---------- From: Steve Perry Sent: Thursday, November 05, 1998 10:23 AM To: 'lbo-talk at lists.panix.com' Subject: Minnesota Redux: Lessons from Jesse the Balmy & Senator Paul
There are a couple of important lessons in the victories of Jesse Ventura and Paul Wellstone (1990, *not* 1996) for any outsider candidate looking to run a successful campaign. These were, after all, two of the most surprising upsets of the '90s--maybe *the* two most surprising upsets.
First note that Wellstone in '90 was damn close to a third-party candidate himself: The state party wanted no part of him, endorsing one of his opponents well before the September primary; and the spending on his behalf by the national party lagged behind their efforts in most other states throughout most if not all of the campaign. He ended up being outspent by his Republican opponent to the tune of an 7-1 or 8-1 margin--not so different from the 10-1 margin Jesse is claiming in the gubernatorial campaign just past.
Wellstone and Ventura had two things in common: an ability to connect emotionally with the public, to convince people they were concerned about folks who normally have no voice in politics, which in the end brought out many people who traditionally do not bother to vote at all (one reason the polls misfired in both races); and a willingness to run humorous, thoroughly unconventional ads that exploited and amplified that sense of identification. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, their ads were conceived by the same man, Bill Hillsman. Some of Wellstone's 1990 ads ran only a handful of times owing to his low funding; part of the express strategy was to get free publicity by doing ads that became stories in themselves--and they did, in spades. Looking at Jesse alone, one might conclude that show biz charisma was a necessary part of the equation, but that ain't so--just look at Paul.
Of course they *were* both wrestlers, and maybe that's the real key...