Naked (almost) Ambition

Enters NYC Mayor Race

Many throw their hat in the ring for mayor of New York City, but few can claim it’s a third of their workday wardrobe.

It is for Robert J. Burck, better known as the Naked Cowboy who stands wearing nothing but tighty-whities, cowboy hat and boots in New York’s Times Square, strumming a guitar and posing for photos with tourists (and tips).

Now he’s dressed the same but running for mayor with no hidden agenda or almost anything else.

Burck, running as a naked independent, joins a field that includes hopefuls from the Democratic Party, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Libertarian Party, the Rent Is Too Damn High party and many others, all of whom wear clothes, raising transparency issues.

The Naked Cowboy’s clothed opposition also includes incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was a Democrat until he got elected as a Republican and became an Independent. After serving the limit of two terms, a City Council vote bumped the limit to three and Bloomberg seeks his trifecta as an Independent trying to run in the Republican primary.

It’s not that Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t feel the call of party politics as much as he feels the call of anything that will generate a vote.

The Naked Cowboy’s political motivation’s, no less direct, are on his website:

“It’s time to tighten the belt, but of course that’s just a saying because I don’t even wear a belt. But that’s my point – I don’t need a belt. I don’t need the whole suit and tie thing either. And you won’t see me buying a whole new wardrobe just because I’m running for Mayor – not on the city’s dime. Fact is, no one knows how to do more with less than yours truly – and that’s the kind of thinking I plan on sharing with my fellow New Yorkers if you elect me. It's exactly the kind of leadership this city needs during these challenging times."

Which sounds like a lot of Republicans, except that they usually keep their clothes on in public, even if they take a more liberal position – maybe several if they’re up to it – in private.

Or the wardrobe thing could be a dig at spending on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe in the last presidential campaign, but the Naked Cowboy was right there supporting John McCain with Joe the Plumber, which may explain why Barack Obama is president.

Or maybe it’s just a political ploy, helping the Naked Cowboy cover his base, if not much else.

Mayor Bloomberg runs implicitly on the entrepreneurial vision that helped him boost Bloomberg News – and his own checkbook -- into the billion-dollarsphere. The Naked Cowboy, an ordained minister at 38, also thinks out of the box as well as out of his pants. He earns as much as $1,000 in tips from camera-toting tourists in a three-hour almost-daily stint, which means he probably makes $250,000 or so a year.

And the Naked Cowboy displays unique initiative. While Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign website touts a whole slew of initiatives for New York’s growth and stability, a careful check didn’t find anything to match the Naked Cowboy’s suggestion of “Naked Fridays” with workers wearing just undies to save on business cooling costs in the summer.

The Naked Cowboy has other financial ideas to help New York City, including bungee jumping from the Empire State Building. As he puts it “If I can make a fortune with no clothes and a one-octave range, imagine how much I can make for everyone with the entire city as a resource?”

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