With Nation Watching, Ventura Comes to Harvard

Amid a controversy over statements he made about organized religion and about women in this month's issue of Playboy magazine, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura continues his cross-county public relations swing with a lengthy visit to Harvard today.

At 8 p.m., Ventura will appear as the featured guest on the CNBC program "Hardball with Chris Matthews," which will broadcast live from the ARCO Forum at the Kennedy School of Government.

Ventura, a Navy Seal-turned wrestler-turned commentator-turned actor-turned politician--won an astonishing electoral victory in 1998 as the Reform Party's nominee.

And in his first year in office, Ventura has focused on tax reform and cutting the state's bureaucracy.

But it is his "plain talk and honesty"--and his unique role on the national political stage--that have brought him the most attention.

Ventura comes to Harvard just as his approval rating among Minnesota residents has fallen to 54 percent from a July high of 73 percent.

Pundits attribute the drop in popularity to a growing weariness among Minnesotans toward some of Ventura's more colorful comments--much like those that appear in his recent Playboy interview.

Responding to the magazine's question about regulating prostitution, Ventura lashed out against organized religion.

"Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business," he said.

Ventura then modified the statement, saying "the religious right wants to tell people how to live."

Asked this Sunday by NBC's Tim Russert as to how his comments would play to the nearly 3 million Minnesotans who are religious, Ventura said "...being weak-minded is not necessarily a detriment, Tim. It just means that you have a weakness and, therefore, you go to organized religion to help strengthen yourself."

Later in the Playboy interview, Ventura tackled issues of sexual harassment.

When asked about the 1991 Tailhook scandal, in which Navy aviators allegedly groped and assaulted female guests at a party, Ventura said that while he doesn't condone what happened, "I understand it."

"These are people who live on the razor's edge and defy death and do things where people die," he continued. "They're not going to consider grabbing a woman's breast or a buttock a major situation. That's much ado about nothing," Ventura told the interviewer.

Asked what type of object he'd like to be re-incarnated as, Ventura responded, a 38DD bra.

A poll released Monday by the Minneapolis Star Tribune showed that, for the first time, a majority of female Minnesota residents don't approve of the job that Ventura is doing as governor.

Kate B. Clancy, who is co-chair of the Radcliffe Union of Students, said Ventura's latest comments "sound like he's intentionally alienating a lot of people."

Although Clancy said she's curious about the Ventura phenomenon, she has no plans to try and see him.

"I don't respect him that much," she said.

Still, a near-record number of Harvard students applied for the 800 spots to hear Ventura speak. Because of the unique nature of a live television broadcast, audience members need to arrive at the forum by 7:10 p.m. for the 8 p.m. event.

The governor's visit, according to Kennedy School spokesperson Adrianne Kaufmann, has attracted near-unprecedented media interest with television crews from CNN and ABC News joining print reporters from across the country to cover the event.

As the Reform Party's only elected official, Ventura carries a great deal of influence in forming the nascent party's national image.

Credible candidates for the party's presidential nomination--including Patrick J. Buchanan and Donald J. Trump--will likely seek Ventura's blessing when and if they decide to run.

So it's no surprise that Ventura's presence in front of a Harvard audience is expected to deliver ratings for Matthews' up-and-coming television program.

According to Bob Reichblum, the CNBC executive who is producing tonight's "Hardball," the format of the hour-long show will be loosely structured to include plenty of repartee between the governor and the students.

Reichblum says he wants a spirited broadcast.

"As a good producer, you want a place where there are people who feel passionately about issues and subjects,"

he said. "We'd be foolish if we didn't take advantage of the talents of Harvard students."

According to Reichblum, Matthews and the governor will be seated on a platform at the center of the forum surrounded by the audience.

Later in the program, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and IOP Director Alan K. Simpson will join Matthews and Ventura onstage as guests.

Tonight's stop at Harvard is the inaugural event of "The Hardball College Tour," a series of tapings at colleges around the country, which will continue throughout the year

The college tour is designed in part to take advantage of the show's growing popularity on CNBC's primetime lineup.

"We wanted to do the most dynamic kickoff to the tour," Reichblum said.

Ventura plans to arrive in Cambridge at about noon, according to a staffer familiar with his schedule.

He'll meet with a group of Harvard faculty and then head to Soldiers' Field to watch the Crimson's football team practice.