BEMIDJI - Filing for offices on the Nov. 4 ballot closes Tuesday, and it seems all pundit attention is focusing on whether former Gov. Jesse Ventura will file for U.S. Senate.
While it is a free country and he may do what he wishes, we hope he passes on it.
There is no doubt that Ventura is a celebrity figure -- his brashness, pro wrestler, non-politician charisma got him elected governor. But once elected, he raised the office of governor to a high-profile center stage nationally, some might say a center ring like a circus. To his credit, he was able to surround himself with a good staff drawn from both parties and therefore did have some good public policy put forth.
But running for U.S. Senate is something different. A senator represents the entire state as an individual. A senator must bring to the national table a savvy for bringing the values and ideas of an entire state. Ventura would be on his own, and would not have a large continent of people behind him who actually run the show.
In a National Public Radio interview earlier this week, he said his reason for running is because of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's support for the Iraq war. That alone does not make a Senate candidate. Where does he stand on energy policy? On global warming? On entitlement spending such as Medicare and Social Security? On agriculture issues? On transportation issues? And so on.
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The DFL-endorsed candidate, Al Franken, and Jesse Ventura are alike in that they are both entertainers. But Franken, to his credit, has moved on his career and offers public policy proposals that can be put side by side with that of Republican Coleman.
Ventura bristles when he hears that he's creating hype about running because he has a new book to sell. But at this point, that's all he's got to sell. And, if he does become a candidate, his hatred of Minnesota media will prevent Minnesotans from knowing if he does have something else to sell.
Then again, we can perhaps glean something when he chats with Jay Leno. But that's not the venue Minnesotans want their senator to report to them.
He also said in the NPR interview that "all you Minnesotans, take a good hard look at all three of us. And you decide, if you were in a dark alley, which one of the three of us would you want with you." We ask why would we be in a dark alley with any of them in the first place? Serving as a senator of Minnesota hopefully means more than serving as an evening escort.
Tuesday will come and go, and then we'll know if former Gov. Ventura will run for Senate. But we won't be disappointed if he finds something better to do.
