Will Jesse Ventura be an independent candidate for president next year?
Last Saturday on his weekly MSNBC show, “Jesse Ventura’s America”, the former wrestler and one-term governor of Minnesota, opened his show by criticizing the Senate’s “vote” on the Bush administration’s $87 billion request for Iraq.
“Last week our distinguished United States Senate staged a performance that would have made Houdini proud. The boys of the Senate got together and arranged to pass the $87 billion war appropriation without really having to vote on it. With six brave senators on the floor, a vote was taken and the bill was passed. Five for the bill, and one against. The other 94 votes-what other 94 votes? Is that cowardly or what? What’s going on with our government?”
Ventura then let all barrels blaze.
It doesn’t matter who is in charge, Democrats or Republicans. The end justifies the means. Want to break the iron grip these two parties have on our politics? Good luck. Last week, the Presidential Debates Commission announced the schedule for next year’s debates. What a joke. This commission hijacked from the League of Women Voters by Republican and Democratic hacks is about as fair as the Globetrotters against the Washington generals. Their goal-keep any viable third party candidate out of the debates. All this in a country where polls indicate there are more independents than Democrats or Republicans. Why, I ask, do we let the minority rule?”
Jesse also railed against the automatic $5,000 raise members of Congress recently received.
In the first half-hour, Ventura interviewed Al Eisele of the Washington, D.C., newspaper “The Hill”. The former governor said: “We’re getting to the campaign season, which is a time of year when I tend to get upset with Democrats and Republicans. I often refer to campaign years as open season for bribery. Al, you know, the definition in the paper of bribery, or in the dictionary, is giving something of value to someone in power in hopes of influencing their decision. We have an entire Democratic/Republican political system based upon bribery. If you did it in the private sector, you would be arrested and put in jail, but in the public sector, it’s the status quo. How do we stop this?”
In a give-and-take with Al Eisele, who once asked Ventura about an independent run for president in 2004, Jesse said,
“I’m leaning, I’m looking at it, because I want to throw a wrench into this maybe. Do you think I could? Do you think if I got in the race, Al, there would be a fly in the ointment or a fly in the soup?”
Jesse Ventura’s disdain with the two party system was evident throughout the show. He is not alone. More and more Americans are not voting, because they do not see much sense in going to the polls to get shafted by either party. That’s why George Bush will have a tough race in 2004, especially if Ventura becomes a presidential candidate next year.
A Ventura presidential run next year would galvanize millions of voters just like Schwarzenegger did in California this year. With a national audience, Ventura would articulate some of the concerns the American people have about the political process. Hopefully, a Ventura candidacy also would focus his candidacy on the federal government’s interventionist foreign policy. He should also begin to address federal government’s unsustainable welfare state commitments.
If Jesse makes more noise about jumping into the race, don’t be surprised if the MSNBC executives pull the plug on his show. They don’t want to be accused of favoritism, and sponsors would get queasy about supporting Jesse’s insurgent candidacy.
Jesse’s body language and tone last Saturday suggest he is running for president. Don’t be surprised if a Jesse in ’04 website pops up soon.
“Published riginally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”