SPRING-TIME FOR HICKSVILLE

Springer ad angers folks he says he'll represent (Joe Hallett, July 13, 2003, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH)

From the day land agent Henry W. Hicks gave this northwestern Ohio village his name in the 1830s, townsfolk proudly have defended it against the inevitable and tiresome jokes.

But they never envisioned their farming community becoming the punch line for a national political fund-raising campaign, effectively casting them as unwilling guests on a Jerry Springer show entitled "Slack-jawed yokels, hicks, weirdos, pervs and whatnot."

Said Mayor Janis Meyer: "I've always thought it would be good to put Hicksville on the map, but not this way."

Springer, host of a popular television talk show that routinely features misfits and miscreants, is using Hicksville as a metaphorical rallying post for his Democratic U.S. Senate campaign for Ohio, selling autographed photos of himself pointing to a Hicksville corporation-limit sign. Featured on Springer's campaign Web site - runjerryrun-.com - the photos sell for $100 and are superimposed with words that Republican pundit Jonah Goldberg uttered on a CNN politics program this year: "If Jerry Springer shows up, he'll bring all these new people to the polls. They will be slackjawed yokels, hicks, weirdos, pervs and whatnot."

The photo was snapped after Springer delivered a speech May 5 at a fund-raising dinner in Hicksville for the Defiance County Democratic Party. [...]

But the 3,600 residents of Hicksville do not appear to be amused, judging by interviews conducted in the town on Friday.

"I've got a sense of humor, but this makes us look like a bunch of . . .," said Village Administrator Kent Miller, trailing off before the "H" word tumbled out.

"If Springer's running for office, I don't know why he'd want to tick off 3,600 people." [...]

Mike Hurni, 30, who lives in Detroit but grew up in Hicksville, was in town visiting his parents. Crossing his legs in the barber chair, he listened to the banter quietly, waiting for a lull to make an observation:

"I didn't know I was a slackjawed yokel."

But aren't they always the last to know? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 13, 2003 1:10 PM