Posted on 05/16/2008 8:27:13 AM PDT by seanmerc
Former Gov. Jesse Ventura said he "may" file the necessary papers to run for the U.S. Senate in the November election.
If he doesn't, his former campaign manager will.
Both are hinting at a run against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and likely Democratic candidate Al Franken this fall. The only question seems to be: Will it be Ventura, or the man who helped him become governor?
Ventura's former campaign manager, Dean Barkley, now works as a bus driver and gardens as a hobby.
"Ear to the dirt, listening to the pulse of the people," he joked Thursday.
But Barkley, who was appointed to the Senate for 62 days after Paul Wellstone died in 2002, said he is serious about going to Washignton again.
"I don't like either of the candidates out there," he said. "And if no one else will do it, I will."
As for Ventura, he refused to answer questions Thursday from reporters who showed up for his public book signing at Mall of America.
"Are you running for Senate?" a reporter asked.
"You're the media," Ventura mouthed before taking a question from someone else.
He eventually talked about his plans anyway.
"Now you're asking me to stop my latest quest, which is surfing," he said when asked about running for office again.
Ventura told the crowd that "none of the above" would be a better choice than Norm Coleman or Al Franken.
"I may go down and file," he added. "I will be "none of the above, and if I win, I'll go to Washington.
The Humprhey Institute's Larry Jacobs said the timing just might be right ... again.
"If it's Ventura, all bets are off," he said. "Voters are angry. And they're not very happy with the parties and the candidates in front of them."
He noted Ventura beat Coleman once before: Coleman was Ventura's Republican opponent when Ventura was elected governor, as an independent, in 1998.
Barkley said he and Ventura will talk to each other and then decide which one of them will run. He said they'll make the decision sometime before the filing deadline of July 15.
"Jesse's got first dibs," Barkley said.
As for Ventura's refusal to talk to the local media, he explained he felt he was treated unfairly when he was governor, and by not commenting now, "then it doesn't make you money."
He added: "And by stopping you from making money, that makes my heart feel good."
Go Dean Go! ROTFLMAO!
Not at all. Ventura would just be another split in the opposition to Coleman. Coleman will win easily if it's a 3-man race. 2 loons vs. a sane, albeit borderline, RINO.
The big oaf was doing a book signing on the Channel 9 news last night. He was an absolute embarrassment, talking about how the CIA is running the MN state government, LOL. What a f-ing moron.
Agreed. Ventura would almost certainly seal the deal for Coleman’s big win. Franken’s already gravely politically wounded.
I was watching Channel 11 and saw a brief news clip.
Jesse has been, continues to be and will always be a bloviating piece of garbage.
I only wish more people out there could hear Jesse when he starts going off about the CIA or his feelings about what “really” happened on September 11th.
The extremely sad part is that there’s 20-30% of the state’s population that thinks Jesse is really the cat’s meow, so to speak.
I remember listening to him last night and thinking “God, we really are a bunch of rubes to have been suckered in by this assclown”.
I wasn’t though. I can proudly and honestly state that I vote for Norm Coleman back in ‘98.
Right now, it’s no certainty that Franken wins the nomination. There is a candidate running as the inheritor of Wellstone’s mantle, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. He has apparently been quite well-received by the DFL base.
Pallmeyer polls horrendous against Coleman. Granted, that can change. But I think we may have dodged the bullet on this one, Franken or no Franken.
Ventura’s ‘98 run was more notable for the fact that he effectively killed Skip Humphrey’s political career for good. Many expected Humphrey to win that election before Ventura’s boomlet. Ventura took a big bite out of the DFL base, far more than the GOP’s. A lot of folks don’t realize that despite MN being fairly rodent, it’s been 22 years since they last won the Governorship (and that with the pro-lifer Rudy Perpich).
I’ll vote for Ventura or Barkley. I can’t bring myself to vote for Norm Coleman and I’m sure as hell not gonna vote for Al Franken. Sub in Skip Humphrey for Al Franken and that’s how Jesse got my vote in 1998...
What do you mean by “here”? Do you live in Minnesota? Your home page says Israel.
I don’t agree with all of his positions, but legitimately think he’d make a better Senator than his opponents, much like he made a better Governor then they would have.
If you want to be proud of voting for that RINO scumbag pervert, that’s your prerogative. I voted for Ventura and don’t regret in the least.
Too bad he couldn’t have killed Norm’s too.
I agree that a 3-man race helps Coleman. I think he’s actually quite likely to lose in a two man race against Franken. However, don’t forget that it’s more likely to be Barkley than Ventura, who I think would actually have a realistic shot at winning this seat.
Given all the scrutiny now of Franken, I find it highly unlikely he could beat Coleman in a 2-man race. Franken has to watch his butt in the DFL primary, he may not get the nod. Barkley has no chance of winning in a 3-way (or in any way — it’s unlikely he’d get more than 15-20% of the vote under any circumstances — when he actually mounted campaigns for the Senate in the ‘90s, he maxed out at 7%). He’d be nothing more than a stand-in for Ventura and would divide Coleman’s opposition. The DFLers better pray that Ventura or Barkley doesn’t run, because if they do, Coleman won’t have to worry about a thing.
Ventura is a 9/11 “truther”. Confirming his status as a total moron.
The view from the ground is very different. The DFL still largely dominates politics in this state; people think it’s becoming a swing state due to a strong year for the GOP in 2002 (which had a lot of unusual factors), but I think the 2006 showed pretty clearly this state hasn’t strayed much from its roots. We will likely lose the Senate seat, and we will very likely lose the House seat in the 3rd district. There’s even a decent chance we’ll lose the 6th district. I think it’s going to be a wipeout in Minnesota next year. I’ve seen polls that have Obama beating McCain by over 20 points.
Incredible amount of truth in this thread, on all points. I didn’t like him when he ran for Gov. and never talk about the Choo Choo without blaming him for that fiasco. We can thank him for putting a stop to the Humpty dynasty. I vote Coleman and really don’t care for him, his Rino stands or his personality, Jesse was the pick of the litter, this state is soooo screwed. I wish I could feel Coleman cared about “We the People”. Jesse runs, he’ll win.
Incredible amount of truth in this thread, on all points. I didn’t like him when he ran for Gov. and never talk about the Choo Choo without blaming him for that fiasco. We can thank him for putting a stop to the Humpty dynasty. I vote Coleman and really don’t care for him, his Rino stands or his personality, Jesse was the pick of the litter, this state is soooo screwed. I wish I could feel Coleman cared about “We the People”. Jesse runs, he’ll win.
We won’t the lose the Senate seat against Franken, so we’ll have to disagree there. If we didn’t lose the 6th as an open seat in 2006, I don’t believe we’ll lose it this year. Michele Bachmann is a fantastic Congressmember. The 3rd district candidate looks fairly decent against a Dem opponent of whom has never won office, but I haven’t seen the polling data there. Unless McCain totally tanks, I find it exceptionally hard to believe he loses MN by 20% (not even Bob Dole lost by that much, you’d have to go back to Goldwater for that). I think more likely it will be by no more than 5%. If this supposed appeal to disaffected Hillary Dems is to believed, he may even have a halfway decent shot of winning the state (although I wouldn’t put good money on that right now).
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