Salon: Larry Flynt, a Smut Peddler Who Cares

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The publisher of Hustler is no political novice. But this time, as he enters California's gubernatorial free-for-all, he insists that we take him seriously.

Larry Flynt, the wheezing, wheelchair-bound publisher of Hustler magazine, insists his entry into the California governor's race isn't a gag or a publicity stunt, like the candidacies of '80s sitcom star Gary Coleman or porn star Mary Carey. He's hoping that Californians can look beyond his profession and see him as a serious, viable politician. You know, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Reprising the slogan from his brief 1983 presidential campaign, multimillionaire Flynt calls himself a "smut peddler who cares," and says he's the only one in the race with a plan to fix California's record deficit. That deficit is the most tangible reason Gov. Gray Davis is being recalled -- the state, even after the universally loathed budget that Davis signed on August 3, is still $8 billion in the red. The solution, says Flynt, is simple -- he'd legalize slot machines in private casinos and tax the proceeds at 30 percent, which he says will raise $3 billion a year. He's also nearly alone among high-profile candidates in taking on the politically volatile issue of illegal immigration.

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On Aug. 4, you told MSNBC that you were still waiting to decide whether you were going to go all the way with this campaign. Are you now committed to throwing your resources into it?

We're doing polling now. In the next week to 10 days, we will poll throughout the state of California, and if people are taking my candidacy seriously and if they can separate it from my profession, I'm prepared to go the distance. If it's too big a hurdle for them to have someone with my background in the office, obviously, I've got money but I'm not going to pour it down a dark hole. I want to get the results of my polling. If I've got 10 percent or better, I'm prepared to spend a lot of money and go after my opponent.

So this campaign isn't just a way to satirize the whole recall exercise or to inject yourself into the debate.

Absolutely not. I don't have any delusions of grandeur about being governor. There's no ego involved. The state has a lot of problems, and I feel I have a solution, and I'm the only person running who has come up with a way to balance the budget. I would expand California gaming to allow slot machines for private casinos and the tax from this would very easily enable the Legislature to balance the budget.

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http://salon.com/news/feature/2003/08/14/flynt/index.html