Donny Deutsch's show isn't doing so hot. Its ratings on CNBC are down 15 percent from last year, and sometimes his viewership is so low it doesn’t even register on the Nielsen scale. So it would be a good time for the Big Idea host to agree to a fluff profile, right? Maybe in the alumni magazine of his alma mater, the Pennsylvania Gazette. They're sure to say something nice. They have to! Or maybe not. In this month's issue, magazine writer Jordana Horn gives Deutsch the Observer treatment, allowing the former adman to make himself look kind of ridiculous. The article leads with Deutsch stripping off his shirt during the interview and boasting that he could be mayor of New York if he wanted. “You know, if I really wanted to do it, I would meet with a top advisor. I’d find some great political operatives, and hire the head of my campaign,” Deutsch said. “I’d meet with all the top people I know on Wall Street, and start a fundraising campaign.” Horn, to her credit, does a pretty good job of ignoring his "not-bad set of abs for a 50-year-old guy" and presses him on the mayor point. “You gotta say, why not me?” Deutsch persists.

It's probably not surprising that Horn seems to loathe Deutsch after this moment. The title of her story is "Why Not Him?," and you almost suspect her implied answer is, "Because He's a Turd Goblin."

Here's our favorite part:

“You have a big personality,” I say to him at one point in our interview.
“So I’ve been told,” he rejoins.
“Well, that’s the good way of saying it,” I add.
“What’s the other way of saying it?” he asks, smiling.
“Hypothetically, maybe some might think of you as arrogant or egotistical,” I tell him.

Ouch. Deutsch is on the board of overseers for the School of Social Policy and Practice at Penn. He's actually an esteemed alum of the university, so it's surprising that they'd let a kind of harsh profile slip by editors. We've always kind of liked Donny — he's sort of funny for all his bluster, and he did catch Ann Coulter in one of her most blatantly despicable moments. If he wants to be mayor (or keep his show on the air), he's going to have to learn to spin better than this.

Why Not Him? [Pennsylvania Gazette]