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‘Why Shouldn’t I Live Off My Name?’

"I make a good living off this. And I don't work hard," he says. "Why shouldn't I live off my name? Isn't that the American way?"

But is it enough to become mayor?

With the Yankees frittering away an early six-run lead, fans in the upper deck grew frustrated with the home team and began chanting, "Kray-mer! Kray-mer! Kray-mer!" The would-be mayor nodded approvingly and munched popcorn.

Kramer will have to put that popularity to the test in early July, when Libertarians must collect 7,500 signatures to secure his name on the ballot. The next step might be a little harder — raising $250,000 from New Yorkers in order to qualify for matching funds.

Libertarians think they're backing the right horse. "We've elected many amateur comedians as mayor of New York," says the party's New York chairman, Richard Cooper. "Why not finally have a professional?"

Certainly New Yorkers has seen other celebrities and fringe characters run for office. Al Lewis, better known as "Grandpa" from The Munsters, has run for governor on the Green Party ticket. Howard Stern also threw his hat in the ring, on the 1994 Libertarian lineup.

Stern dropped out after he was pressed to release his tax returns. Kramer will do a much better job, one of his Libertarian colleagues says: "He's for real. He believes in what he's doing."

Libertarians are saying that political guru Doug Friedline, Minnesota Gov. Ventura's campaign manager, is already advising the candidate.

Kramer's already got more recognition than any of the Democratic challengers, and he's even earned a degree of respect from current Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who thinks enough of Kramer to offer a videotaped greeting on his reality tour.

Term limits bar Giuliani from running again.

The Candidate Who Inhaled — Deeply

But what are the Kramer's positions? And how do they jibe with the free-market ideal of libertarianism?

The gap isn't as wide as you'd think. Kramer's hippie roots certainly applaud the Libertarian plan to decriminalize drugs. As you'd imagine, this candidate would never deny inhaling. "In my day, I collected enough marijuana seeds to fill a beanbag chair," he says.