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From CNN.com's 'In the Crossfire':

Next on 'Jerry Springer': A Senate run?

WASHINGTON (CNN) --Jerry Springer changed the face of daytime television with a talk show that continues to push the limits. Could Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati, one day be a U.S. senator from Ohio?

The talk-show host, a Democrat, has said he'll decide by summer whether to challenge Sen. George Voinovich, a Republican, in 2004.

Springer stepped into the "Crossfire" on Friday with hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson to discuss his political ambitions.

CARLSON: Let me just say right off the top I think it's a great idea that you run for Senate. You're more qualified than a lot of people I've covered. And I hope you win.

SPRINGER: I don't know that I'm running, but anyway ...

CARLSON: I'm struck, whether you are or whether you're not, by the response of some of your fellow Democrats. Not nice. I want to read you a quote from [Senate Minority Leader] Tom Daschle.

He said this on CNN the other day, "Springer wouldn't be my first choice for Senate. I understand he was a mayor at one point, but I think we can do a lot better than that, and I'm sure Ohio will."

Keep in mind this is a man for whom [former Sen.] Bob Torricelli [of New Jersey] was good enough. How does that make you feel?

SPRINGER: Yes. Well, he may be right. And if we can find someone in Ohio in the Democratic Party that will espouse the point of view from millions of people that are not heard in government, then that's great.

I don't need the job. I'm happy where I am. I have a good life. Being a United States senator isn't going to make me rich. It isn't going to make me famous. I honestly care about certain things. And if no one else is going to run and represent that point of view, then I'll do it. That's the point.

I hope one day Tom Daschle will get to like and respect me. But if he doesn't, that's not my problem.

CARLSON: I can promise you if he thinks you're going to win, he'll be very nice to you.

BEGALA: Let me ask you about something. ... One of our audience members brought this up. Years ago in Cincinnati, you got in trouble, and it was in the papers that you used a check to pay for a prostitute. I'm wondering how are you going to make the transition to Washington, where the politicians are the prostitutes? Are you going to be able to figure that sort of change out?

SPRINGER: ... No, well, that was 35 years ago. I apologized a million times for it. It's not relevant.

The issue is not going to be whether or not I can be taken seriously. The issue in America really is whether millions and millions of Americans take their politicians seriously. The government is not responding to their needs. Whether we're talking about health care, whether we're talking about jobs or whether we're talking about the insanity of going to war when we really have a war right now against terrorism. ...

And no one, not the Democrats or the Republicans, are asking the question, "How is bombing Baghdad a remedy to stopping the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons?"

CARLSON: I must say, just to back up, I must disagree with you when you say the question is not can you be taken seriously. If you run for office, the question will indeed be -- can you be taken seriously? I want to give you an example. ...

SPRINGER: Will we get to talk about Iraq in moment? Because that's honestly going to be more important.

CARLSON: In the next segment. But your biography is important to any run that you might begin. ...

I'm going to read you some of the topics on your show. "My Boyfriend Is a Girl," "Your Lover Is Mine," "Mistresses Attack!" "My Brother Is My Lover!" "I Didn't Know My Fiancee is a Stripper," "What I Did For Revenge," and, of course, "Police Psychics Look For Missing Children."

Look, the point is, you probably know a lot about transgender issues, but I think the average voter is going to say, what else do you know about and why should I believe you know much about it at all?

SPRINGER: That's a fair question. That's fair ... and if I decide to run, if I am not able to convey a point of view that relates and touches the people in that community and the state and express a point of view that they want to espouse, if I'm not able to do it, then I shouldn't be elected. If people are voting just on the show, I should get no votes. That's going to depend on how good a candidate I am.

CARLSON: Isn't there a knowledge question at some point. People are going to say, "Look, if you haven't been in politics in 20-odd years, how do you know for instance how to run a government?"

SPRINGER: Well, you know what, if that's right, it's going to be so obvious during the course of the campaign. But I am prepared to discuss the issues as they relate to the people of Ohio. They're going to judge. That's what this whole system is about.

This isn't about a reward for Jerry Springer. Who the hell cares whether Jerry Springer gets a job or not? That isn't about me. Our country is in trouble, and there are people who think our politics is a bunch of crap, to be honest. They don't think the government relates to them at all.

On these Sunday morning talk shows, all these wonderful, educated people sit around, and they smugly make jokes and talk about how wonderful life is for them. And people wonder why the great mass of Americans don't watch those shows. Why? It doesn't relate to them.

Ever since I was a child, people have been talking about, by God our government, we're going to have health insurance for all our citizens. They still can't get it done.

Why doesn't America go on strike and say, "Damn it, you have four years to give every American health insurance, or you're out of office. We're going to fire all of you. Democrat, Republican, we'll just fire you." Why can't they get that done? That's their job.