Published: July 16, 2008 01:16 am         

Our View: Once with Ventura was enough

Had Jesse Ventura gone ahead with his idea to run for the U.S. Senate, we could have had two comedians in the race (some say three, actually).

All kidding aside, interest in a Ventura candidacy highlights the celebrity factor the former Minnesota governor still carries, but it also may speak to a certain boredom factor with the two major party candidates already running.

Several months ago, a matchup between Norm Coleman and Al Franken seemed anything but boring. Even today, the race figures to be one of the most closely monitored Senate campaigns in the country. But in a year when many voters long for a breath of fresh air, Coleman doesn’t particularly excite his Republican base. The Democrat Franken, for all his uniqueness as a comedian and wit, is perceived with a certain amount of skepticism by his own party.

Is Ventura a breath of fresh air? Not so much to Minnesotans any more. We’ve been there, done that. After living through his first act, some see him more as a breath of hot air.

Although many Minnesotans would relish the circus atmosphere that would accompany a three-way race involving Ventura, it is a titillation we can do without. As governor, Jesse’s bombastic personality grew tiresome. Do we really want to go through that again with a senator? Perhaps we should agree that Coleman and Franken offer enough of a contrast of styles and politics to provide us with a real choice.

We could agree with Jesse on at least one point, however: A majority of Americans do believe the “political class” still doesn’t get it. Ventura has managed to retain his uniqueness and his “outsider” persona, and that would inspire a sizeable portion of voters to see him as the right man to hold Washington’s feet to the fire. But would a Sen. Ventura be able to push through real legislation that could make a difference? It’s hard to see it, frankly.

Senate campaigns, especially in years such as this when so many major issues confront America, are not just about personality. Once Jesse had to stake out difficult positions, once the novelty of his announcement would have worn off, he would alienate as many voters as he might impress.

He, of course, knows this. And he knows that the best way to manage his iconoclastic image is to titillate, and then decline.