I was in my car last night listening to NPR's All Things Considered, and heard an interview that Robert Siegel did with a goof named Frank Powers that was so odd, I almost thought it was a joke. Good old Frank decided to run for office because his Father is running on the Republican ticket, and he has the same name and thought he could beat his Dad as a Libertarian because of "name recognition". They're all running for the seat vacated by Vito Fossella, the clown who just got arrested for drunk driving and got bailed out by his girlfriend, who just had a child with him, unbeknownst to his wife and other children. As you recall, Fossella didn't understand why he was being asked to quit, and was finally forced to by the Republican party.
Here's the summation by NPR:
In the 13th Congressional District of New York, there's an unusual political contest brewing. Republican Francis H. Powers is running for the House seat. If he wins his primary bid, he'll face a Democrat. Nothing really unusual about that, but he'll also face another Francis Powers — Francis M. — who is running as a Libertarian.
Francis M. is the son of Francis H. And Francis M. Powers tells Robert Siegel he's not running against his father for any personal reason, but rather because he has a chance to capitalize on some name recognition.
Robert asked Francis M. why he was running on the Libertarian ticket and he said, well if I ran on the Anarchist ticket, there would be only one person in my party. Then asked if this issue is a problem with his Father, Francis replied that at Christmas and on Father's Day he is my Dad, otherwise he is just a Republican that I want to beat.
Mother Jones gets into the mix with another summation of this odd race, inferring that the Republicans are finding it difficult to get good candidates this year, and it looks like the Libertarians are too.
The GOP's (Hilarious) Down Ticket Struggles, Cont'd.
...the situation in New York's 13th District. That House seat currently belongs to Vito Fossella, the disgraced Republican congressman who is retiring because of a drunk driving arrest and revelations of a long-time affair and secret child. A Republican holds the seat now; it shouldn't be that hard for the GOP to find a viable replacement who can be counted on to keep it, right?
Wrong. Brooklyn Conservatives and the New York state party chair support a Republican named Frank Powers. Long Island Conservatives, however, support a Democrat named Mike McMahon. But that's just the beginning. With Powers likely to get the nomination, his son, a 47-year-old carpenter with the same name, has announced that he will enter the race as a libertarian candidate..."We can't have the Republicans take this seat again," the younger Powers, who goes by Fran, said. "A vote for my father is a vote for the straight Republican ticket." In response, the older Powers has started attacking his son in the press, saying that his gigs as the front man for the Staten Island band Box of Crayons and as head of an independent record label have contributed to a "carefree" lifestyle.
In response, the younger Powers shot back, "I'm not out here doing heroin... I have a regular life. Do I have a beer? Yes. I'm having one now." Swear to God.
The chairman of the Manhattan Libertarian Party says that although Fran Powers does not have a history as a political activist," he has been "politically active philosophically."