Traficant could

[Nic Name]

Is Jimmy running as a Whig?

In the USA this week ...

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio Oct. 29 — Former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., running an election campaign from prison since he was ousted from Congress, is asking voters to re-elect him to show they don't fear the government.

Two commercials started running this week for Traficant, who is serving an eight-year term in a federal prison in Pennsylvania.

"No American should fear their government," Traficant says in one commercial, filmed the day before he was sentenced in July. "You and I both know that many Americans fear their government."

He tells viewers to show the government they're not afraid by voting for him, running as an independent, in the 17th Congressional District over Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican Ann Womer Benjamin.

"I believe I can do a better job than half the people down in Washington," he says.

The commercial is the first time the public has seen Traficant since he was sent to prison for bribery and racketeering.

In Canada this week ...

The Supreme Court of Canada is drawing mixed reviews after ruling that inmates in federal prisons can vote in federal elections. The court struck down a 1993 law that removed that right on Thursday.

"The right to vote has always been in the constitution ever since it was created. The question is whether the government had the right to limit that," Graham Stewart of the John Howard Society told Canada AM on Friday.

Traficant would have a captive constituency in Canada.