I DON'T ALWAYS VOTE DEMOCRATIC AND I'M NOT 100% ANTI-BOY BAND! JUSTIN JEFFRE FOR MAYOR OF CINCINNATI

There hasn't been much national coverage of the Cincinnati nonpartisan mayoral primary this week. The only thing I saw about it was that a pretty radical right religious fanatic running as the GOP candidate, Rev. Charlie Winburn, was endorsed by ex-NYC Mayor/future candidate-for-something-big Rudy Giuliani. That interested me because Giuliani is supposed to be the GOP's safe, "moderate" face and the loon he traveled to Cincinnati to endorse is best known for insisting that wives need to learn their "place" and for this quote: "We Christians must clean up politics. It is our job to elect only born-again believers to public office. If office holders aren't Christian and refuse to obey the laws of God, we must work hard, under the law, to unseat them." I guess that means he won't be reciprocating Roman Catholic Giuliani's endorsement anytime soon. Not that it matters; even before "Republican" became a dirty word in Ohio politics (google: "Noe" + "corruption," "Ney" + "corruption," "Blackwell" + "theft of 2004 presidential election," and last but not least "Governor Taft" + "lowest approval ratings for any governor in America"), Winburn was given next to no chance to even make it into the run-off against a field of Democrats.

The smart money says it's coming down to a race between State Senator Mark Mallory, City Councilman David Pepper and Vice Mayor Alicia Reese. They range from Establishment-moderate to kind of progressive. But a longshot candidate, largely ignored by the "serious" political media, caught my attention. First a disclaimer: I'd rather listen to Metallica, Revolting Cocks and Nine Inch Nails than 98 Degrees and I pretty much see eye-to-eye with Eminem on his view of boy groups. That said, 32 year old ex-bass singer for multi-platinum boy group 98 Degrees, Justin Jeffre, had been endorsed by the Green Party and is clearly the most progressive and anti-Establishment candidate in the race. The Establishment recognizes that and has banded together to ignore him and marginalize his campaign. But the city that elected Jerry Springer mayor-- AFTER he resigned from the City Council for using a personal check to pay a prostitute-- could surprise everyone. And, after reading what Jeffre hopes to accomplish as mayor, he certainly looks like he'd be a LOT better in public service than fellow entertainers Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Former bandmate and current NEWLYWEDS star Nick Lachey and his wife Jessica Simpson have been campaigning for Jeffre.

Jeffre, who supported for Ralph Nader for president, is running as an Independent (and has been endorsed by the Green Party). I noticed the other day that he donated 10% of all his campaign contributions to the Red Cross for victims of Katrina, asking his opponents to do likewise. His campaign website-- no mp3s (I promise)-- is http://www.justinjeffre.com/ and the reason he gives on it for running as an Independent appealed to me: "As an Independent non-partisan, I am beholden only to the people of Cincinnati. The big Political parties divide people and foster exclusion from the process. They concentrate power in the hands of a small group of people. 83 percent of us are independent non-partisans. We need to make our voices heard and end partisan politics-as-usual."

One little addendum: today a group of well-known conservative Republicans, embarrassed by the religionist clown put forward by the GOP, is urging Republicans to vote for Jeffre. Here's the official announcement that got their Vote Justin movement going: "As a Cincinnati Republican, I have grown increasingly distressed with the local GOP's inability to mount a successful campaign inside Cincinnati. With our high taxes, budget deficit, and population loss, the Queen City could benefit from some conservative leadership. However, the area GOP mixes the kind of conservativism that can lead in times of trouble with right-winged, religious zealots and clownish personalities. Instead of really letting useful, moderate, conservative ideologies attempt to save our city, the GOP runs someone like Charlie Winburn who has turned himself into a circus. I will never encourage anyone to refrain from voting, and I don't think conservatives in Cincinnati should choose the lesser of evils on the liberal ticket. Voting for David Pepper continues to give power to the Cincinnati Democrats, and a more powerful Democratic Party is not in the interests of Conservative citizens. We need to vote in a manner that supports our interests, and Charlie Winburn represents everything that is wrong with the local Republican Party. That is why my friends and I decided to post this announcement. We want all Cincinnati Republicans to vote Justin Jeffre for the Mayoral Primary. We do not believe Justin Jeffre can win, but we want every percentage point he earns to stand as a message to the Republicans. If we can get his results to break 10 percent (or even to match or pass Winburn, who we do not think will place very well anyway), we can send a strong message of no confidence to the GOP. Until the Republicans get serious about running candidates with appropriate political philosophies, we will continue to be a joke in local elections. Please consider voting Jeffre as a vote of no confidence in Charlie Winburn." They could be in for a HUGE surprise on Wednesday evening.