Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Want a piece of me, Kerry? What about you, Brownback?

Speculation has run rampant that former governor and world champion Jesse Ventura is mulling a run for Senate. He is publicly denying it, but has also said he will make a decision before Tuesday. The key of course is to see if his minions are collecting signatures in Mullet Country north of 694. To me, the fact that he is entertaining the idea means he is probably running.

But, I want to expand on a comment I left at my brother's blog. I basically said that I didn't think Ventura would be terribly well-suited to be one of 100. He has been an executive his entire political career. I think he needs to be "The Man." I think his ego is too big to be part of a group. Granted, most politicians' egos are huge. They would have to be given that the reason people go into politics is because they believe they know what's best for you. But, Ventura's ego is the size of Lake Superior. I can't imagine seeing him in a deliberative body, where you have to play well with others at least occasionally. It just doesn't fit.

But, I wonder how this changes the equation of the Senate race. Does this help Sen. Coleman, or Al Franken? My first impulse is to say Ventura will be a non-factor. On the other hand, a lot of us were saying the same thing in 1998. In 1998, Ventura cost Norm Coleman the governorship. Currently, Coleman is leading Franken in the polls, so it would stand to reason that Coleman has more to lose. But, will Franken supporters who are not hardcore Democrats be swayed as well?

Of course, this is all conjecture at this point. Ventura hasn't officially declared yet.

2 comments:

Mr. D said...

Thanks for the nod, sir. If Jesse actually gets in, he's more likely to hurt Franken this time around, especially since Jesse is doing the 9-11 truther thing this time around.

By the way, hope you were amused by the other Mike who posted at my place. He called me small time, so I went to his blog and checked his Sitemeter. Dude gets 6 visitors a day.

Mike said...

I was amused by that guy. Christ, 6 visitors? I may pass him soon on that count. I will check to see if he gets back to you to document your blatant falsehoods.

I totally forgot about the truther thing with Ventura! While that may get him a vote or three in my neighborhood (a fair number of truthers around here), that won't do him much good outside of Minneapolis.