February 14, 2014
Jesse Ventura confirms interest in 2016 Presidential run
By Mark Wachtler
February 14, 2014. Baja, CA. (ONN) Jesse Ventura - former Minnesota Governor, professional wrestler, cable TV host, novelist, Navy Seal, Vietnam vet and occasional spokesperson for America’s fragmented and chaotic independent political voters - has again confirmed that he’s interested in running for President in 2016. He also reiterated his only two conditions.
Love him or hate him, Jesse Ventura is one of the strongest and most well-known political figures to have come out of the ranks of America’s independent and opposition voters in decades. Unlike the vast majority of non-establishment Presidential candidates in recent elections, Ventura not only has successful campaign experience, he has experience as a state Governor - the most valuable past job on any Presidential candidate’s resume.
Ventura for President in 2016?
Entertainment website MediaMikes.com recently interviewed Jesse Ventura and talked to the former Governor about two main topics - his new internet TV show and a possible run for President in 2016. In regard to his political career and the growing chorus of voters asking him to make a bid for the White House, Ventura didn’t deviate from past statements.
Media Mikes’ Mike Gencarelli asked Ventura in the interview, “Can you talk to us about the rumors of you running for President in 2016?” In his typical fashion, Jesse responded bluntly and confirmed the same position he’s had since the 2012 election and before. “I’ll be addressing those rumors on my show,” Ventura teases readers to get them to tune in, “But again, running for President as an independent comes down to two things: ballot access in all fifty states and participation in the debates. Like I say, if I can debate ‘em, I can beat ‘em.”
The former Governor didn’t elaborate whether he meant literally running as an independent or possibly running on an opposition party’s ballot line. When Ventura served as Minnesota Governor from 1999-2003, he was elected as a candidate of the Reform Party. But he and most of the state Reform Party switched their affiliation to the Independence Party midway through his term. The Independence Party, formerly home to well-known political figures such as Alaska’s Sarah Palin and New York’s Michael Bloomberg, self-destructed immediately after its three success stories.
Ventura - Stern 2016
It’s also worth noting that the question about running for President in 2016 didn’t just come out of left field. There’s an ever-growing movement of voters pledging themselves to volunteer for the former Navy Seal if he were to run. There are even a slew of Facebook pages and groups with names such as ‘Jesse Ventura for President in 2016’ and other variations. One page specifically calls on Ventura to run for Vice President on a ticket with former GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul. While a handful of others pick up on a Ventura quote from last year suggesting radio shock jock Howard Stern be his running mate.
During the 2012 Presidential election, Jesse Ventura was a vocal supporter of Republican Ron Paul. But when the Texas Congressman’s son, US Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), endorsed his own father’s opponent, Ventura and the rest of Paul’s broken-hearted supporters knew the campaign was over and the Pauls had made a secret deal with the RNC and the Romney campaign. It was at that point that Ventura repeatedly made the cable TV rounds, energetically giving his official endorsement to the Libertarian Party’s nominee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.
While a Ventura-Paul ticket is far less likely than a Ventura-Stern Presidential team, radio DJ Howard Stern would most-likely change the campaign from that of a legitimate former Governor to an insincere variety show motivated by increased ratings for their respective entertainment endeavors. Any hope of pitching a sincere campaign for President to the American people would go out the window. The two main problems are that Howard Stern is widely disliked across the US and it’s probably a safe bet that his listeners don’t vote. If there aren’t topless women or free beer, they don’t want anything to do with it.
In a Politico interview from 2013 however, Ventura seemed serious in offering the bottom half of the ticket to Howard Stern. “It all comes down to whether Howard will do it, and I need Howard,” Jesse told the political news outlet, “I can use his radio station right up to the day of the election to win this thing without spending any money.” Ventura was justifiably impatient saying, “We gotta start soon. We gotta go quick. I’ve gotta get ballot access in all fifty states with a grassroots movement.”
So if Jesse Ventura were to run for President in 2016, would he do so as an independent? His previous Independence Party? The Libertarian Party that he endorsed in 2012? Or would he try to unite all the opposition parties and launch an umbrella movement along the lines of the Solidarity Party? Ventura hasn’t specifically said. But if he’s serious about running for President in two years, he’s going to need to figure that part out right now.
New show - Off the Grid
Only a brief section of the above-linked Media Mikes interview touched upon a possible Presidential bid in 2016. The majority of the published question and answer session dealt with Jesse Ventura’s new show ‘Off the Grid’. Unlike some of his past TV shows which aired on cable TV, this new endeavor airs on the internet station ORA.TV.
When asked about the new show, Ventura replied, “The main focus of my show is the hypocrisy of America’s political leaders - nothing and no one is off limits. I am ‘Off the Grid’ in the sense that I don’t have anyone telling me what to report or how to report. All I am interested in reporting is the truth.” The colorful political leader is off the grid in another way too. He refused to disclose the location of his production team and would only say the show was recorded at various locations in Mexico.
“My show is being produced at undisclosed locations in Mexico, so I can avoid any threats of government censorship,” he explained, “That’s the true benefit of internet TV. I give the people the news they want to hear and I don’t have to worry about corporations or big brother getting in the way and censoring me.”
_http://www.oppositionnews.org/articles/2014/q1/jesse-ventura-confirms-interest-2016-presidential-run/
