Springer steps up bid to join senate

JERRY SPRINGER is to launch a new stage in his campaign to become a US senator.

The host of the notorious TV show will file papers for a possible run for the Ohio seat, his political adviser said. He is also to begin airing adverts across the US to raise cash and build support for his bid to win a Democratic nomination next year.

Springer, 59, the former Cincinnati mayor, will make a final decision on whether to run later this month.

The advert explains how his parents fled Nazi Germany for England, then moved to the America just before his fifth birthday.

It seeks small donations and offers T-shirts, bumper stickers and CDs of Springer singing “rockabilly” music.

He also repeats his argument that his show is not responsible for problems in Ohio.

Springer, whose TV success has made him a multimillionaire, tells potential voters that he wants to reach out to “regular folks who weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth”.

Democrat Eric Fingerhut, who has already announced his candidacy for the Senate seat, said Springer’s reputation was too tarnished to make him a serious politician. “A half-hour ‘infomercial’ doesn’t wipe out what he’s been doing for a decade,” Fingerhut said. “All it does tragically is identify Ohio with his level of entertainment.”

The Democratic winner will probably take on Republican Senator George Voinovich.