If he weren’t merely a cartoon character, Comic Book Guy from “The Simpsons,” well known for branding things he dislikes as the “worst ever,” may have taken aim at mayoral aspirant Vincent Orange.

Why?

Well, beyond the debacle known as Orange’s first and only poll, the Examiner informs us today that Orange may have come dangerously close to breaking D.C. electoral law on Tuesday (the article, unfortunately, is not available online).

News has it that Orange marched around the Council chambers handing out a press release whose heading left little to the imagination: “Vincent Orange a candidate for mayor? More likely than not.” In it, Orange was quoted as discreetly telling an audience:

I stopped by to let you know that more likely than not, I will become a candidate for mayor this summer.

While nominating petitions for mayoral candidacies were made available last Thursday, Orange was towing the line of legality in so boldly declaring his intentions. A quick call to the District’s Board of Elections and Ethics verified that any candidate for office must register with the Office of Campaign and Finance and file a Declaration of Candidacy before formally calling themselves a “candidate.” Yes, Orange was simply stating his intentions to run, but he did so rather obtusely and within the confines of the Council’s chamber — where up to four other members have expressed similar interests and would probably love to forward the release to the Board’s General Counsel. Legal? Barely. Wise? Probably not.

It seems that Orange’s decision was motivated by his polling, in which an overwhelming 451 of 535 respondents (84 percent) endorsed his candidacy for mayor. It’s important to note here that when the poll was first placed on his exploratory committee’s website, popular opinion went against him running (at which point the poll was shut down, re-tooled, and placed online again three days later). But more importantly, it’s worth asking whether or not 535 responses (out of 90,000 polls mailed to D.C. residents and unlimited access to the poll online) even come close to being a representative sample of the city’s electorate — 365,567 voters as of April 30. This DCist thinks not.

Orange may want to be a little more discrete in the future — to date, the media attention he has received hasn’t helped much.

Note: Just to be clear, this DCist doesn’t really think Orange is the worst mayoral candidate ever. We thought it just seemed like a great time to incorporate Comic Book Guy in a post.

Update: Oops. Nominating petitions won’t officially be available until May 12, 2006, not last Thursday as was claimed here. Maybe that makes it worse for Orange…