RealAudio 3.0

A new Minnesota Public Radio-St. Paul Pioneer Press poll shows most Minnesotans still think highly of Governor Ventura after his first 100 days in office. Most like his plain-spoken style and agree with him that people should rely on themselves, not government, to solve their problems. But a significant number of people also say it's too soon to judge the governor's performance, and they'll wait before they make up their minds about Ventura.

AFTER 100 DAYS ON THE JOB, Governor Ventura's honeymoon with the public is still going strong. The MPR-Pioneer Press poll shows 57 percent of those surveyed rate his performance excellent or good, while only two percent rate it poor. That's about the same job-approval rating former Governor Arne Carlson had at the height of his popularity just before he left office. Nearly two-thirds say Ventura's style is appealing; and more than half consider him a breath of fresh air. Among those polled who like the Ventura style is Jill Fury, a Republican who lives just north of Fergus Falls.

Fury: I like the idea that he isn't afraid to speak his mind. I like the idea that he's just not spouting a bunch of b.s. like the politicians do. It's nice to have somebody who speaks what he thinks instead of what he thinks he has to say.

See the poll.

Tuthill: It's same old, same old, same old. I've been doing politics since I was 20 in this state, and they're talking the same old rhetoric; and everybody got tired of it because we knew it wasn't true. As far as Ventura goes, who knows? It takes courage to have somebody new. I mean, why not? Why not?

Ventura: It's nice that via all the negative press that I've gotten since the last polling results that people are seeing through that, and are looking at the actual job I'm doing rather than negative press comments and sound bites and this and that.

Schier: There's been more total press coverage of Jesse Ventura than we're used to seeing in a new Minnesota governor, and that's going to mean more criticism, because the total coverage is much more thorough. That probably helps to explain why about 28 percent of the electorate is not happy with the way the media has been covering him.

There are cases where people should do it on their own. This is true. But there are also people here that need help. I have a daughter that was on welfare. She was a single mother on welfare and she was given the opportunity to go to school and she did, and she's now fully employed and off the welfare completely.

Ventura: If you start doing it to one particular watercraft, then you will certainly down the line be seeing other special laws for other particular watercraft. And I think that if you look at that poll, the majority of those people have probably never been on one.