Stephen Colbert and laughable politics: Five comedians who ran for office

American politics have been the subject of satire since before the country's founding. These days the US benefits from a healthy dose of humorous political commentary, but when the jokers run for political office (jokingly of course, right?) some funny things can happen. Here are five memorable ones.

3. Kinky Friedman

Eric Gay/AP
Texas comedian, musician, novelist, and former gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman trims ivy growing on a six-foot bust of Texas Gov. Rick Perry to boost interest in this year's gubernatorial election.

Texas comedian Kinky Friedman – once the lead singer for the Texas Jewboys, who performed offbeat country songs with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan – ran for real-life political office in 2004.

In his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry in 2006, Mr. Friedman, running as an independent, promised to eradicate the "wussification" of Texas and steered clear of controversial issues such as abortion and gun control: "I'm not pro-choice. I'm not pro-life. I'm pro-football," he told a Monitor reporter.

Though he managed to raise more funds than the Democratic nominee, his 12.4 percent of the vote in the the general election was only good enough for fourth place.

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