Traficant’s back!

He’s tanned (not really), toupee’d, and ready to… why, he’s ready to do anything at all for OH-17, really.

Anything.

BOARDMAN, Ohio — Seven years in prison doesn’t appear to have changed former U.S. Rep. James Traficant’s style whatsoever, and the 1,200 supporters who gathered at a Boardman banquet hall Sunday afternoon loved him for it.

“I was a quarterback. I was a congressman. Now I’m a convict,” Traficant said, his signature toupee firmly back atop his head. “I wouldn’t change one single thing. And to the powerful enemies that I have, I’ll just say this to you: They had to cheat to convict me.”

The crowd roared. After 15 minutes of remarks, hundreds swarmed the make-shift stage to shake his hand or ask for an autograph.

The precise definition of ‘anything’ will have to wait until at least his Friday interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox, but I can’t help but notice that it’s not every convict Congressman who can get 1,200 people to come to his I Got Out Of Jail! party.  I also can’t help but notice that he’s apparently only able to run for federal office in Ohio.  Or that current holder Tim Ryan (D) is swiftly losing (or already lost) his pro-life credentials (Traficant had excellent ratings from the NRLC, back in the day), which is probably the most interesting thing about him.  Or that this is shaping up to be a bad election cycle for reflexively supporting the party in power’s policies. Or that I’m not the only one not laughing at the very thought that Traficant might try to get his seat back.  Not that I’m suggesting anything, of course.

That would be mean.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.