Politics

Miami’s cool, mayoral candidate

Jeff Winkler Contributor
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As election season heats up there’s bound to be some campaign web videos that are either hit or miss. And then there’s the stuff coming out of Miami.

Miami mayoral candidate Steve Berke’s glossy video is — apart from the actual ballot boxes responsible for Florida’s 2000 “hanging chads” catastrophe that Berke lugs through the sunny streets — very much in the vein of The Magic City. Like Berke’s campaign, the video — released earlier this month as his official platform — is quite unique, gutting the lyrics of R&B wunderkind Bruno Mars’ “Grenada” and replacing it with Berke’s own campaign promises:

‘ll keep clubs open till 5 for ya – yeah, yeah, yeah…

I’ll fight for gay marriage rights for ya – yeah, yeah, yeah…

I’ll legalize medicinal weed for ya – yeah, yeah, yeah…

I’ll lower taxes indeed for ya – yeah, yeah, yeah…

If it’s not obvious enough, Berke’s mayoral campaign is as colorful as Little Cuba. The “party-boy tennis stud turned comedian,” — as the lad mag Maxim called him in its lengthy profile — Berke is running on the “After Party” ticket. He’s up against incumbent Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower, who’s going for a three-peat.

At Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach Tea Party rally in April, Berke told The Daily Caller that the camera man shadowing him was the candidate’s effort to document the transparency of his run. While Bower appeared at the rally to shake hands momentarily with Rep. Allen West, Berke stayed for the entire Trump progression, describing how he has an army of strippers models canvassing for him and long-time political operators offering occasional advice.

If the video is any indication, Berke’s quixotic run may become the best campaign-show in 2012.

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