Word on the street is that Jesse Ventura may be entering the Minnesota Senate race against Al Franken and Norm Coleman. While promoting his new book on tour, Ventura seems to be testing the waters for a bid against two candidates he feels are woefully inadequate.
For voters weary of our current two-party system and standard platforms, Jesse Ventura has never been short of new, bold ideas for political reform. In musing about his potential Senate bid, Ventura’s proposals already include abolishing the federal income tax in favor of a national sales tax, making it harder for the president to go to war, reinstating the draft, and especially requiring Members of Congress to make special contributions to any war effort.
Jesse’s entry into the race would throw expectations into total chaos. In principle, I love political chaos and welcome anything that confounds what everybody thinks and draws attention to the wacky politics of the great state of Minnesota. But it makes me an eensy bit nervous. While Ventura bested Norm Coleman in a three-way bid for governor in 1998, my hunch is that a Ventura-for-Senate candidacy would be much more likely to hurt Al Franken, whose tough, sometimes mean-spirited brand of comedy probably appeals to the same set of independents and lefties who are looking for a fresh approach to politics. Then again, an awful lot of independents and R’s are upset with Bush, and no one has been a bigger water-carrier for Bush in the Senate than Norm Coleman. So just enjoy basking in the chaos.
If he really decides to take the plunge, Ventura’s best hope is that he can get support again from political adman Bill Hillsman, whose brilliant spots in 1998 were instrumental in transforming Ventura into a cool, credible candidate. But as Ventura points out, he can run even on a small budget because he is capable of generating so much free media. If I were still living in Minnesota, I’d be sure to wear my feather boa in solidarity to the polls.
