I just finished a long lunch with my campaign manager and my editor. We had a long discussion – more on that later- and one item was on all our minds. It is the notion of a campaign-defeating “self-fulfilling prophecy.” To wit: that third party candidates, no matter how appealing, can’t win because voters don’t want to waste their vote.
This will be a tall hurdle for us to jump but we live in Minnesota and this is a state famous in recent years for big surprises. Jesse Ventura springs to mind first but before him were two mavericks that prepared the way – Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone and Republican Governor Arne Carlson. Granted these two candidate were not third party but in almost every way both appealed to the huge numbers of independent-minded Minnesota voters to pull off unexpected victories.
My challenge will be to convince voters that a vote for me will not be wasted. Ten to fiften percent will vote for me if for no other reason than to register a protest. I, of course am looking for a percentage of the vote in the mid thirties. The Washington Post poll just referred to verifies what I sense in the general voting public. It registers with me because it’s just how I feel.
The poll and Minnesota’s maverick tradition give me hope that I can get 35% of the voters to disregard the prophecy that I can’t win.
It should also be noted that so far neither of the leading candidates has made any reference to my campaign. They don’t dare draw attention to it. For one thing I make much more serious criticisms of both Grams and Oberstar than either of them are able to make against each other. Drawing attention to me will only draw attention to their flaws. For another, the more attention my campaign receives the more votes I will pull from them in ways that are as yet unpredictable.
