Jesse Ventura Denies He's Running For Senate

ABC News reported this morning that Jesse Ventura is planning a Senate run:

In an interview with NPR's David Welna that ran today, former Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ind-Minn., says he will run for Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whom Ventura defeated for governor in 1998, as well as Democratic nominee and former Saturday Night Live humorist Al Franken.

Ventura, born Jim Janos, tells Welna that the main reason he's running is because of Coleman's support for the war in Iraq. "That's the reason I run," he says. "I run because it angers me...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?

But Ventura says he was speaking hypothetically.

"I gave [NPR] the reasons why I would run," Ventura says. "But I said ultimately, it will come down to whether I want to change my lifestyle and go to that lifestyle or not."

ABC News has changed its story to say Ventura "sounds like he may run for Senate."

Comments

[nathananderson]

"If you were in a dark alley which one of the three of us would you want with you?"

Yeah right... when is a Senator EVER going to meet one of his constituents in a dark alley in Minnesota?

(ahem... Larry Craig ...ahem)

Ok... bad example

[RealityBaseCamp]

Oh, great.
Well, I'll certainly be there to congratulate both Ventura and all the people who voted for him after they insure MN is stuck with Coleman for another 6 years. Brilliant strategy, Jesse, split the vote of people finally realizing Coleman should go.
If Al Franken (who's this much >< more a carpetbagger than Jesse - they both grew up there and both had careers that took them elsewhere) weren't running I'd say fine, because Jesse's obviously better than Coleman too. But Al already has the Dem nomination. Adding Jesse at this point, hands the whole thing back to Norm.

[MyTake]

I would appreciate having Mr. Ventura run for the Senate. His proposal to have "NONE OF THE ABOVE" as an option on every political ballot to enable the population to express non confidence for a political slate of candidates is exactly what is required to weed out corrupt and incompetent politicians from gaining office.

We would never have seen George Bush if that option was in effect!

[alainv]

Jesse Ventura is one of the few politicians with the guts to question the events of 911. I am a lifelong liberal democrat but if Jesse runs he can expect a check in the mail from me. 911 truth now!

[SEQUOIABISON]

Good news, now Big Al does not have to worry about being tag teamed by those two professionals. I think he can take Norm in a fair fight.

Come on Franken we need your help in the senate, we need a resounding victory in November so we can get rid of Lieberman and pass president Obamas legislation.

[madeinminnesota]

Wrestling is the new black.

And real Minnesotans know how to spell "ridiculous." Just because we're anonymous doesn't mean we need to be sloppy spellers.

[bigdaddyvike]

He did nothing as governor- let him do nothing as senator

[landmine]

If you like do the same old thing, same old corruption, all the time, vote for the good old mush-mouthed stuffed shirts you have been voting for. If you want things to change, start voting for people like Jesse.

[funkalicious]

What lifestyle is Ventura talking about changing his clown lifestyle for a Senate Bozo lifestyle?

David Welna is an ass by the way. I listened to that interview this morning and thought what the f@ck
is wrong with this guy?

I guess Al Franken pissed off public radio or Welna thinks his bonuses have been better under Bush...

Speaking hypothetically

Pushing Ventura as a viable candidate is F@cking Hilarious.... of course maybe AL Franken wrote the script.

[roninracer]

Laugh all you want but I have never in my life seen a politician who was:
1. Honest.
2. Took ownership of their actions.
3. Admitted their mistakes.

Jesse Ventura has done all 3 and I would follow him into hell.

[TexasDem0]

Jesse, if you want to do something useful, endorse Al Franken.

[SanityClaus]

If I were in a dark alley with you, "Jesse Ventura" or whatever your real name is, I bet your trousers would be down around your ankles in 10 seconds.

[nanoscare]

Actually, I'd want Coleman in the dark alley. I know I could take that wimp down in a heartbeat.

[Bettysdad]

Ventura is a serious questioner of the official 9-11 story.

Franken wouldn't even allow the subject to be brought up on his radio show.

On that basis alone, the biggest question of our time, Ventura should be elected.

Without 9-11, Bush would have been able to do nothing.

[MsLiz]

Without logic, betty'sdad can say some silly comments.

[Bboyshoes42]

As a MInnesotan, I have asked myself the dark alley question...my answer is that I would never want to be in a dark alley with Jesse Ventura, regardless of anything else.

Also, guess what Jesse, you'd be running for Senate, not dark alley protector.

[culturevue]

As a Minnesotan, maybe you can tell me how Jesse was as a governor and why he's no longer serving. I'm totally ignorant of the facts after he got elected, so don't jump all over me.

[aidawedo]

You've posted an old photo of Jesse Ventura from his wrestling days, why come, HuffPost?

Trying to Out-Fox Fox News HuffPost? I thought your site was a censoring, facistic one, so I'm not surprised that you would resort to image manipulation.

Hope that creep Al Franken loses. I've disliked him since he crowed and joked about Yasir-Arafat's death on the air on Air America Radio. He's no statesman. Just a shill for the Israeli government.

[geobushono]

the 'new' huffpo is all about The Party and presenting one voice, and it's not about being an open forum any more.

[Bettysdad]

Is Limbaugh an open forum?

No blog owes anybody anything.

This is Arrianna's thing, she can do what she wants.

Don't like it. You're free to go somewhere else.