The internet’s favorite candidate for public office right now isn’t Rand Paul, Joe Sestak, or Bill Halter.  He isn’t running for Congress, governor, the Senate, or even President.  But he is anti-establishment, railing against the “thugs and criminals” in power.  His name is Dale Peterson, and he’s running for the Alabama Agricultural Commission:

Peterson’s over-the-top honesty and evident frustration with politics as  usual might be attracting tongue-in-cheek derision from some bloggers and pundits, but he isn’t running to be on the National Press Club’s Agricultural Commission.  Lost in the yuks is the fact that Peterson, likely for very little money, now has an advertisement getting attention from all sorts of media outlets.  And though the white cowboy hat and the gun may seem over the top, his message really isn’t.  Did you know that the Alabama Agricultural Commission has $5 million to play with?  Heck, I don’t even know how much Virginia’s Agricultural Commission has to play with.

The exposure puts Peterson in front of in-state voters – and potentially out-of-state donors – who identify with his message, and who kind of like his style.

At least there’s no demon sheep.