FEIBLEMAN (20s) 
Gil Fulbright looks exactly the how a “Fat Cat” Politician should. He’s overweight, thinning hair, and a false smile. Like if you stuck a used car salesman in a fancy suit and ran him for office. And that’s the point. In an election marked with unprecedented distrust in the candidates running for office, Gil Fulbright is gunning for the cynical voter. Just listen to one of his campaign ads:  

ACT / FULBRIGHT (26s)
Hi I’m Gil Fulbright! And the people who bankroll my political career tell me I’m running for president. SO here I am! — Here’s the part where I gloss over important issues: Issues like education, and making it, uh… good. The economy, and improving it by repeating the word “jobs.” And blah blah blah, something to get votes from women and minorities.  

FEIBLEMAN 2 (14s) 
Fulbright is the creation of the bi-partisan non-profit Represent.US, an advocacy group to get money out of politics. He’s played by the actor Frank Ridley and I met up with him to ask him how he got his part as an “Actorvist.” 

ACT / RIDLEY (11s) 
They said, “Hey we need an older guy to play an older politician or an older lobbyist, and Represent.Us liked me and they said, “Hey, what do you think about getting this guy to run for senate, and we’ll really run him for senate! 

FEIBLEMAN 3 (11s)
And they did. Gil Fulbright stalked around Kentucky in 2014, chasing after candidates like Rand Paul. In 2016 they revived the campaign as a presidential run. But did he think much about politics before the role?

ACT / RIDLEY 2 (21s)
Ahh… barely. I was interested in Occupy Wall St. I know that-- it irked me that businesses and wealthy people, and wealthy corporations have been allowed to privatize profit and socialize loss. In other words, our taxes are paying for their corporate failure. Whereas you and I open up a business and fail? That bothered me. 

FEIBLEMAN 4 (5s) 
Through the process of the Gil Fulbright thing, did you—did you accidentally learn anything about campaign finance reform?

ACT / RIDLEY 3 (15s) 
Oh absolutely. Absolutely! I was already slightly politicized, but I think it informed me a lot, and it really made me a staunch defender of getting money out of politics. More in tune to the fact that the Republican and Democratic construct is a Coke and Pepsi challenge. 

FEIBLEMAN 5 (2s)
So what’s the best part about the role?

ACT / RIDLEY 5 (22s) What I liked most about Gil was that people would come up to me and go, “I love Gil Fulbright. He’s giving Hillary Clinton the business!” and of course Progressive people go, “I love the way that Gil’s giving the Republicans the business.” You know? And they really think that Gil’s talking about the other person, when the truth is he’s talking about the system.  


FEIBLEMAN 7 (17s)
That right there? That’s bipartisanship. 

So on election day, if you’re fed up with politicians’ promises or outright lies, don’t forget that you can always vote for the only “honest” politician in the race. The only problem: he’s just another pretender. 

I’m Ben Feibleman, Columbia Radio News.

END

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