If you think Washington politicians mostly don't have a clue about what's going on in the real world ... you're right!
But politicians are almost down-home folks compared to the national reporters and pundits who cover our political world for the establishment media. What a hoot it was to see them try to explain the fact that Jesse "The Body" Ventura -- the professional wrestler, B-movie actor and radio talk-show host -- had crashed, trashed and bashed the exclusive two-party system on election night, winning the Minnesota governorship as a Reform Party candidate.
The coverage of Ventura's victory by the Los Angeles Times was typical of the shocked, deer-in-the-headlights expression that the media had. In a front-page story two days after the election, Times political writer Julie Cart noted that "Ventura's plain talk and populist ideas brought a near stampede to the polls," then she said, cluelessly: "How exactly Ventura managed this is still being dissected." Hey, Julie -- it doesn't need dissecting! The point is he didn't "manage" it. It's the other politicians -- with their coteries of pollsters, image consultants, issue advisors, speech writers, media specialists and other "experts" -- who "manage" their campaigns, rather than just being honest with people about who they are and what they stand for.
Still, the Times reporter pressed on, writing that even though Ventura had set himself "outside the mainstream, he nonetheless came across as Everyman." Earth to the L.A. Times: Today's "Everyman" is outside the mainstream -- at least as you and the two major parties define mainstream.
Then, the Times noted that Ventura "presented himself as a contrast to politics as usual." Sheesh. Ventura didn't "present himself" as a contrast; he is a contrast.
As Jesse showed, people want a real politics not based on "presentation" but on candidates being what they are.
