"If you want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you."
Those were some of the most memorable words spoken at Monday night's New York State gubernatorial debate, and they didn't come from frontrunners Andrew Cuomo or Carl Paladino. In fact, the speaker, Jimmy McMillan, does not hail from the Democratic or Republican Parties.
"The Rent Is Too Damn High" is both the name of McMillan's party and the mantra that he repeats almost every time he speaks. According to his official campaign website, rentistoodamnhigh.org, "There is nothing else to talk about." McMillan, who is also known as "Papa Smurf," founded the party in order to break into the political system on his own terms.
"I had to become a gubernatorial candidate by coming through the back door and creating my own party to incorporate democratic values," McMillan said earlier this month in an interview with The Spectrum. "The democratic process is so flawed and so corrupt and so crooked and so misleading."
Despite his party's relatively unknown stature, McMillan remains confident. His official online campaign states, "McMillan can win this race for Governor without a single vote from up-state NY [sic]."
Travis Nemmer, vice president of the UB College Republicans, referred to McMillan as a "go-nowhere candidate."
"I'd be a lot more amused by Mr. McMillan if he didn't actively avoid campaigning in upstate New York and be willfully ignorant of issues affecting Buffalo and the upstate region," Nemmer said. "Things other than rent are too damn high – drug costs, tuition, spending. There are other issues."
McMillan, a self-proclaimed "karate expert," plans on using his previous military experience to shake things up in Albany if he is elected.
"I'm a war vet," McMillan said. "I spent two and a half years in Vietnam. I took a lot of lives. I don't want [any] punk to be my governor. I want somebody to stand up and talk trash."
He stayed true to his philosophy by offering some harsh words for several prominent politicians.
"I don't need the President Barack Obama for nothing," McMillan said. "If we can get the people to stop thinking that a rich man is going to come to the state and be our salvation… [They did it] in 1983 with Mario Cuomo. They're about to make the same dumb mistake again with his dumb-ass son [Andrew Cuomo]."
McMillan has made it clear that though he is no longer in Vietnam, he will not back down when faced with conflict. When the New York City Board of Elections attempted to remove the word "damn" from his party's name (whether to use "2 Damn High" or "Too Damn High" also remains a discrepancy), McMillan fought until he had his way.
His website still documents that process. A graphic of The Incredible Hulk with McMillan's head superimposed on it reads: "They Took ‘DAMN' Out My Party Name. Pay Back Time. Don't (F@%K) With Jimmy McMillan [sic]."
An additional graphic, below the first, proclaims McMillan's victory: "We got it back."
McMillan, a retired post office worker and former stripper who cites Ronald Reagan as his hero, is hoping that his win over the Board of Elections won't be his only victory come Election Day. If elected, he plans on declaring an economic state of emergency.
"My agenda in 1994 is the same as it is in 2010," McMillan said. "Nothing has changed… People say, ‘Mr. McMillan, do you have any campaign literature?' I say, ‘Yeah, your mortgage payment and your rent receipt.'"
McMillan acknowledges that he isn't a typical candidate for governor of New York State.
"I'm not a politician like these other guys," McMillan said. "I'll tell you anything, like Paladino, to get you to vote for me."
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
