Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Candidate Springer: Insane or inspired?
Some Democrats think he could win Senate seat
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
Democrats are desperate and dateless, so why not Jerry Springer?
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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Today on The Jerry Springer Show: talk show hosts who run for public office. That topic may not be as salacious as the trash-talking, chair-throwing, breast-baring affair Mr. Springer hosts on daytime TV. But some Ohio Democrats think the former Cincinnati mayor could be the perfect candidate for the post-Monica era.
Others think the Democratic Party has lost its mind.
Desperate to find somebody to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine next year, state Democratic Party leaders are asking Mr. Springer to consider a populist, Jesse Ventura-style return to politics.
Unlike others who have rejected the idea, Mr. Springer has two things Democrats want: money and instant name recognition generated by one of the top-rated programs on daytime TV.
“I think he would make a tremendous asset to the ticket,” said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party and a longtime Springer pal. “He could bring in a lot of the disaffected voters and energize the political process.”
Mr. Burke declined to describe Mr. Springer's reaction after he pitched the idea during a recent telephone conversation. But at Mr. Burke's suggestion, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Leland has been soliciting opinions about a potential Springer candidacy.
“My goal is to find a viable candidate,” Mr. Leland said.
Other Democrats and national political observers are skeptical. They see the idea as another ill-fated attempt to break the stranglehold Republicans maintain over Ohio's non-judicial statewide offices.
Several Tristate residents chuckled about the prospect of a Springer candidacy.
“It's humorous,” said William Nelson, 24, of Blue Ash. “He's probably not going to be able to command a vast majority of respect. I can only imagine all the jokes.”
Said Cindy Lindeman, 29, of Hyde Park: “Jerry Springer running for any public office is a scary proposition.”
While Mr. Springer once survived politically after paying a prostitute by check for services rendered, critics see him as damaged goods, a purveyor of sex, sleaze and mayhem whose show routinely denigrates women and minorities.
David Axelrod, a national Democratic political consultant, said a lot has changed since Mr. Springer was the darling of Cincinnati-area politics in the 1970s.
“He's incredibly bright, engaging and personable,” said Mr. Axelrod, who oversaw media campaigns in 1990 and 1994 for former Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher. “But when people think of Springer, they don't see him as a senator. They think of him as a guy who leads people throwing chairs.”
Others were more blunt.
“Two words come to mind: reckless and insane,” said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “This is a guy whose personal and professional life makes Jesse Ventura look like Mother Teresa.”
Said Bob Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party: “Who's their next candidate — Howard Stern?”
Some Democrats see more positive similarities between Mr. Springer and Mr. Ventura, a former professional wrestler elected Minnesota governor last year.
Both fit the definition of a “nontraditional” candidate whose popularity is generated by mass appeal, not the party machinery. They attract young voters. And like Mr. Springer, Mr. Ventura hosted a talk show, albeit a sports radio program considered tame compared with The Jerry Springer Show.
“Hey, Americans elected Ronald Reagan as president of the entire country, and he was an actor,” said Dennis Lieberman, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party. “I don't think we should write Springer off just because he's a talk show host.”
Mr. Lieberman said that neither Mr. Springer's show nor his past should be obstacles to a potential Senate campaign.
“The younger generation in particular views his show like they do professional wrestling: It's not real, it's entertainment,” Mr. Lieberman said. “And his skeletons aren't hiding in any closet. They came out a long time ago.”
Ohio Democrats have been searching for a savior since they almost were decertified as a political party after the 1994 elections, during which then-Republican Gov. George Voinovich captured 72 percent of the vote.
The only Democrat officially interested in challenging Mr. DeWine next year is Richard Cordray, an unsuccessful candidate for Ohio attorney general last November. Others have turned down the idea, including Mr. Fisher, former U.S. Senate candidate Joel Hyatt and former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan.
“Are we that desperate?” State Sen. Rhine McLin, D-Dayton, said of a potential Springer candidacy. “If you are going to pick names out of a hat, you should at least get somebody with credibility.”
Before his TV career took off, Mr. Springer served on the Cincinnati City Council for most of the 1970s. He resigned after the 1974 incident with the prostitute, but staged a comeback a year later and went on to win the largest plurality in city history.
WLWT (Channel 5) hired him as a commentator in 1982 after he lost the Democratic primary for governor to Richard Celeste. He parlayed that into co-anchor of the evening news, and in 1991, his then-fledgling talk show.
The show went national in 1992 when he moved to Chicago. (Tuesday's topic: Sex Secrets Revealed.)
Mr. Springer couldn't be reached for comment. But he has defended his show.
“The message people get by watching our show is that fighting does not work,” he told Chicago City Council recently. “The bad guy who comes out inevitably gets booed by the crowd. He fights and loses his battle. He looks silly. The audience berates the person.”
David Mann, a former Cincinnati mayor who served on council with Mr. Springer, said Ohioans shouldn't underestimate the talkmeister's political skills.
“People don't realize how successful a politician he was,” Mr. Mann said. “When he ran for governor in '82, part of the problem was nobody knew who he was. He wouldn't have that problem this time around.”
Candidate Springer: Insane or inspired?
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