Mary Carey debated Gary Coleman at a press conference Friday at The Park Hyatt Los Angeles Hotel to launch the Game Show Network’s "Who Wants to be Governor of California? The Debating Game."
The gubernatorial recall spoof will pit five "underdog/celebrity" candidates against each other in a game-show style debate on Oct. 1. The special will be taped in front of a live audience on Sept. 24 and is billed as the first-ever political debate with buzz-in answers and bonus questions.
Rich Cronin, Game Show Network President and CEO, told the assembled press that Carey and Coleman were the first two contestants who will be vying for the $21,200 prize – the maximum corporate campaign contribution allowed by state law – for the most votes on www.gsn.com. The final three candidates will be revealed over the next two weeks.
"Our goal is to find the most entertaining underdogs," Cronin said.
Enter Carey and Coleman, who stood behind podiums that said "Mary" and "Gary" and matched wits in a sample debate, answering multiple-choice questions about California after tapping a buzzer. Kennedy, the former MTV personality and the Game Show Network’s political correspondent, asked the offbeat questions.
Kennedy introduced Coleman, who played Arnold on "Different Strokes," as the "pint-sized Terminator." Carey was introduced as a "talented dancer and versatile actress who stars in California Co-Eds and Hot Showers 6" and has a 36DD-24-36 figure. Both she and Coleman got one minute before the debate to say why they should be elected. Carey said she would slice the budget deficit and unemployment rate by wiring the governor’s mansion with Web cams, among other things. She also defended the adult industry, saying the Bush administration has been campaigning against it.
"And I want to let everyone see how much fun I would be as governor by jumping up and down," the smiling Carey said as she jumped up and down in her red, cleavage-friendly top.
Coleman, who wore a suit and tie, said he had great ideas for health care and solving the state’s traffic woes before the two began the mock debate. Carey answered the first question correctly, saying Kevin Shelley is the Secretary of State. Both candidates were caught off guard when asked to spell "Schwarzenegger," but Carey correctly answered that "Bustamante Green" was not a type of marijuana.
"I’m very serious about running," the blonde star of Mary Carey Rules 1 & 2 said later. "Right now I’m being left out of some of the formal debates but this gives me a chance to get my stance on the issues out there."
Kick Ass Pictures President Mark Kulkis, who is Carey’s campaign manager, told AVN.com that her gubernatorial run was going "unbelievably." Kulkis also admitted he asked the 35-year-old Coleman if he wanted to do porn.
"He refused my card," Kulkis said.
Carey afterward spoke on camera with reporters from E!, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, Access Hollywood, BBC, NPR, Reuters and several others. Then she hopped a plane back to Sacramento, where she is featuring at Gold Club Centerfolds this weekend. Kulkis told AVN.com that Carey would be making a "dramatic announcement" Saturday night during a rally at a bar in Sacramento. He said she has done 30 radio interviews, including three in Australia, in the past three days alone.
