According to James Hibberd of Reuters, the mayoral race idea was not Levi’s, but that of producers Stone and Co., who also masterminded TLC’s cerebral and groundbreaking Extreme Food Sculpting. They apparently devised the stunt because Levi isn’t famous enough for his life to be exciting on its own — explains another producer not affiliated with the show, “With a real celebrity, you can put them on TV doing boring stuff and it’s interesting. But when it’s not really a celebrity, they have to be doing something interesting.” This seems like the best rationale for a mayoral run ever, and Levi’s “help make my life less boring” platform will surely win him a lot of votes. Also helping out: the fact that Mr. Johnston will also be spending of his time trying to build a career in Hollywood. Maybe Kathy Griffin can kiss babies for him while he’s down in California filming nut commercials.
These apparent handicaps notwithstanding, the producer Hibberd spoke to thinks Levi can win. He says, “he could probably win because he has the name recognition. And then he’ll be mayor of Wasilla. The world keeps getting weirder and weirder.” And of course, if Levi wins the mayoral race, he’s on track to become governor of Alaska (for half a term at least), and to run for president. Of course, he’s totally unqualified, and until his sudden fame in 2008 his main interests were “fishing, shoot[in’] some shit and just fuckin’ chillin’ I guess.” But he still might be a better president than Palin.
Levi Johnston To Run For Mayor In Reality Pitch [Reuters]
