Comedian Jon Gnarr from Iceland sounds similar to the type of candidate pro wrestler Jessie Ventura was here in Minnesota when running for Governor in 1998.  Some one very different, outside the norm, and who allowed a way for the voters to vent their frustrations about the parties that are in office regularly.  That description seems like it matches Ventura and Gnarr well.

A polar bear display for the zoo. Free towels at public swimming pools. A “drug-free Parliament by 2020.” Iceland’s Best Party, founded in December by a comedian, Jon Gnarr, to satirize his country’s political system, ran a campaign that was one big joke. Or was it?

via The Saturday Profile – Icelander’s Campaign Is a Joke, Until He’s Elected – Biography – NYTimes.com.

Gnarr’s party the Best Party ended up gaining 34.7% which was the highest in the Reykjavik city election and his party ended up with 6 of the City Council’s 15 seats.

Mr. Gnarr needed a coalition partner, but ruled out any party whose members had not seen all five seasons of “The Wire.”….The Best Party, whose members include a who’s who of Iceland’s punk rock scene, formed a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (despite Mr. Gnarr’s suspicion that party leaders had assigned an underling to watch “The Wire” and take notes).

Via: NYTimes.com.

I will have to try to remember to follow up on this story and see how Mr. Gnarr is doing in his new job as Mayor of Reykjavik.

I leave you with an amusing video that the Best Party put together showcasing their ideas.