Underdog: Kurt Zellers wants you to look at his "hot" wife, not his record of fail as Speaker

Back when he was runnin' for president and dropping his terminal "g"s with all the grace of a sloshed WeFest fan trying to outrun memories of a second grade teacher's enunciation lessons, former governor Tim Pawlenty called attention to his perception that Mary Pawlenty is smokin' hot, isn't she?

In his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Underdog Kurt Zellers has ripped that page out of Pawlenty's playbook. It worked for the Sam's Club Republican, who's now on more corporate boards than ever, as well as lobbying for Wall Street banksters.

At City Pages, Olivia LaVecchia reports in Kurt Zellers says his "hot wife" separates him from gubernatorial competition:

So what sets Zellers apart? Is it the three-week government shutdown he presided over in 2011; his, er, nuanced stance on the Vikings stadium vote; or his willingness to reconsider his dislike of Leinie's? Well, no. It is, Zellers says, his "hot wife."

"What differentiates you from the other thousand Republicans wanting the job?" Zellers was asked during his Sunday announcement, which took place on a friend's lawn in his home town of Maple Grove.

"They aren't married to this hot a wife," Zellers replied with a laugh.

His wife, Kim, aside, Zellers's announcement sought to draw a distinct line between Dayton and his wealthy background as a department store heir, and his own experience as a self-described middle class family man familiar with odd jobs like pizza delivery.

Well, okay then.

Investment banker Scott Honour, also running for governor, can trump Zellers on the poor waif angle: while Zellers was the fourth generation to grow up on the family farm in North Dakota, the Orono tycoon started life in a trailer park in Fridley--and his dad lost his job flying planes for Braniff when the airline crashed:

When I was born in Fridley, my parents lived in a trailer park. My dad was a young airline pilot for Braniff International, which I thought was pretty cool, and over time he created a great middle class life for us. . .
. . .But, when I was in high school, Braniff went bankrupt and Dad lost his job and his future pension. That was a tough time for our family and it taught me that a family’s economic circumstances can change quickly through no fault of their own.

Perhaps Honour will get a Legacy grant to build a replica of his manger and haul it around the state, a relic of his simple roots to astonish the base in Echo and Climax. Perhaps a beauty pageant's in the works.

There's an old Monty Python routine in all this somewhere: