’s nowhere to go. Once again, why? You said it, ‘The rent is too damn high.’” The audience roared. “Once the other candidates heard that,” he says, “they were doomed.”
A sense of humor is the sharpest of political weapons and for McMillan, no one wielded it better than Reagan. “Obama has almost got it, but Ronald Reagan perfected it,” he says. “I love him to death.”
On the one hand, I hate to mock, because he seems like a nice enough guy who is genuinely concerned about the state's problems. But how many of these jokers can our system stand? You have Greene in SC, and now this guy, who I realize is a fringe candidate from a fringe party. (Some comedians might say the same of Greene.) But isn't there a risk that one of these guys is going to get himself elected one day? I generally trust in the intelligence of the electorate, but a guy like this could catch fire and win up winning a job that has serious responsibilities. Maybe I'm taking this all a little too seriously, but woe unto his or her constituents.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFrom Christine O'Donnell to Rick Santourm to Jimmy the Rent.
How does NR find the time to write about actual issues and serious people?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJimmy has inspired me.
I now throw my hat (actually, it's a colander) into the ring as the candidate of the My Mortgage Is Too D*** High Party.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm excitedly awaiting the opinion of the 26 year old woman, AKA Meghan McCain, on Jimmy McMillan.
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Maybe it's time for a few more guys like this, not a few fewer. I might be romanticizing the idea, but there are a lot of competent people out there who don't have polish or media savvy, but would still be great leaders.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, that's it! Government can set the rental rates for private property by fiat! What a swell idea!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCatchy as the phrase sounds, people conveniently overlook the fact that he blames high rents on "the Jews". From his campaign website in 2009 :
"This is true all Latinos/ Hispanics/ Blacks/ Others... as well as every religious group other than Judiasm are being run out of this area. The Williamsburg Section of Brooklyn, NY. Don't take our word go to Flushings Ave and Bedford Ave/ Lee Ave and Nostrand Ave witness the Hate by the people of the Jewish Faith."
Not so savvy sounding now, is he?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusespool: Maybe you're right. God knows we need fewer professional politicians and bureaucrats wielding power. I just hope there's a middle ground between the pros and McMillan.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn NYC, the govt is already very involved in pricing and control. I watched some of the debate on NY1 and he wants to also get rid of Rent Control and all of that which are drags on the system already. Apts that should be $5000 or more can be at $500 or less. Its already out of whack and far from a true capitalist system. His way while not the best would be better, he's willing to cut the taxes of the landlords to cover and eliminating the various boards which can conflict have one instead.
I would prefer a more capitalistic system and I would be willing to try his way...perhaps implemented by more serious candidate but I also know a sudden change would seriously upset things too quickly.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAm I the only one who thinks this guy is just trying to force new meme? The f***** hair, the gloves, his party's name...
Also: Your comment cannot be posted since it contains objectionable language (f*****). Please reword your comment.
I mean the hair on his face.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusecp277:
Have you ever heard of Al Franken? He's a comic writer of "Saturday Night Live" fame. Pretty well-known, actually. He is the junior US Senator from Minnesota.
You should rest assured that, as a tribunal, the Senate - while in the hands of some illogical people at the moment - will survive the presence in its midst of one comedian. I wager that non-august tribunal could survive a few more. The myth needs to be broken that service in public office requires some mystical skill set that only certain endeavors provide to people in preparation for service.
This is why the late WFB, may he rest in peace, once stated (and I roughly paraphrase) that he'd rather be governed by the first 500 names in the Boston, Mass. phone book than the typical politicians.
Hannibal needs to be shocked into accepting that:
THE GATES TO THE CASTLE ARE OPEN!
I truly believe that if the people we live with and work with every day were among the majority in public office (despite our ideologies), so much more would get accomplished.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusecp277,
I think this has already happened. Al Franken.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI kind of admire his laser-like focus on one issue! And it's one that actually resonates with a lot of people (cost of living in this economy.) He may not be the right messenger (and his "policies" sound like fantasy), but at least he's in touch with voter concerns! And I like it a lot that he refuses to get into gutter attacks. That's two things he has over a lot of major party candidates . . . I'd rather have McMillan represent me than someone like Alan Grayson or Alexi Giannoulias(however you spell it)!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHe's hilarious and this beard is magnificent, it's a pity that his ideas are so ruinous that I can't support him on a lark. I know that I'm not supposed to take him seriously, and I should look at his delightfully ridiculous campaign website and forget everything else, but he really thinks that he can set the rent prices over the entire state and ignore economics and sense. He's preposterous, but actually kind of scary.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"But isn't there a risk that one of these guys is going to get himself elected one day?"
And do what? Spend a trillion on shovel-ready projects that don't exist? Pass health care reform in which everyone's entitled to insurance for their kids no matter if they pay or not? Suggest that Guam might tip over from too many soldiers? Really, what could they do that somebody hasn't already done?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAre we sure that Jimmy isn't a Eddie Murphy SNL skit? Or an Ashton Kutcher "You've Been Punked" episode?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI thought about Franken when I wrote my initial comment. While he's a clown, and I eagerly await his defeat in 2014, he's not in the same category as McMillan.
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