A Second Look | Hey Coleman! How Was Your Indivisble Day?

via Coleman For Governor? Discussions Underway In GOP.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The man who lost the 1998 Minnesota governor’s race to pro wrestler Jesse Ventura now holds the distinction of losing his U.S. Senate seat to former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Al Franken.

And rumor control has put out that Coleman may run for Governor – again.

Republicans note Coleman would bring name recognition, proven fundraising ability and raw political skill to a wide-open GOP gubernatorial field in a statewide race otherwise dominated by newcomers.

Coleman has a 10+ years and largely unsuccessful political history in Minnesota.

He switched parties in 1997, and was steamrolled in the ’98 governor’s race by the Ventura phenomenon. But he rebounded in 2002, winning his Senate seat in a turbulent race marked by the plane crash death of incumbent Paul Wellstone, who was replaced on the ballot by former Vice President Walter Mondale.

And Mondale promptly lost – in a landslide. No one came for miles around.

I think that Coleman’s switch from Democrat to Republican just months before the kick-off of the 1998 gubernatorial race says more about the quality of Democrats elected than Republicans. This is not only about Democrats in Minnesota, but incumbents from many other states that are just a few voters away from switching, like Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) who has publicly sided with Big Insurance.

Any person winning one election as a Democrat and then switching parties to try to win maintain that seat as a Republican is so obviously unauthentic that it just plain stinks too much of Joe Lieberman.

Old Democratic incumbents that are unwilling to get out in front of issues like health care reform are stuck in the Clintonian mode of “you have to move to the right to win”. That whole philosophy is wrong on many fronts, but the main and glaring error in that judgment is proven over and over by the Republicans. Do they move left to win? No. They move farther right. That’s the lesson here. We need to elect the kind of Democrats who will move farther left and speak directly to their base.

Coleman, a brand new Republican, still lost that gubernatorial election to Jesse Ventura of the Reform Party of Minnesota, a former WWF and AWA wrestling champion and mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN. What does that say about Coleman’s popularity?

[Ventura] won the election in November 1998, narrowly (and unexpectedly) defeating the major-party candidates, St. Paul mayor [FORMER DEMOCRAT] Norm Coleman (Republican) [BRAND NEW REPUBLICAN] and Minnesota Attorney General Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey III (Democratic-Farmer-Labor). After his victory, bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the slogan “My governor can beat up your governor” appeared in Minnesota. The nickname “Jesse ‘The Mind’” (from a last-minute Hillsman ad featuring Ventura posing as Rodin’s Thinker) began to resurface sarcastically in reference to his frequently controversial remarks. Ventura’s old stage name “Jesse ‘The Body’” (sometimes adapted to “Jesse ‘The Governing Body’”) also continued to appear with some regularity.

[Emphasis] is mine. One of Ventura’s more controversial acts was to declare July 4, 2002 as “Indivisible Day”.

Ventura endorsed equal rights for religious minorities, as well as people who don’t believe in God, by declaring July 4, 2002, “Indivisible Day”…

…by proclamation. I suppose Tim Pawlenty tossed out “Indivisible Day” and that’s too bad.

Former Senator Norm Coleman

Anyway, along comes the Associated Press today and whips up a story that makes Norm Coleman sound like the winner he is not.

Republicans note Coleman would bring name recognition, proven fundraising ability and raw political skill to a wide-open GOP gubernatorial field in a statewide race otherwise dominated by newcomers.

“I do think he’d be the front-runner,” said Brian Sullivan, a Republican National Committee member from Minnesota and wealthy party donor.

If the GOP has one enduring quality, it is party loyalty. Raw political skill (chuckle).

I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you good readers and Looser Elect Norm Coleman a very happy (day after) “Indivisible Day”.