Musician, author, comic, animal rescuer and self-described cowboy philosopher Kinky Friedman added another line to his resume in 2006: politician. Actually, that's a label he'd be quick to reject, but Friedman did mount a grassroots independent campaign for the Texas governorship then and now occupied by empty Republican suit Rick Perry. David Hartstein's engrossing, entertaining documentary Along Came Kinky...Texas Jewboy for Governor follows the Kinkster and some of his opponents along the campaign trail, through the eyes of the staff and volunteers frustrated with the current state of the political system in the Lone Star State.

Friedman launches his campaign with the best of intentions: throw the bums out, specifically the haircut posing as the current governor. His platform is populist-humorist, light on policy details but heavy on barbed one-liners aimed at lobbyists, career politicians and apathetic non-voters. In his black cowboy hat, clutching his ever-present cigar, Friedman carries himself as a Jewish redneck Mark Twain, and his appeal isn't difficult to fathom. He's the kind of outsider who can get away with proclaiming himself the only candidate in favor of both school prayer and gay marriage.

As the race takes shape, two more opponents come into focus: another "independent" candidate, former Democratic Austin mayor turned Republican Comptroller turned politically expedient "one tough grandma" Carole Keeton Strayhorn, and the eventually Democratic nominee Chris Bell, a generally colorless wonk. With no party backing him, it's up to Kinky's army to compile the necessary signatures to get his name on the ballot. Along the way we meet Kinky believers ranging from campaign manager Dean Barkley to a Bexar County volunteer who is transformed into a man on a mission through the process of collecting signatures. One thing they all have in common is a relentless optimism about their candidate and their chances, even given the fact that Friedman is consistently polling in the teens. If they bring out the non-voters, they reason, those numbers will be meaningless. But as one talking head points out, the thing all non-voters have in common is that they don't vote.

Hartstein captures some hilarious and revealing fly-on-the-wall moments, such as a pre-debate encounter between Friedman and rival Bell that rides a thin line between "I'm kidding" and "I'm not really kidding." He's also there when the campaign takes an ugly downturn, first when Friedman makes some unfortunate remarks referring to Katrina refugees being "crackheads and thugs," which the press is quick to turn into a "Kinky is a racist" meme, and later when the Kinkster admittedly brings his C game to the only televised debate between all four candidates.

Along Came Kinky may be the funniest documentary about the political process in years, even as it raises the big questions about the flaws in our system of government. For old-timey Kinky fans, it even offers a few old Austin City Limits clips of the Texas Jewboys performing "Asshole from El Paso" and "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore." And it looks like Hartstein may have some material for a sequel: in a post-screening Q & A after the film's premiere at the Paramount theater in Austin, Friedman all but announced plans for another run in 2010 - this time as a Democrat.

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