3rd November 1998- Minnesota elects Jesse 'The Body' Ventura as Governor

Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected as Governor of California and put in charge of the 4th largest economy of the planet, that had somehow ended up being built on a fault in the Earth known as "God's Etch-a-Sketch"?  Weird, wasn't it? Weirder still was that, when Arnie was made 'The Governator' in 2003, he was actually the second man from the movie Predator to have held that role in a US state.  5 years earlier the great state of Minnesota, previously famous for having Prince live there, elected as Governor a former Navy SEAL who had no affiliation to the two main parties, spent a fraction of the money his opponents did, and suggested the possibility of legalising prostitution.  And who used to be a wrestler with a taste for Elton John shades and feather boas.  This guy...

This guy.

He was Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, who instantly gained more cachet than almost any politician by changing his nickname upon election to Jesse 'The Governing Body' Ventura.  That and the fact he'd been in Demolition Man.  He took a refreshingly earthy approach to issues as befitted a no-nonsense movie henchman; for instance he advocated gays in the military on the basis that, if he'd served alongside them in the Navy, he'd have had "less competition for women"- although to be fair he could be much more eloquent than that on the subject of gay rights.

Minnesota is a state with a history of progressive politics by American standards, not just for voting wrestlers into office, but also for things like education and having a strong Green Party, and it's likely that the voters were attracted to Ventura's stances; pro-same-sex-marriage, pro-choice, pro-marijuana and, a guaranteed vote winner this, pro-giving-budget-surpluses-back-to-the-people-by-sending-them-a-cheque-every-year.  All pretty cool.  And if that wasn't enough, they could always remember that he was this guy...

This guy

Naturally, the rest of the world had the sort of jealous laugh that comes with wanting to feel superior but actually wishing you were governed yourself by the man who played Captain Freedom in The Running Man.  Everyone was convinced that now a testosterone-fuelled wrestler was involved in American politics, he'd spend his time trying to punch all the oil out Alaska, fight the Taleban single-handed and insisting everyone at the UN speaks English and eats ribs.

As it turned out, he went on trade missions to China, advocated the lifting of sanctions on Cuba, opposed the Iraq war, spoke out against water-boarding and, incredibly for an American politician, publicly announced that he was atheist   And people listened to him, partially because of his ability to debate the issues and partially because of, well...

Ed Miliband's bumper sticker says
'Our party leader had watched more episodes
of Buffy than your party leader'

And then, he quit politics because, touchingly, he didn't like the intrusion upon his family life; although he still found time to record an advert criticising his former co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Tragically, the ad didn't feature the two of them recreating their epic ruck in a spiked cage in The Running Man.  Intriguingly though, he's suggested that he'd be tempted to run as a third-party candidate for the White House in 2016.  We need to make this happen.

After all, with constant apocalyptic predictions of the world going to hell in a hand-cart very soon, it's probably for the best if we have a man in the hot seat who's already taken on Predator (admittedly he got killed but he'd be better prepared next time).  I know I'd feel safer if Ventura was occupying the White House when we finally all inevitably face Armageddon in the wake of financial meltdown, climate change, an asteroid, a killer virus, nanobots, starvation, aliens, a mummies curse, Triffids, trans-dimensional winged beasts or Earth being destroyed to make a bypass- Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy style

Of course, we needn't worry about all of those things.  Just the ones which have some sort of basis in immediate reality.  Like the financial meltdown. Or climate change.

Or a mummies' curse.

Coming tomorrow: A man unleashes a mummies' curse!