Party of Jesse Ventura Vies to Be More
The Big Two Dwarf Minnesota's Independence Party, but It Refuses to Fade

By Conrad deFiebre
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sunday, October 22, 2006

In 12 years as a major political party in Minnesota, the Independence Party has produced one larger-than-life governor, an appointed U.S. senator for 7 1/2 weeks and a smattering of local officials.

Now the party of Jesse Ventura is pinning its hopes on eight statewide and federal candidates, none of whom has ever stood for election before, plus a collection of 17 seekers of lesser offices.

Is this really a major party?

Officially it is, by virtue of attaining 5 percent or more of the vote in at least one statewide race in every Minnesota general election since 1994. And polls show that string is likely to continue with veteran public policy wonk Peter Hutchinson's long-shot gubernatorial run this year.

In some ways, the Independence Party is a serious political force while in others it's still a struggling newcomer.

"They are definitely a player, at the moment probably the most successful third-party movement in America," said Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. "But they're not yet an organization, and their support can be unstable."

Not surprisingly, the two dominant parties -- with more than 200 nominees apiece on the Nov. 7 ballots -- scoff at the IP's thin candidate slates, threadbare finances, middle-of-the-road politics and recent election failures.

"It's hard to talk about the future of a party that hit its high-water mark eight years ago," said Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party spokeswoman Jess McIntosh, referring to Ventura's election. "They had their shot, they showed us what independent leadership looks like, and I don't imagine voters will give them another chance anytime soon."

Added state Republican Party spokesman Mark Drake: "They've been losing a lot of influence in the post-Ventura years."

But state IP Chairman Jim Moore shot back: "The last time the state worked was with a former wrestler who wore a feather boa."

Since Ventura "shocked the world" in 1998 by winning a three-way gubernatorial race with 37 percent of the vote, Tim Penny, the IP's choice in 2002, saw his support fall from the mid-20 percent range in an early poll to 16 percent on Election Day. Hutchinson is languishing in single digits.

Moore says that's about where Ventura was at this stage eight years ago -- he registered 10 percent in a Sept. 23, 1998, poll. But while Hutchinson, a former state finance commissioner and Minneapolis schools superintendent, has impressed debate audiences with his articulate grasp of issues, he has not matched Ventura's name recognition, florid personality and ability to connect with alienated voters.

The party does seem to be trying to re-create something of the offbeat Ventura style. It has produced satirical radio ads featuring the former governor and started an interactive Web site where the party mascot, Indie the Buffalo, answers visitors' questions. A recent "speed candi-dating" event offered happy-hour bar patrons in downtown Minneapolis brief one-on-one conversations with IP candidates.

With its support of rail transit, aggressive environmental initiatives, and abortion and gay rights, the IP is often seen as draining support from the DFL. "They're true liberals," the GOP's Drake said of Hutchinson and other IP candidates who have backgrounds in the DFL. But Jacobs said his public-opinion research shows that Hutchinson draws his current 9 percent support equally from Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch.

Tim Anderson, 40, a Minnetonka software consultant, said he will vote the IP ticket now after a lifetime as a dedicated Republican. Anderson said he responds to Hutchinson's calls to simplify the government and get it out of "the hot-button moral issues" that he said have preoccupied the GOP for the past 10 years.

"I don't think they're going to win," he said of the IP slate, "but I like them anyway."

In addition to Hutchinson and his "Team Minnesota" statewide slate of experienced but little-known public policy hands, the IP is focusing resources on a "Team Washington" of U.S. Senate hopeful Robert Fitzgerald and U.S. House candidates Tammy Lee and John Binkowski.

They are young, likable and well-positioned between DFL and Republican rivals who are "on the edges of their parties," Moore said. But none of them has broken out of single digits in polls.

In the view of IP founder Dean Barkley, "Tammy Lee has an excellent chance of doing well" against Keith Ellison (DFL) and Alan Fine (R) in the Minneapolis-area 5th District. "She might be able to pull that one off."

Binkowski is running against Michele Bachmann (R) and Patty Wetterling (DFL) in the 6th District, north of the Twin Cities.

The IP has fielded only two winners of state offices -- Ventura and state Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, a moderate Republican legislator who was snubbed by her party, won reelection in 2002 under the IP banner and soon thereafter switched to the DFL.

There's little indication that this year's crop of 16 IP legislative hopefuls will repeat Kiscaden's success.

"The problem with the Independence Party is that their only message is 'none of the above,' " said the DFL's McIntosh. "It's not positive, it's not progressive and it's not a message you can actually govern on."

Barkley, who masterminded Ventura's election and later was appointed by him to fill out the final weeks of the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone's term, takes a more positive view.

"They may not be doing as well as they'd like," he said last week from Austin, where he is managing the independent gubernatorial campaign of singer-writer Kinky Friedman. "But we're patient. It's not going to happen overnight. The party is larger than ever. In '94, there were about 12 of us. It gets a little bigger every year."