Two observations about last night’s SurveyUSA\/KSTP poll:<\/p>\n
It’s A Miracle!<\/strong> KSTP and a slew of other media played this story like it genuinely showed Tom Horner moving into the race. \u00a0As one wag noted, this is the first time in polling history that a candidate under twenty points, getting half the numbers of the second place <\/em>candidate, has given the media a tingle up their legs. \u00a0KSTP breathlessly compared Horner to Jesse Ventura who, they reminded us, had only ten points at this point in the 2002 race.<\/p>\n The comparison ignored two key facts: the Independence Party had had absolutely no traction, anywhere in the country, since Ross Perot (then calling his vehicle the “Reform” Party) threw the 1992 election to Bill Clinton; and, lest we forget, Tom Horner was never a professional wrestler<\/em>. \u00a0He will not draw the bobbleheaded election-day-voter in with his fame, since he has none (other than his years as an MPR commentator), and he’s not talking about sealing any deals by cutting license fees on jet-skis.<\/p>\n The Independence Party is the product of a much more trivial era in politics. \u00a0Times were good in 1998, and had been for a long time. \u00a0History may not have ended, but it was sure taking a break. \u00a0People felt they could afford to spend a vote on a joke.<\/p>\n Horner’s no joke, but he’s no Ventura. \u00a0And that’s why neither he nor any other IP candidate will ever win a race.<\/p>\n