Several hundred fans gathered Friday at Tobacco Haus Cigar Lounge and Bar in New Braunfels to shake hands and light up with Kinky Friedman, the self-proclaimed Jewish cowboy known for his creative background, eccentric persona and a brazen — albeit unsuccessful — gubernatorial bid as an independent.
Friedman, who may drop his independent status to run as a Democrat in 2010, is on the road again in the name of a new venture — Kinky Friedman Cigars.
"I like smoking," said the outspoken humorist and musician, rarely photographed on the campaign trail without a hand-rolled Cuban between his teeth. "All the health nuts who've put regulations and taxes on tobacco? They've got a point. But freedom is our most precious gift, and with all these rules and regulations, we're in danger of turning this country into a condo."
Friedman's namesake product is a Cuban-wrapped Honduran cigar available in five styles: The Governor, The Kinkycristo, Willie, Texas Jewboy and Utopian. Proceeds from the Utopian benefit Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, a safe haven established by Friedman for stray, abused and aging animals.
"If we were in India, we'd have cows, too," said Friedman, whose vehement anti-death penalty stance extends to no-kill animal shelters.
"Here, though, we all like a big, hairy steak. And that's fine with me. That's arbitrary."
His company is headed up by Sean Robinson, who trekked to South America to work with legendary cigar maker Nestor Plascencia.
"Sean really hit pay dirt in Honduras," Friedman said. "That's where he met Nestor, the 'Cigar King,' and they came up with this blend that everybody seems to love. They hung out with beautiful women and machine guns, and this is one of the things they developed."
Their Austin-based outfit now boasts offices from coast to coast.
"We fly all over the place," Robinson said. "We're wandering cigar salesmen."
At about $130 to $200 per box, their medium-bodied, slow-aged Hondurans are proving to be a fast sell.
“If it was going any better, I’d be nervous,” Friedman said of the company, open only since August. “Cigars seem to be flying out of here.”
And they’re good enough for Friedman himself, whose penchant for Havanas once pulled an estimated $1,200-per-week price tag.
“He used to get his cigars from Castro,” Robinson said, seemingly joking. He wasn’t. “No, no — I’m serious. Fidel Castro sent a box to Kinky’s agent.”
Robinson accompanied his friend on the 2006 gubernatorial trail, sharing the disappointment when Friedman’s run to be the first independent Texas governor in about a century-and-a-half failed to unseat Republican incumbent Rick Perry. Despite a ballot qualification about 140,000 signatures strong, and a popular “Why the Hell Not” campaign to improve education, health care and environmental politics in Texas, Kinky got less than 13 percent of the vote.
As for another crack at being governor, Robinson said, Friedman is "unofficially in, pretty much for sure," and voters can expect an announcement after the 2008 elections — probably around summertime of next year.
"I've been talking to a lot of Democrats, and I think we have a very good shot at 2010," Friedman said Friday en route to New Braunfels, where he autographed cigar boxes and posed for pictures.
"I think if the Democrat can get the independent voters, they'll win,” he said. “Democrats need to go back to being Democrats; vote for the person, not the party.”
Richard “Kinky” Friedman resides in Medina. Billed occasionally as the Frank Zappa of country music, his irreverent, bawdy brand of songwriting drew fame for his 1970s-era band, the Texas Jewboys. A Texas Monthly columnist and author of more than 30 books, Friedman is currently promoting “You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can’t Make Him Think: Ten Commandments for Texas Politics,” published this year under Simon & Schuster.
