Friday, July 23, 1999
Springer for Senate? No firm answer
'I'm flattered,' TV talker says
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Jerry Springer isn't sure he's ready to throw his chair into the ring for the U.S. Senate.
With politicians, scholars and journalists around the country buzzing about a potential Springer candidacy against incumbent Republican Mike DeWine, the former Cincinnati mayor and TV talk-show host decided Thursday to keep everybody guessing for now.
“I'm obviously flattered and honored by the interest,” Mr. Springer said in a three-sentence statement faxed out by his publicist. “It's just that at this time I don't know whether it's practical or possible.”
Democrats are desperate to find somebody able to break the grip Republicans hold on statewide elected offices. Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, started the Springer frenzy by asking his longtime pal to consider returning to politics in Ohio.
Like a trash-talking episode of The Jerry Springer Show, the story has taken on a life of its own.
By midweek, Mr. Burke had fielded calls from reporters around the country trying to gauge whether “Springer for Senate” was fact or fiction. Some political analysts called the idea inspired, but most con sidered it insane.
“It's amazing if they are seriously considering him,” said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. “I didn't think politics could get this sleazy.”
Some Democrats tried quickly to suck the air out of Mr. Burke's trial balloon.
While David Leland, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said earlier this week he had been soliciting opinions about a potential Springer candidacy, he didn't feel like taking calls Thursday about the matter.
An official with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a national organization that recruits candidates, called reporters to stress that Mr. Springer wasn't on its list.
It's an understatement to say Mr. Springer boasts higher name recognition since his last statewide race, a bid for the 1982 Democratic nomination for Ohio governor. Friends also say skeptics shouldn't underestimate the skills of a left-leaning politician who thrived in conservative Cincinnati.
Still, after the furor dies down, Mr. Springer may decide he would rather continue presiding over his daily (and lucrative) TV fix of men in love with their stepmoms and women who can't get enough sex.
“I respect the seriousness of their inquiry, and will respond in a timely, sincere and appropriate manner,” he said Thursday.
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