Kinky's Concession

Dan Halpern reports on the final days of Kinky Friedman’s campaign for governor of Texas. An excerpt:

Around twenty minutes past eight, Kinky saw the writing on the wall, and set about deciding how bitter to make his speech. “Well, they wanted idiots, so they get idiots,” he said, preparing to address the crowd and the media. “I believe that’s the way it works.”

Sometime after nine, as his campaign staff gathered on a stage inside the beer garden before hundreds of supporters and a phalanx of cameramen and reporters, Kinky strode in. He stood behind the podium for just a moment before speaking, surveying the crowd, the cameras, the too-bright lights. “Allegations that I had sex with a male masseuse,” he said, “are entirely false.”