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American Morning
Ventura Will Not Make Second Run for Governor of Minnesota
Aired June 19, 2002 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the man known as The Body in his wrestling days says he will not make a second run for governor in the state of Minnesota.
Jesse Ventura says that like Che Guevara, he started a revolution and now it is time to hand that revolution off to the next person.
The question this morning, did he help or hurt the cause of independent candidates?
Our senior political analyst, Jeff Greenfield, with us here this morning.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: Jesse Ventura quoting Che Guevara.
GREENFIELD: What can you say?
HEMMER: An amazing parallel. Go back to 1998, because really this was the story from that election when he won the governor's battle.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: How did he do it in the first place?
GREENFIELD: Well, people sort of dismissed him as a wrestler turned talk show host. And I think the important thing about this is that as a talk show host, he sort of bettered his reputation. I was on that show once a few years ago and he showed that he actually had a mind, as opposed to the body.
But there were two other things that happened. One, Minnesota has a public financing law, which meant that he could play on the same field as the Republican and Democratic candidates, which most independents can't. And second, and I think this was really critical, Bill, they included him in the debates.
You'll remember in '92 when Ross Perot got into the presidential debates it made his credibility higher, and that's what happened to Ventura. He brought out a whole bunch of people who had never voted before because he was different from the politicians as usual and the pollsters never picked that up. HEMMER: He's considered an independent now, but when he ran in 1998, he ran on the Reform Party ticket.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: Is there a legacy that he leaves now for independents or can you gauge that?
GREENFIELD: Well, I think there are two things. If you look at him as a governor, it's a very mixed bag. He had more bills vetoed in his term in office than the 50 years worth of governors before him because he didn't have a party. I mean normally there's a party in the legislature that says we want to help the governor because it helps us. He didn't have that.
And the other thing is his own example, you know, the Che Guevara, I mean it's a lot easier to lead a revolution and say we're going to shake things up, but if you want a legacy politically, you've got to pass bills. And he didn't have much support in the legislature to do that.
The other thing is that there are governors elsewhere, independents where there's a tradition, who do do very well, I mean particularly in New England we've seen this tradition. In Maine, Angus King. He's the second independent governor in recent years. He does OK.
Connecticut had Lowell Weicker, the Republican senator, became an independent governor, could work well with the legislature. In Vermont, they've got an independent congressman, Bernie Sanders, and a now independent senator, Jim Jeffords.
So it can be done, it's just that Jesse's own approach to this didn't make it work.
HEMMER: Is it his approach or is there more to it? Because if these men can pull it off and he wasn't successful, that tells me a little more about him as a governor.
GREENFIELD: Well, I think it tells you something about how he went into the governorship, you know, whether he figured out a way to work as an independent or just thought he could kind of force his way through it. That's much harder to do with a legislature.
HEMMER: Can you gauge right now his political impact? I mean say he were to run again, did he have a shot or not?
GREENFIELD: I think you'd never discount somebody who's as unconventional as Ventura, and he does have another month. I think the deadline is the 16th. But what he's shown is if you get a governor with money or with visibility, I mean an independent candidate, you can actually make a difference, hard as it is in this country to do.
HEMMER: We have seen him doing broadcasts for, what was it, the World Football League? GREENFIELD: Extreme Football League.
HEMMER: Extreme Football. It lasted about three and a half days.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: We've also seen him go back into the broadcast booth for pro wrestling.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: What have you heard from Minnesotans? Are they happy that Jesse Ventura was their governor? Or is this more of a case of good riddance?
GREENFIELD: Well, you know, if you, I think if you talk to the -- from the very beginning the kind of more, how shall we put this, the good government types, who were always a little leery, because it made them look like a joke. But I think others, the people who put him into the office in the first place, it's a very mixed bag. I think some of them were disappointed because they thought he could do more more quickly. And the whole business of governing, the clash between a fresh face who's not tied to anybody and the hard, daily business of governing, I think, I think with some people they said enough was enough and he was a little too out there.
HEMMER: You mentioned earlier that, how smart he was. You met him, what, seven years ago the first time?
GREENFIELD: No, I was on a radio call in show to push a book. And they said you're going on with Jesse Ventura. And I had the normal elite New York reaction, you put me on with a wrestler?
HEMMER: No, you?
GREENFIELD: And -- well, I'm popping here, Bill, you know? It's early in the morning. And the truth is compared to about 99 percent of the nitwits who do morning radio zoo kind of things, you know, where they move their lips when they read, Ventura was a smart guy, knew his politics, knew what to ask. And I remember finishing the radio show saying I, you know, I learned something today.
So I'm not...
HEMMER: He had something going on between the ears, is what you're saying?
GREENFIELD: Yes, absolutely.
HEMMER: He has also said that the press has vilified him.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Recent stories about his son holding parties on the weekend in the governor's mansion. How much of that, do you think, was put into this decision?
GREENFIELD: You know, I can't, a lot of people in public life react to that. But I think if Jesse Ventura's popularity rating was 75 percent, he might have had a different result, you know?
HEMMER: Got it.
Thank you, Jeff.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: Thanks for stopping by.
More political talk to come later.
Back over to Daryn and Jack.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm wondering what the legacy will be in terms of this political lineage. If you had Ross Perot and then Jesse Ventura, is there another one out there? Or will people, Jeff, people like you look back 10 years from now and go well, that was the time?
GREENFIELD: Actually, I think there's always an appetite in America for a fresh face, for somebody to break the rules. You know, you go back to meet John Doe, those Frank Capra movies, people loved that idea. It's just that initially it's hard.
We've got a guy in New York, a multi-billionaire named Tom Galisano (ph), who says he's going to spend, I don't know, $60 million running as an independent for governor. Sixty million dollars, even in New York, he's going to be heard from. He could affect the race if he, because all of his votes are going to come from the Republican side. That's not good news for George Pataki, the incumbent Republican governor.
So I think there is something out there and I'm always fascinated by it, you know, a guy with money, visibility and a fresh face, it's a great story, if nothing else.
HEMMER: You think we should run Jack for office?
GREENFIELD: Nah. You know, look, without that jacket, you know?
KAGAN: Dan would vote for him.
GREENFIELD: That's it. The popular, man of the people.
HEMMER: Of course, now we have people who want him to take off his tie.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the Ross Perot/Jesse Ventura phenom, I think, has something to do with the fact that they resonated with voters because they cut through the usual political rhetoric. There's a barnyard term for what that is.
GREENFIELD: Yes, there is.
CAFFERTY: But we'll use rhetoric here. Perot kept talking till he proved to the electorate he's nuts. Ventura stopped in time to get elected. But don't you think, Jeff, that there is, people recognize when somebody's trying to deal off the top of the deck to them?
GREENFIELD: I couldn't agree more. I think you, in both of those cases, that is the key to an independent. When you can pick up George Wallace's phrase, that there ain't a dime's worth of difference between the parties, there is a longstanding belief in America politicians blow hot air, if not more gamey substances. And when they see somebody who's talking to them in a different tone of voice, dressed differently -- Ventura did not put on a coat and tie for most of those appearances -- what you do is you get people to the polls who have never voted before.
HEMMER: That's right.
GREENFIELD: In 1998, Jesse Ventura's in the Minnesota race, the turnout was enormous. And...
HEMMER: And he had to split the ticket three ways in order to be successful.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
HEMMER: And so, too, for Ross Perot when he ran.
GREENFIELD: And that means that the pollsters can't measure it when an independent candidate resonates.
HEMMER: Right. Got it. Thanks, Jeff.
GREENFIELD: Go for it, Jack.
KAGAN: Yes, go Jack.
It'll be interesting to see he says, Jesse Ventura says he's going to reinvent himself, so we'll have to see what is next.
CAFFERTY: Navy Seal wrestler governor. That's a pretty interesting resume.
KAGAN: Not that. He's qualified for a lot of things.
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