Buffalo, NY -- Reality shows are everywhere and now they are creeping into politics.

The bi-weekly Buffalo, New York newspaper, "The Beast", is holding a contest to take 16 contestants -- Democrats only -- and whittle them down to one person who will run against the incumbent mayor in the November 2005 elections.

Like any "Fear Factor-" or "Apprentice-"style show, the wannabe mayors have to compete in challenges like eating fish from the polluted lakes of Buffalo to test their environmental fortitude or smuggling a "large brick of contraband" back and forth between the U.S./Canada border without getting caught.

Paul Fallon, publisher of "The Beast," says the knee-jerk reaction may be that they're making a mockery of the political system, but he claims the current mayor has put the citizens of Buffalo through an extreme hardship.

In his words, "We shouldn't be serious, if serious is not talking about the issues... and garnering money from corporate interest. We don't take that serious."

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