"To think that government could ever be other than selfish and venal and manipulative is a mistake," he says.

Someone with such a low opinion of government might seem like an odd choice to lead one. But the Libertarian, who also is chairman of the Duke University political science department, wants to be the next governor.

And he thinks he'd be an excellent one precisely because of his fervent mistrust of nearly everything government does.

Munger wants to create a robust school-voucher program, end the death penalty, curb cities' power to annex property, slash many state departments and generally be a thorn in the side of a legislature he sees as corrupt and wasteful.

He'd govern, no doubt, with the same irreverence and sharp wit that has made him a popular professor.

Munger also seems to relish lobbing verbal grenades at his would-be opponents, often flashing a Cheshire-cat grin as he does.

In a recent interview, he called Democratic candidate Bev Perdue a "Stepford wife," a reference to the movie about robot housewives. He called the fundraising practices of her main rival, Richard Moore, "repulsive."

He gave equal time to the Republicans, saying the state GOP has a history of trotting out "circus clowns" to run for governor.

"I'm claiming the [Republican] candidate in November will have big orange hair and a rubber nose," he says.

Munger, 49, studies politics for a living, so he understands that third-party candidates are long shots.

Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill, doesn't think recent scandals in state government, most notably the corruption case that landed former House Speaker Jim Black in prison, will be enough to sweep a third party into the governor's mansion.

"It would take a level of corruption that embarrasses the state more than we've had," Guillory says, though he added that Munger would be "a fascinating candidate."

Munger, of course, disagrees. The state used to engage in "soft corruption," he says.

That's changed. "We're becoming more like Louisiana, where corruption is wholesale."

A classic example of this, he says, occurred when Black, an optometrist, pushed through a measure requiring all kindergartners to get comprehensive eye exams, a provision that was dropped after it sparked protest. Black since has been sent to prison for accepting under-the-table campaign contributions.

If elected, of course, Munger would have to deal with a legislature made up of people from the two major parties.

He says that means he would do much of his governing via news conference, using his bully pulpit to call out what he sees as inappropriate uses of government power and/or taxpayer money.

"To the extent that I'm able to be a free agent ... I'm actually in a good position to be a broker for the people of North Carolina and provide leadership by asking embarrassing questions."

But, first, he has to get in the race.

Getting on the ballot

Third parties face a high bar to get on the ballot. State law requires them to gather signatures equal to 2 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. This year, that number is 69,733.

Barbara Howe, chairwoman of the N.C. Libertarian Party, says party workers actually have to collect more than 100,000 signatures to achieve that, because many are invalidated for various reasons. They're about 6,000 signatures shy of that goal now.

A ballot petition drive costs $100,000 to $150,000, according to a lawsuit filed by the Libertarians and the Green Party seeking an end to the petition requirement. The suit was continued indefinitely after a brief hearing Monday. The plaintiffs hope to be back in court next month.

The petition requirement, Munger says, ensures that third parties are "gasping at the starting line" -- and that, he believes, has been bad for the state.

Because Republicans have been so ineffectual, he says, North Carolina is a one-party state.

The people in power, he says, "are not Democrats, they're autocrats. They're people who have run the state government and done so for a long time."

A plan for the schools

Some of Munger's positions, however, buck Libertarian orthodoxy, especially his views on education.

"A lot of Libertarians think, and they're entitled to this view, that any educational system in which the government is involved at all is equally bad," Munger says.

"Well, it seems to me anytime you have a goal, you should try to achieve what you can. Trying to achieve more than you can means you achieve nothing."

So Munger is an incrementalist.

He wants to freeze per pupil funding at its current level. Then he would steer all the state lottery proceeds to a program that gives families vouchers worth $2,000 a child, to be applied toward attending the school of their choice -- whether a private school or just a different public school.

Munger also favors pay raises for teachers and other state employees he views as essential. He'd pay for those raises by cutting many administrative jobs.

Munger says he would need to lead a full-scale audit of state departments as a whole to see what should get the ax.

He says he would start from scratch in at least one department: the Division of Motor Vehicles.

"The DMV has become the private fiefdom of people who pay off cronies," Munger says. "Their job is not service. There, I think I would just fire a lot of people and start all over."

Munger also favors a constitutional amendment to tighten the rules for when cities can annex properties or use eminent domain to acquire them.

He says the system is abused now, with some cities annexing affluent areas to increase their tax bases, while passing over lower income areas.

Ellis Hankins, executive director of the N.C. League of Municipalities, dismissed Munger's criticisms of annexation by saying that because Libertarians "oppose government in general, it's not surprising that he would oppose annexation."

Munger hopes voters won't pigeonhole him this way. He says he's running as a reformer, as a check against a concentration of power in Raleigh.

His model is Jesse Ventura, the former professional wrestler who shocked the political world by winning the Minnesota governor's office in 1998.

"When [Ventura] was first elected, everybody thought it was a joke," Munger says.

"But he was a pretty successful governor in a difficult state. In some ways that would be the model I would use. I would be Michael 'The Body' Munger."