SEATTLE - Sen. Maria Cantwell says tabloid television talk show host Jerry Springer would make a fine senator for Ohio.
"I think people will be surprised by his intellect," the Washington state Democrat told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "There's much more to him than his TV show. He's an incredibly smart person."
Springer, 59 and once mayor of Cincinnati, filed papers on Monday to run for the U.S. Senate.
He will not decide whether to actually run for the Democratic nomination until later this month, said Mike Ford, his political adviser.
Cantwell, Washington state's junior senator, was an unpaid volunteer for Springer's successful run for Cincinnati mayor in 1977. In 1982, she worked as a paid member of his campaign when he lost his bid for governor of Ohio.
"He's a policy wonk," Cantwell told the P-I, being careful to note that her opinion is based on his political career, not his fame as a talk show host whose nationally syndicated show has featured strippers and skinheads.
