I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up - Hardcover

Ventura, Jesse

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375503323 ISBN 13: 9780375503320

Publisher: Villard, 1999

Synopsis

When he left the navy SEALs to become a pro wrestler, the fans knew him as "Jesse, the Body."

When he hosted his hard-hitting KFAN radio talk show, he became "Jesse, the Mouth."

And now that this body-slamming, straight-talking, charismatic hero is masterminding Minnesota's gubernatorial decisions, you'd better start calling him "Jesse, the Mind."

In I Ain't Got Time to Bleed, Jesse Ventura reveals the secret of his landslide electoral success—with record voter turnout—and maps his innovative strategies for pioneering a new era in American government. In his own inimitable words, he takes on bloated government, career politicians, and apathetic voters, and tells the wildly colorful story of his days as a navy SEAL, his nights in the pro-wrestling ring, and his experiences on radio and in films like Predator and Batman and Robin .

I Ain't Got Time to Bleed is Rocky meets Mr. Smith Goes to Washington—a book that will challenge readers' ideas of traditional government as it introduces them to one of American politics' most ferocious new heroes.

About this title

About the Author

Jesse Ventura the Governor of Minnesota, lives with his wife and their teenaged son and daughter in Saint Paul.

From the Inside Flap

he left the navy SEALs to become a pro wrestler, the fans knew him as "Jesse, the Body."<br><br>When he hosted his hard-hitting KFAN radio talk show, he became "Jesse, the Mouth."<br><br>And now that this body-slamming, straight-talking, charismatic hero is masterminding Minnesota's gubernatorial decisions, you'd better start calling him "Jesse, the Mind."<br><br>In <b>I Ain't Got Time to Bleed</b>, Jesse Ventura reveals the secret of his landslide electoral success―with record voter turnout―and maps his innovative strategies for pioneering a new era in American government. In his own inimitable words, he takes on bloated government, career politicians, and apathetic voters, and tells the wildly colorful story of his days as a navy SEAL, his nights in the pro-wrestling ring, and his experiences on radio and in films like <i>Predator</i> and <i>Batman and Robin</i> .<br><br><b>I Ain't Got Time to Bleed</b> is &l

Reviews

Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura describes his politics and his life with a simplicity that his supporters will cheer as fist-shaking bolts of truth and that his detractors will pan as loud, flippant and glib. The text first outlines Ventura's political platform ("less government is more" just about sums it up), then tracks his life through roles as blue-collar bad boy, Navy Seal, pro wrestler, wrestling commentator, film star, mayor, talk-radio host and, finally, campaigner and governor. Ventura likes to play the angry man in the bar complaining about the bums in office. Like most Reform Party candidates, he doesn't believe government can do much anyway. Eighty percent of the book is autobiography, a series of American success stories about the man who doesn't believe in the word can't. His ego appears to play such a large role in his persona that even his claim that he doesn't want to be called upon to be president exudes a scent of sham modesty. Ventura fan or not, any reader can appreciate the story of this man's desire to unseat "the old boy network" and engage the people. But the chapters on his entertainment years, and Ventura's incessant name-dropping, ultimately undermine his premiseAthat he isn't a politician, just a private-sector Joe. At times, Ventura is so entertaining that readers might forget, temporarily, that he's a celebrity politician employing the advantage of his fame. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Our final big push came seventy-two hours before the election. We rented some RVs, set up a live Internet feed, and headed out on a thirty-four-stop trip around the state, straight through, no sleep. But I knew from my background that I could do it-it was less than half of Hell Week!

As those all-important last hours ticked down, we stole all the thunder from the other two campaigns. The press jumped on board with us, because we were having all the fun. We invited people, "Come along! Jump in your cars and come with us for as long as you want to go!" We had times when we were going down the highway with twenty-five cars tooting their horns, waving banners and flags. We came into cities in a whirlwind of noise. Later, people rushed home and jumped on the Internet to see if they could see pictures of themselves. There was running commentary, "Jesse's now left for Hutchinson. . . ." We literally stole all the publicity and all the momentum that weekend. That's when I started to believe we had a shot at winning. I always knew we had an outside chance, but that's the first time the possibility really began to seem real to me.

Even Terry started to feel it. She went on the seventy-two-hour blitz with us. It was her first real involvement in the campaign. I had told her from the start that I didn't expect her to be part of it unless she wanted to be. She could be as little or as much involved as she liked.

It was during that blitz that my confrontation with Hillary Clinton took place. It was on Saturday-I think we were in Rochester that morning-that Hillary had come into town to stump for Humphrey. One of the press guys came up to me and said, "Did you hear what Hillary Clinton said about you? She said it's time to end the carnival sideshow act that's going on here and get down to the business of electing Skip Humphrey. How do you feel about Hillary Clinton calling you a carnival sideshow act?"

I said, "It seems to me, rather than being concerned about Minnesota politics, Hillary should be more concerned about leaving Bill home alone. He seems to get into a lot of mischief whenever she leaves him." You wanna start the fight, the Klingon's gonna draw the line in the sand. Strike us, and you make us stronger.

Edition details

• Publisher: Villard
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375503323
• ISBN 13: 9780375503320
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208