06:48 PM CST on Monday, December 19, 2005

By Doug Miller / 11 News

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A different kind of political milestone has been crossed on Texas airwaves.

Friedman campaign commercial

The campaign commercial advertises Kinky Friedman action figures.

Eleven months before Election Day, the first campaign commercials have hit television screens.

That's an unusually early start, but that is par for the course for the Kinky Friedman campaign.

Kinky Friedman's strange campaign just got a little stranger.

"My heroes are teachers, firefighters, cops and cowboys," Friedman's voice said on a commercial for his talking action figure.

His first television commercials advertise not just a candidate, but also a toy.

"The Kinky Friedman talking action figure has 25 different sayings and comes with an action agenda," a narrator's voice said.

Yes, this is a real campaign commercial, selling Kinky Friedman action figures.

And yes, his aides said it's a serious attempt to raise campaign money.

"This has every ability to become the hottest holiday toy this season," said Bill Hillsman, Friedman media strategist.

"It's novel. It's interesting," said Bob Stein, KHOU political analyst. "This is not the time of year that most candidates would ever even think of advertising. It's between the holidays, Christmas and New Years. And it's hard to get anybody's attention if people are around."

Of course, Friedman's good at getting attention.

But he can't sing his way onto the ballot.

For that, the provocative performer will have to gather $45,000 signatures on petitions.

And people who have circulated petitions for other causes in Houston will tell you it can be difficult and expensive.

"There's going to be a lot of people that want to sign it, but if you vote in the Democratic or the Republican primary, you can't sign his petition," said Dave Wilson, 2001 petition drive organizer.

Dave Wilson is the leader of the successful petition drive that put a referendum on same sex benefits for gay Houston city employees on the ballot.

His campaign faces a tight timetable for gathering signatures. It cannot begin signing up voters until after the Democratic and Republican primaries end. Depending on whether there are any runoffs, the Friedman campaign will have either 60 or 90 days to gather its signatures.

Only independent voters can sign the petition, but anybody can buy his action figure.

The question is how many Texans will buy his act as a political figure.