POLITICAL COMEDY: Following this year's midterm elections has for me become no different from following pro wrestling- I'm fascinated and enthralled by it, but there's no way I'll ever take it too seriously. In fact, this year's gubernatorial and congressional races have been marked by the sort of drama that the WWE has been sorely lacking for the past year or two.
I'm voting in New Jersey and my vote for the Senate will go to Frank Lautenberg. If I still lived in New York I'd be voting for Carl McCall for governor over that schmuck George Pataki, and I think it's a shame that a good man and effective public servant like McCall can't win when someone like Hillary can waltz right into New York and get a Senate seat. And in Minnesota, I would vote for Walter Mondale, but I won't be crushed if he loses to Norm Coleman- though had Paul Wellstone lived and he'd lost to Coleman, I would've been devastated. And it's too bad Mondale can't go negative, because a "Norm Sucks" chant at a rally would've been awesome.
I will offer no predictions about individual races, though I do foresee that at 9 AM on Wednesday morning, we will still have no idea which party will be in control of the Senate- unfortunately, it looks like Florida 2000 is the new norm, and half the people who lose will file lawsuits and drag the election into December. But when it all shakes out, I predict that the House will stay Republican and the Senate will remain Democratic. For all you need to know throughout election day, check out Real Clear Politics.
And speaking of the wrestling/politics connection, the nexus of those two worlds (Jesse Ventura) today appointed Independence Party hack (if there is such a thing) Dean Barkley to be interim U.S. Senator. The reason is allegedly that Barkley's strong third-place finish in the 1996 Senate race got Ventura's Reform Party on the ballot in '98, paving the way for "The Body"'s victory. But if Ventura were really serious about honoring those who helped pave the way for him, why not appoint Verne Gagne to the Senate? Or Baron Von Raschke? Or The Crusher? Nick Bockwinkel? "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig? "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair? All pioneers of the wrestling business, and all natives/residents of Minnesota.
(I'm not completely sure that The Crusher is still alive, but if he is I'm pretty sure he's younger than Walter Mondale...)