Coleman Fending Off Two Rivals
By ROCHELLE OLSON
.c The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- As if beating a Humphrey to become governor of Minnesota is not tough enough, Republican Norm Coleman also is going to the mat against ''The Body,'' a former professional wrestler who used to take on Hulk Hogan.
In emphasizing fiscal issues that traditionally have been the domain of Republicans, Coleman is competing with Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura, a former Brooklyn Park mayor, movie actor and wrestler who has no qualms about taking verbal potshots at his political opponents.
Even worse for Coleman, the St. Paul mayor and GOP nominee, is that Ventura and Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III, the DFL nominee, seem to have formed a political tag team.
Humphrey and his running mate, Roger Moe, refuse to appear in debates unless Ventura is invited. Moe even gave Ventura half of his allotted time at a recent forum because Ventura had not been invited.
Coleman wishes Ventura would go away, but that is not likely.
At a recent candidate forum, Ventura showed up in black Levi's, hiking boots, a hip-length camouflage shirt, and the Australian bush hat with a snakeskin band that he wore in the movie ''Predator.'' The other candidates wore suits.
Though the Humphrey campaign maintains that he could lose as many voters to Ventura as Coleman -- especially with the possibility that President Clinton could be a drag on Democratic candidates in November -- most political observers think otherwise.
''The fact that Humphrey and Moe want Ventura in so badly, to arrange for him to appear and demand on him to appear in debates, tells me they have some kind of evidence that it's to their advantage,'' said Patrick Donnay, associate professor of political science at Bemidji State University.
Steve Smith, political science professor at the University of Minnesota, said he guesses Ventura would take more votes from Coleman because both push smaller government.
The first poll after the primary, taken by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis and KMSP-TV, showed Humphrey leading Coleman by 20 percentage points. Coleman cannot afford to lose votes to Ventura, Smith said.
''The best Coleman strategy is to try to make him (Ventura) disappear,'' Smith said, adding that the less free publicity for Ventura the better.
Coleman has said that a vote for Ventura is really a vote for Humphrey. His spokeswoman, Cyndy Brucato, said Coleman will appeal directly to voters attracted to Ventura.
''The Ventura voter is a voter who primarily is concerned about pocketbook issues,'' Brucato said. ''Real fiscal discipline is very, very hard to achieve.''
Ventura thinks he pulls equally from both candidates, and said he has been harder on Coleman simply because the mayor started it. Humphrey can expect equal treatment.
''I'm going to come out now and make statements, 'Do we dare have a Democratic governor and a Democratic Legislature?' If that's the case, hand over your wallet. 'Cause the government's going to have you living on an allowance,'' Ventura said in his gravely growl.
Chris Gilbert, chairman of the political science department at Gustavus Adolphus College, said it is too soon to say where Ventura gets votes. He believes it will depend on whether the voter is dissatisfied, which likely would hurt Humphrey, or focusing on fiscal issues, which probably would hurt Coleman.
But he thinks Humphrey and Coleman are such strong choices that voters will choose one or the other rather than a third-party candidate with little chance of winning.
''These candidates will be attractive enough that people will want to make the choice based on who will win,'' he said.
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