I got Jesse Ventura's new book because I liked the interview he did on the radio pushing it. In that he mentioned a few of the "hidden subsidies" for the two party system that most people who haven't run for office don't think about. Things like incumbents can spend a lot of time running for office without raising any eyebrows. Everybody with a day job has a tendency to lose it if they spend that much time campaigning. People in broadcasting jobs (like Jesse Ventura in '98 when he was running for Governor of Minnesota) have it even worse. They lose their jobs because their bosses don't want to give one candidate more air time than any other. I just had to see what else he had to say. I found the book full of interesting ideas.

The book sketches over the time frames covered in his previous books and then spends a lot of time on his years as Governor of Minnesota. It jumps back and forth between those days and a road trip from Minnesota to Mexico's Baja Peninsula, where Ventura and his wife seem to have retired to (at least for a while). In one scene he talks about finding a small radio transmitter in the house not long after moving into the Governor's Mansion, and something about how it felt at the time. Then looking back he figures that as Governor he really was under public scrutiny in a hundred different ways. The whole world was watching. That gave me more appreciation for the term "Public Official". I can't remember any other books with first hand accounts of staying in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House and a private conversation with Fidel Castro.

 A lot of space in the book is devoted to explaining ways that the two party system is embedded in Minnesota, and how that made his life as an Independent more difficult. For example, just about all of the reporters identify with one team or the other. Since he wasn't on either team, a certain amount of "ganging up on Jesse Ventura" happened. Despite all this he had many accomplishments, including getting a light rail system for Minneapolis and appointing the first third party legislator from Minnesota to the US Senate.

Many of Ventura's political positions you would want to know about if you were thinking about voting for the guy are explained in considerable detail. The guy thinks the official 9/11 commission smells like a cover up. He knows that we need to learn a lot about using less energy, because we can't drill our way out of higher gas prices. Ventura thinks the war on drugs is a stupid waste of taxpayer money. He thinks that marijuana should be legalized and taxed like tobacco or alcohol.  The Governor also thinks the whole Iraq war is a bad idea sold under false pretenses. The book ends with a daydream about running for President in 2008. I'm wondering if he wants the Green Party's 2012 ballot lines.  I could get excited about a candidate like Jesse Ventura.