Rant #2,034: The Name Game Meets Gomer

I had my laugh of the week yesterday.

While reading my local newspaper, there was a small story about who people voted for in the recent New York City mayoral campaign that ended on Election Day.

Everyone knew that Bill deBlasio was going to win, but the interesting thing is that people wrote in some interesting choices for the people they wanted to be mayor if they didn't want to vote for him or his challengers.

I found this story particularly interesting, because I have written in several candidates in the past, for president, and I often wondered if there was a national tally of write-in candidates during each presidential election.

I guess I could probably find out with a Freedom of Information Act request, but for now, let's go over who people voted for in the latest New York City mayoral sweepstakes.

A few of the familiar names that people wrote in were the following:

Former mayor, and deBlasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, who received a whopping 957 votes, or almost as much as Nicole Malliotakis got.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: 240

Former President Barack Obama: 45

Current President Donald Trump: 22

Yankees Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge: 10

Talk show host Stephen Colbert: 7

Singer Beyonce: 5

And with one vote apiece: Big Bird, David Bowie (I guess he could not serve in this office based on circumstances out of his control ... how about his wife Iman?); Donald Duck; Obi-Wan Kenobi; Iron Man Tony Stark; comedian Jon Stewart; and holy Mayor Lindseed!, it is Adam West (who like Bowie, could not possibly serve ... how about the Boy Wonder, Robin, better known as Burt Ward?).

And as I am writing this--and as you know, sometimes I write these Rants early, like today--someone who did not get a single vote in this race has left us, and his name is Jim Nabors.

A lot of people younger than 40 years old probably have little idea who Nabors was, but to Baby Boomers, he was one of our biggest stars, at least for a few years.

Starting out with his classic Gomer Pyle character on "The Andy Griffith Show," Nabors played a wild eyed man child who had a heart of gold, proving that you don't have to be smart to be nice.

Or maybe this character was way smarter than he appeared.

And even with that funny voice, he could sing like the best of the baritones.

The story goes that Nabors suffered from asthma as a child, and to coax himself to better health, he learned some vocal gymnastics that allowed his voice to go from a good ole Southern Boy twang to as clear a baritone as you have ever heard. And this mix of voices made him one of entertainment's most unique characters; think along the lines of Mel Tillis minus the stutter, but with as good a singing voice as you have ever heard.

His Gomer Pyle character was so popular that he was moved over to the Marines in "Gomer Pyle, USMC," one of the funniest shows of the era, where he tortured Sgt. Carter (Frank Sutton) for several seasons.

He also hosted his own variety show for a spell, but people had a hard time separating Pyle from Nabors, and I think that after a while he knew that.

He kept active for the past 40 years as a Las Vegas entertainer, even though for a few years he was very, very sick, but he rebounded nicely. When it was announced by him that he was gay, I don't think that anybody really cared. We all kinda knew, and it didn't take away or add to our fondness for him.

Jim Nabors was 87, and he seemed to be one of Hollywood's nice guys, not that far away from Gomer Pyle after all.

Maybe if I didn't vote for one of the actual candidates for President that Nabors would have been a good write-in choice.

Or maybe Gomer Pyle would have been better.

Now that would have really been a "Surprise, surprise, surprise" ... wouldn't it?

Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.