Satirist Richard 'Kinky' Friedman entered the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, indifferent to partisan complaints that his 2006 independent campaign caused the Democrats to lose that year. 'Obama taught us one thing: you've got to excite the people,' Friedman said. 'The Democrats have come up with such a string of establishment candidates that they've failed to do that.' Friedman, who is anything but the usual politician, said Democrats need to excite voters if they want to defeat Republican Gov. Rick Perry or his GOP primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. 'Otherwise, when the clash of the plastic Titans is over on the Republican side, that person, the winner of that will be governor,' he said. Despite the fact that Democratic activists are likely to be cool to his candidacy, Friedman could be entering the race as the candidate to beat. 'Strangely, I think he's the frontrunner,' said Jason Stanford, who managed the campaign of 2006 Democratic nominee Chris Bell. 'Universal name ID is expensive, and he has a statewide activist base and thousands of identified supporters who signed his petitions.' Friedman gathered more than 108,000 signatures to get on the ballot in 2006. Stanford said that means Friedman does not have to 'rely on the same pot of primary voters' being courted by Tyler rancher Hank Gilbert, businessman Tom Schieffer and schoolteacher Felix Alvarado, both of Fort Worth; and former Railroad Commission nominee Mark Thompson. Tainted by 2006 race University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray said Friedman will not be easily embraced by the party faithful because of the perception that he helped Perry win in 2006. 'His appeal seemed to be outside of Austin and to a younger generation of libertarian voters, and those people don't tend to show up in party primaries,' Murray said. Besides Perry and Hutchison, other candidates in the GOP field include former Wharton County GOP Chair Debra Medina and Mansfield secessionist Larry Kilgore. Instead of a public rally to announce his candidacy, Friedman made his intentions known in one-on-one interviews with reporters Tuesday. 'We've got a smart president, and now we need a smart governor,' he said. Friedman ran as a Republican for a Kerr County justice of the peace position in 1986. He ran as an independent for governor in 2006. 'That campaign was a serious campaign. Many people didn't think it was, but the voice of people needs to be heard,' he said. 'The outsiders are fighting for the soul of the Democratic Party here.' Singer, writer, jokester Friedman released a platform that includes repeal of the state's new business tax, a $3,000 teacher pay raise, 20-year term limits for members of the Legislature and a three-year moratorium on insurance rate increases. He also wants to stop future toll roads, take the tolls off existing roads and pay for highway construction with legalized casino gambling. Before running for governor, Friedman probably was best known as the clown-prince of the redneck rock music scene of the 1970s with his band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. He later wrote a series of humorous murder mysteries featuring a detective named Kinky Friedman and wrote columns for Texas Monthly. But the man whose candidacy was taken as a joke in 2006 proved he could be a serious problem for career politicians as he raised $4.8 million for his populist campaign, built on the slogan: 'How hard can it be?' The momentum of his campaign died when Democrats produced an audio recording of a racially charged joke Friedman told during one of his raunchy 1970s shows. Friedman also had difficulty handling questions during the general election's only debate. Friedman ended the 2006 race in fourth place in a five-candidate race, garnering 547,674 votes. r.g.ratcliffe@chron.com 