Springer gets star treatment at the DNC

Jerry Springer moves with speed and efficiency through the Wells Fargo Center but what slows him down are the police officers, interns, media celebrities and others who politely ask the talk show host for selfies.

“I grew up watching Jerry Springer,” says a Philadelphia police officer who got his photo taken with him. “I was raised by Jerry Springer to a certain degree.”

“I am not the father,” Springer quips.

Welcome to a morning with Springer at the Democratic National Convention.

On Thursday, Springer, 72, spoke to sleepy-eyed Ohio delegates at the morning breakfast. With rhetorical flourish and stage presence, Springer had the room hushed and hanging on his every word. They rewarded him with a standing ovation and then – whoosh – he was out the door.

In the 30-yards between the breakfast and the hotel lobby, Springer does two TV news interviews, several selfies, shakes hands with the wait staff, buys a bottled water, checks his schedule and says hello to former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman.

Springer’s personal driver pulls up in an air-conditioned black SUV fit for a governor.

Ohio governor is exactly what Springer wanted to be. After serving 10 years on the Cincinnati City Council, including two terms as mayor, Springer ran for governor in 1982, finishing third in a three-way Democratic primary. His statewide political career stalled but the door to media and entertainment opened.

Springer became news anchor and managing editor at Cincinnati’s WLWT, a job he did for a decade. In September 1991, The Jerry Springer launched as a forerunner to the reality TV genre that dominates the airwaves today. More than a decade ago, Springer considered running for U.S. Senate but polls showed his “negatives” – how much voters dislike you – were insurmountable.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said Springer has been traveling the state, making appearances at county party dinners and fundraisers. Springer says he has no plans for a political comeback – he is happy doing his show, running a political-entertainment podcast on Tuesdays and doing speaking gigs around the globe.

But he remains passionate about Democratic politics.

Springer’s opinion of Donald Trump is that he is dangerous and unqualified to be president.

“I just think this is the most important election in my lifetime by far because it’s the only time in American history we have ever had someone running from a major party for president – Donald Trump – who is opposed to the idea of America, who metaphorically speaking wants to replace the Statute of Liberty with a wall,” Springer said. “His bigoted comments against Hispanics, Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans, disabled people, women. It’s the most un-American thing you can do. And it’s against the idea America, which is supposed to be the one place on Earth where if you’re being persecuted you can run away and come here for your freedom.”

Springer was born in a London subway tube station in 1944. His parents were Jews who escaped Germany during the Holocaust, lived in London and moved to New York when Springer was a young child.

In Philadelphia this week, Springer has been riffing on Trump and singing the praises of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“The Trump-Pence campaign to Make America Great Again through tougher law enforcement, stopping illegal immigration and bringing back jobs is resonating all across the state of Ohio,” said Bob Paduchik, Trump’s state director in Ohio, in a written statement. “The Clinton campaign is pretty desperate when its chief Ohio surrogates include failed Mayor Jerry Springer and jobs-eliminating Gov. Ted Strickland.”

Springer’s long-time friend and podcast co-producer Jene Galvin said Springer has done more than 50 media appearances this week.

On Wednesday, he stops in for a live hit at FoxNews in the skybox overlooking the convention floor. As he took off his headset, Springer asks “Now that you had a Democrat sitting here, do you have to spray off the seat?”

Later in the afternoon, he was booked for an appearance on CNN and he was hesitating on whether to accommodate a request from a college student to go on the young man’s podcast. His concern? He didn’t want to risk losing his seat in the arena for Clinton’s acceptance speech.

“Tonight, everybody in the world is going want to be there because it’s history. I want to see this moment. People can interview me tomorrow,” he said.

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