NEW YORK -- The underdog who used a catchy phrase about high-priced life in New York City to become an oddball fixture in city politics is back -- and he's got some stern words for the scandal-scarred politicians joining him on the campaign trail.
Jimmy McMillan, who is best known for his stylized mustache and a political platform centered on the complaint that "the rent is too damn high," visited HuffPost's New York newsroom on Thursday afternoon.
He still believes that the price of an apartment is beyond the reach for most New Yorkers, but as he prepares for another third-party run for mayor, he's turned to criticizing the disgraced New York politicians Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer for running for office again.
"You ask people to vote for you who need you to do something for them and then you've got to resign for personal reasons?" McMillan said. "You want to come back like it's a big joke."
Weiner, the former congressman, is also taking a shot at the mayor's office. Spitzer is trying to become comptroller of New York City, five years after he resigned as governor of the state.
McMillan said that for Spitzer and Weiner, politics "is a rich boy's game," but added that his guerrilla-style campaign of accepting no donations "is messing with it."
If McMillan gets on the ballot and Weiner wins the Democratic primary, the two would be opponents on Election Day in November.
McMillan's catchy slogan won him a place in the hearts of many New Yorkers, but it didn't translate into success at the ballot box. In his 2009 race for mayor, McMillan picked up 2,615 votes, or just 0.24 percent of the electorate, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg won his third term.
While he continues to fulminate against the rising cost of living in New York, McMillan trotted out a new slogan that he hoped would win him additional support.
"Every child is my child," he said. "Daddy is fighting for his kids."
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