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Survey shows concern about Ventura, Twins
The question is: What are Minnesotans thinking about? The answers are Jesse Ventura and the Minnesota Twins.
The SCSU political science survey group recently completed its annual fall survey. Two important issues analyzed were the re-election of Governor Jesse Ventura and the possibility of losing Minnesota’s baseball team, the Twins.
When Ventura was elected three years ago, people wanted something fresh, a new perspective on politics.What they got, though, was not a governor, but a performer.
“When he started, people expected him to be an entertainer. Now they want a governor and a leader, but he hasn’t stopped being an entertainer,” said Steve Wagner, political science professor and director for the survey group.
Last year, Minnesotans were asked to rate Ventura on his ability as a chief executive, commander in chief, political leader and as a chief diplomat. The 2000 figures were all considerably higher than the figures gathered this year. His overall job performance was rated excellent to fair by 43 percent of Minnesotans this year, compared to 63 percent who thought he was doing a good job in 2000.
A number of factors could have contributed to this down-turn in approval. One of the things that probably lingered in peoples’ minds was his reaction to the events of Sept. 11. Wagner explained that many people thought he went overboard with his declarations and his criticism of the media was not received well. The time frame in which the survey was conducted was also a factor.
“The survey is a snapshot in time. During the time these questions were asked, Ventura was having a bad four to six weeks,” Wagner said.
Elections are coming up next year, and judging by the results of this survey the outcome does not look good for Ventura. Last year, 47 percent of Minnesotans said they would vote for him again. This year, that dropped to 32 percent.
The subject of the Twins is also a heated discussion among Minnesotans currently. The results from the survey indicate that more than two-thirds of people asked think that it is at least somewhat important to keep the baseball team. Thirty-one percent said that it was very important and 35 percent said that it was somewhat important. This may mean that the construction of a new stadium would be more widely supported.
Although the construction of a new stadium would be a reason to keep the Twins around, funding of such a project may not be available due to the recent budget deficit. It is highly unlikely that government funds will be available.
“Even if people are willing to approve the stadium, I doubt they will get the money for it unless they are willing to accept a tax increase,” Frank said.
The Twins and Jesse Ventura were just two of the many topics that 611 randomly selected people were asked to respond on. Also included in the results are issues regarding the problems facing Minnesota, political participation and feelings about other prominent politicians. The callers for this project were from the Democratic Citizenship 195 classes of Dr. Michelle Kukoleca-Hammes and Dr. Steve Wagner.
Kelli Sandhurst can be reached at: [email protected]
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