From This Valley

By Pete Steiner

My governor can beat up your governor

Iam wondering if anyone still owns one of those T-shirts from the aftermath of Minnesota’s 1998 gubernatorial contest? It would probably make a fitting slogan for our current no-holds-barred political times. (Maybe even mild, if you’re running in Missouri.)

It’s been 24 years — 12 election cycles — since Minnesotans elected former pro wrestler, Jesse “The Body” Ventura as our governor. When Ventura wore a feather boa at his victory celebration, it may well have been a portent of strange political times to come. At least the former mayor of Brooklyn Park had done some political thinking and had some experience in governance.

Just for idle speculation in the current political season (hasn’t every season become a political season?), while professional handicappers and analysts are focusing on the upcoming November contests, let me pose a hypothetical question about the past: Could Jesse have eventually become president?

Pondering what Ventura might have accomplished was spurred as I filed through my old reporter’s notebooks and newspaper clippings. I had just recently moved into the KTOE newsroom when Ventura came to Mankato in September 2000, with the goal of juicing up enthusiasm among young people to vote in that year’s looming elections. He spoke to students on the MSU campus before announcing he was going to continue the discussion downtown, at the South Street Saloon.

“Where’s the South Street Saloon?” asked Jim Ragsdale, the legendary St. Paul Pioneer Press political reporter who was standing near me. I told him to follow me, and we headed on down.

Ragsdale’s story the next day included a photo of Ventura hoisting a cold beer inside the packed bar. (Sadly, Ragsdale died eight years ago at age 64 of pancreatic cancer.) Typically, at that barroom bull session, as his fans hoisted brews and reporters jotted notes, Ventura harped on the need for a competitive third party, but he was less combative than usual with the media.

One year later, Ventura, trailed by a horde of reporters, supporters, aides and gawkers, was striding down Minnesota Street in New Ulm, wearing a Schell’s beer cap. “Always a circus!” I jotted in my notebook.

Although it was a year out from the next election, Jesse took shots at both Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone and rising Republican star, Tim Pawlenty. He waved a stogie with his hand and teased the political speculators with, “If I run again ...” Gladhanding those who stepped out of storefronts to greet him, he exclaimed, “I’m never in trouble with the people!” Still, some, when asked, hedged their bets about whether this boisterous and bombastic stirrer of controversy should try for a second term.

Ventura had won in 1998 as a thirdparty candidate with far less than half the vote. He had the benefit of two less-than-electric opponents, and he also had the advertising genius Bill Hillsman working for him: Hillsman, who had helped Wellstone win a Senate seat over incumbent Rudy Boschwitz with the wicked “Where’s Rudy?” ads, came up with the famous “Jesse the Thinker” TV ad, a clever play on the famous Rodin sculpture, portraying the 6-foot-2, 245-pound candidate as really more cerebral than physical.

In office, Ventura had some successes and put together an excellent cabinet, but with little legislative clout with either Democrats or Republicans, his accomplishments were spotty. Some thought he appeared to grow bored with the nuts and bolts of governing; he also embarked on odd forays, such as becoming a color announcer for the ill-fated XFL football league.

He eventually opted not to run again in 2002, railing against toointense media scrutiny of him and his family. After he had “shocked the world” (his phrase) with his 1998 win, Ventura with his charisma and another win would no doubt have been well-positioned nationally for possible higher office. Could he have made a third party nationally viable? Or might he have aligned with one of the two major parties, against his proclaimed disdain for them, to improve his chances? We will never know.

We do know that the Mahkato Wacipi — the traditional Native American powwow at Land of Memories Park that honors the 38 Dakota who were hanged in Mankato following the 1862 war — will celebrate it 50thanniversary this month. It is a great tribute to all the tribes and volunteers, and especially to Amos Owen, the Dakota spiritual leader, and to Bud Lawrence and Jim Buckley, two Mankato businessmen, all of whom believed that reconciliation could happen. Longtime radio guy Pete Steiner is now a free lance writer in Mankato.

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