The Rodent Regent seems more powerful than Howdy, but I tend to respond when Doody calls I expect them both as capable (Mighty Mouse was more capable, but then he had a cape. He loses points for constantly singing Opera, though) of fronting a puppet regime, but I was never buffaloed by whoever was pulling the strings.

Besides, Howdy's show featured Captain Kangaroo back before he was even a First Looie before he went to OCS as the original Clarabelle, working without Annette to fall back on (Princess Summerfall Winterspring was royalty and off limits, lent out to a King for an Elves Movie, but untouchable by mere mortals).. Unlike in Disney's world, he didn't even get a girlfriend with which to settle down and raise nephews and nieces with and beffore every show, they made sure he didn't have any "alky" in his seltzer bottle. The seltzer bottle, alas was no match for the former Mortimer Mouse's club, so no wonder Bob Keeshan ran off and enlisted.

But in the end, I'd rather be slipped a Howdy than a Mickey....