The actor Al Lewis--the man who donned Grandpa's fright makeup on TV's The Munsters 30-plus years ago--hasn't made up his mind yet: to run or not to run for governor of New York.
But this much is sure: Lewis, now 88 years young, isn't put off by the prospect of, say, debating Republican incumbent George Pataki.
"In plain street language, I would...KICK...HIS...ASS!" Lewis says.
Okay, rewind. What the heck?
Why is Al "Grandpa" Lewis making like a boastful WWF combatant? And what's this about him running...for governor?
It's all quite simple really.
To answer the second question first, New York's Green Party has asked Lewis to consider tossing his cape into the ring for this fall's state election. (Remember Howard Stern's almost-bid for the New York statehouse in 1994 on the Libertarian ticket?)
And as for that other inquiry, well, Lewis isn't really boastful. Just, er, plain spoken.
"I'm in the November-December part of my life," he says. "I can name names! I don't have to walk on egg shells!"
To Lewis, that quality would make him an attractive candidate.
Green Party officials wouldn't disagree. Craig Seeman says the Greens, a smallish third party devoted to ecological issues, approached Lewis after hearing the erstwhile Mr. Munster dish on his topically oriented weekly radio show in New York City.
Even though Lewis is a registered independent, the Greens liked his no-nonsense views, his history of activism (dating back to labor organizing in the 1930s) and, yes, they liked his notoriety.
"Did doing Bedtime for Bonzo hurt Ronald Reagan?" Seeman asks rhetorically.
And, the thinking goes, neither would The Munsters hurt Lewis' credibility. Quite the contrary.
"It's unquestionably an entree," Lewis says of the role that made him a TV icon. "...It cuts across all ages, all society groups."
Example: "I can consort with, and meet with, Hell's Angels."
Okay, so what would candidate Munster be about?
"If I were to run, I would run to expose the issues and expose the records of the other candidate," Lewis says.
And what of that other candidate--front-runner George Pataki. "A political hack. A gofer...A non-entity. A guy who does the bidding," Lewis rips.
And how would an Al Lewis administration make a difference?
"I would throw all the bums out! That's exactly what I'd do."
As decisive as the man is about his convictions, Lewis is undecided about whether to really run. ("I'm sitting on a porcupine.") If he were to become a candidate, he'd have to give up his radio show, he says--a gig he loves.
Green Party leaders may settle the matter themselves next month. A state convention should decide whether Lewis or former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clarke gets the nod. (Clarke and Lewis recently finished Nos. 1 and 2 in a straw poll.)
Either way, Lewis is ready. Heck, once you've played a member of the undead, the rest is a breeze. Mounting a statewide campaign?
Says Lewis: "It's the easiest thing in the world."