Jesse Ventura for President? Underestimate Jesse Ventura at your own risk. He may be an ex-wrestler and a guy who sounds on the radio a bit like Howard Stern wack packer Bigfoot, but a lot of people have gone wrong thinking the man lacked intellectual heft. Ventura, a former Navy SEAL in Vietnam, was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998 while running as an independent, a rare feat indeed. He has written 10 books, the last three with conspiracy specialist Dick Russell. JESSE VENTURA podcast excerpt: "Can you imagine the reaction from the Christian Right? That alone would be worth the price of admission. Howard Stern and Jesse Ventura! I think they'd be demanding a Rapture immediately!" The thing I find compelling about Ventura’s politics is similar to why I will tune in to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC periodically: while I might not agree with their opinions, I respect that the arrived at their conclusions thoughtfully and logically. In other words, the man once known as “The Body” puts that brain to work, too. Ventura made headlines last week when he kicked off the publicity tour for his latest book, "Democrips and ReBloodlicans: No More Gangs in Government," on Howard Stern’s Sirius radio show and not only announced his interest in running for president in 2016 as an independent, but making a convincing argument that Stern—who once ran for governor of New York—should be his vice president. We’ll talk about that. Jesse Ventura • •  •  • • •