Showing posts with label Jesse Ventura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesse Ventura. Show all posts

July 11, 2008

Run jESSE run !!!!!

jesse ventura revolution book governor minnesota
Photos: AP
The many faces of Jesse (from left): author, speaker and governor
POLITICS

A New Job for Jesse?

The former Minnesota governor is considering a run for Senate. What he plans to do if he gets there.

Will he or won't he? That's the question Minnesota residents, political junkies across the nation and even wrestling fans are asking this week amid hints that Jesse Ventura will return to politics, this time seeking a Senate seat in his home state.

Ventura, whose eclectic jobs include Minnesota governor from 1999-2003, book author, movie actor and wrestling champ, turns 57 on July 15--coincidentally the same day as the filing deadline for the Senate seat. Living part-time in Mexico, Ventura says he hasn't yet decided what he will do.

If he does take the plunge, he would face incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken of "Saturday Night Live" fame. Ventura talked to NEWSWEEK's Hilary Shenfeld on Friday. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: You're thinking of mounting an independent campaign for the Senate in Minnesota. Why now?
Jesse Ventura: It's wide open, and I've watched these presidential debates, and they're avoiding subjects that I think are ultra-important.

Such as?
The deficit. Both parties are equally responsible for it. It's over $9 trillion now. A baby born today is [already] $30,000 in debt.

When did you get the itch to get back in?

As soon as the two parties chose their two senatorial candidates. I find it just bizarre that with the presidential approval rating less than 30 percent and congressional rating even less that Franken's trailing by double digits, so clearly he's not electable. With Coleman, you have a guy I call the quintessential chicken hawk. When it was time to serve his country, he was a chicken because he protested the war and stayed out of fighting. And then he came back all this time later and he's a hawk for the war. That hypocrisy is why I would want to come back and beat him.

When will you decide?

I will soul search and decide, probably on Monday morning. It's all about my family. Do I want to subject them to political office again? Do I want to change my lifestyle? As an independent you're held to a higher scrutiny. You want an example? I wrote a book when I was in office and the Minnesota press accused me of profiteering off the office. Three months later, John McCain came through on a book tour and they heralded him. He's a senator, right? Barack Obama wrote a book, didn't he?

June 25, 2008

Barkley likes odds of Ventura Senate run

The former governor has until July 15 to decide whether to enter the race and will probably wait until then.

Last update: June 19, 2008 - 10:30 AM

Dean Barkley, one of former Gov. Jesse Ventura's closest political associates, said Wednesday that he thinks Ventura will enter the U.S. Senate race as a third-party candidate next month.

But Barkley emphasized that no one knows what the former governor will wind up doing.

And he said Ventura probably won't make a decision until right before the deadline for filing for office -- 5 p.m. on July 15.

But Barkley said that recent polls -- which showed Ventura with the support of a quarter of Minnesota voters in a hypothetical run against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and DFLer Al Franken -- have reinforced their hunch that this could be a good year for a famous third-party candidate with office-holding experience.

In fact, both he and Ventura think the former governor would win, Barkley said.

"I think the public would like an alternative," he said. "The polls just show that [Coleman and Franken] have weaknesses that could be exploited by the right person."

No matter what Ventura does, that person won't be Barkley, who was appointed by Ventura to complete Paul Wellstone's term after the senator's death in 2002. Although he had said he would run if Ventura doesn't, Barkley was recently hired to run Metro Mobility transit and has ruled out joining the race.

As for Ventura, he's struggling between wanting to hang onto his comfortable lifestyle in Minnesota and Mexico, where he's become a surf hound, and his desire to shake up Congress and support U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Barkley said.

He added that Terry Ventura says she won't stand in her husband's way if he wants to run.

"Half of him wants to [run] and the other half says, 'Don't do it, you idiot,'" Barkley said. "He knows his way of life is going to have to change."

One of the recent polls that showed support for Ventura also found that 60 percent of respondents said he shouldn't run for the Senate. Barkley acknowledged that he has some negatives.

SENATOR NORM COLEMAN a Whistleblower with a mandate who never came Forward!

SENATOR NORM COLEMAN a Whistleblower with a mandate who never came Forward! I, Jack Shepard AWARD TO SENATOR NORM COLEMAN THE NON-WHISTLEBLOWER OF THE YEAR 2006-2007 FOR ALL US GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT AGENCIES. For detailed cases by case in depth unbelievable in dept look there are several very interesting links.NORM COLEMAN -& VISIT WWW.JACKSHEPARDFORSENATE.COM to see how SEN. NORM COLEMAN chair of the Iraqi oversight Committee did not use his powers to be a whistleblower on any contractors who were giving him $100,000+ in donations to his Senate Re-election Committee; which know has over $7,000,000 on hand?

posted by jack4shepard

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