On the other hand, a friend (60-something Wellstone Democrat) wrote the following to a small group I'm part of:
==== I found the election of Jesse (the governer) Ventura very exciting. Ventura was a Wrastler here in Portland Oregon for awhile. I have an image of him down at the Portland Arena pounding the shit out of some other actor with the working people in the front rows screaming for blood. I see the women in their ill fitting house dresses and holes were teeth once were. bleached blond hair, screaming in uncontrolable excitement as their hero acts out their anger for them. Vicariously they get revenge for all the pain and humilitation they suffer in their insecure lives. I see their husbands and boyfriends getting relief for the insults and humilitations they suffer in their low level once in a while jobs on the Portland docks or the northside warehouses.. And there is Ventura creating an illusion for them to savor and find a few hours relief from their working class aches and hopelessness.
Minnesota once had the most active Socialist party in the nation. For years they were the dominent party. After the second world war they merged with the democrats to form the Democratic Socialist Pary which dominated the politics for many more years. Hubert Humphry was a Democratic Socialist. After Joe McCarthy and his band of jolly fascists left their mark, the Democratic Socialists became the Democrats. Still the hopes and dreams of socialism burned in this heavily Scadanavian state and the "Independent Party" was formed to carry the banner. The "Independents" have always been a powerful political force although they worked hard to hide their Socialist label. When the Reform Party came along the independents saw it as an opportunity to fight the monopoly the republicrats had on politics and converted to "Reform". It was under the Reform Party that Ventura won. It is important to note that he promised that if he won he would revert back to the "Independent Party" aka Socialist Party. Symbolically, Ventura is the ideal standard bearer for the resurgence of the Progressive Movement. His platform was simple and straight forward. Lower taxes on working people, supprort for poor people and the disabled and aged, elimination of religion from government, support for education. build a strong infra structure, protect workers rights and protect the enviornment at all costs.
Ventura may be a muscle bound freak but he seems a lot better to me than a grade c movie actor whose total claim to fame was that he snitched on his friends and destroyed their careers and in some instances their lives.
====
So, Wellstone/Ventura in 2000! The Wrestlemania Ticket!
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"