Jesse Ventura, whom some have speculated might run for the open U.S. Senate in Minnesota under the Independence Party label, is rumored to be hedging closer to a run.
As if the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota weren’t murky enough, sources close to former Governor Jesse Ventura confirm that he is all but certain to throw his hat into the ring in the not-too-distant future.
Ventura’s motivations appear to be a general (and widely shared) dissatisfaction with the state of the country, the partisan bickering between the GOP and the Democratic Party, and, closer to home, the likely pairing of Norman Coleman and Al Franken as the two major party alternatives. That Ventura also has a new book out on the stands may be another factor egging him on.
Ventura is still widely popular in Minnesota from his days as a maverick Governor. It had been reported here on IPR that if Ventura did not run, Dean Barkley would.
RealityCzech,
A fine point….
An impressive candidate in the US Senate race in MN from the Constitution Party could conceivably pull votes away from Coleman……
Trent – It isn’t as much about “liberal” and “conservative” as it is about pro-establishment and anti-establishment. You’ve told me that Ron Paul people know know were largely conservative, right? Well in Michigan, that was definitely NOT the case. It was people who were anti-establishment. Conservatives, liberals, and “moderates.” There are going to be plenty of pro-establishment Democrats who will vote for Coleman, while anti-establishment Republicans would vote for Franken. Now those anti-establishment votes will be split, IF Franken is the nominee (which isn’t guaranteed).
Jeez, I think I’m starting to sound like Robert Milnes.
Via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura“>Wikipedia, the election results from Ventura’s only other statewide race:
Ventura 37%
Coleman 34%
Humphrey 28%
Granted, Humphrey was a fairly weak candidate. Granted, he was probably en route to losing even before Ventura entered the race. Still, I think these numbers back up Mike’s supposition rather than Trent’s. Ventura may win, but if he doesn’t, he’ll take more votes from Franken than from Coleman.
I think GE is wrong. If Coleman wins, it wont be because Ventura took votes more from the liberal side, it’ll be because he squeezed by both other candidates in a hotly contested three-way race. Ventura is likely to pull from both sides.
Ventura’s beaten Coleman statewide before, against most expectations. I also believe Ventura could break every bone in Franken’s body just by looking at him, leaving it a two-man race.
I agree with G.E.
There is no doubt in my mind, that if Ventura enters the race, the Republican will win. History backs me up. I could deal with Franken in the senate, but not Coleman.
I’d rather see Ventura in the senate than Franken, in fact I wouldn’t really want to see Franken in the Senate. I hope Ventura does actually run, since I think his popularity is broad enough to beat both.
libertarians usually hate, rather.
GE-
That’s what I thought when I saw this. I’d like to see Jesse Ventura in the Senate, more than I’d like to see Al Franken in the Senate, but I think him running against Al will just result in neither getting in the Senate. And I kinda like the idea of Al Franken in the Senate, so this is a rare allowance for that kind of “spoiler!” thinking libertarians usually take. I wouldn’t vote for Bob Barr for President if Ron Paul were the Republican nominee.
I think he and Franken will split the young and anti-establishment vote and hand the election to the Republican.