Despite being an active political voice, Ventura has allied himself with the new football league, the XFL, doing color commentary on NBC. Joining forces with his old buddy Vince McMahon, Ventura admits that the XFL "Allows me to perform. I am a performer. It keeps my feet in the private sector which is what I’ll go back to when I am done being Governor. I find it entertaining, and I love football."

Ventura is certainly a performer in all aspects of his life. He is performing the job of Governor because he has a deep rooted interest in helping people and helping the country. In a recent interview I had with the Governor, we discussed teen political apathy, public service, pro-wrestling, education, his opinion of President Bush, the news media and his credo: with freedom comes self reliance.

TeenSpeak: As a former navy seal and a former professional wrestler, what made you decide to enter politics?

Ventura: Really, it started when I ran for Mayor of Brooklyn Park, the city I lived in – and it was over a fight about a wetland. We had a big wetland in our neighborhood and people wanted to destroy the wetland and create a development. We were an older neighborhood, and we had very rural ditches to collect the water that filtered naturally into the ground. Government was catering to developers who wanted to give us all curb, gutter and storm sewers because they had no place to pump this water except into this wetland. Most of us thought that this was unacceptable and we sent around a petition stating that the development wasn’t acceptable. We were voted down seven to nothing. It was at that point that I got motivated. I saw the democracy that I grew up knowing about wasn’t the democracy I was witnessing. I mean seven to nothing (!) when 450 people (which is quite a lot of people in a neighborhood) signed a petition! I then proceeded to run for Mayor. That’s how I got into politics. Really and truthfully, I got into politics almost by mistake! I had no inclination to do it in my life before that.

TeenSpeak: But you quickly learned how powerful you could be!

Ventura: I learned I could win elections, I guess.

TeenSpeak: What do you think makes your political persona unique from other politicians?

Ventura: Because I don’t accept any special interest money. Therefore, there is no one pulling my strings. People may disagree with me, but they will know that it’s my decision. There isn’t anyone behind the scenes making decisions for me because of political pay-off or pay-back.

TeenSpeak: Even though it’s early in his Presidency, George W. Bush has set the nation’s table with a lot of agendas he hopes to accomplish. At this early early stage, have you established an opinion of the President?

Ventura: Well, I like the President. I met him when he was a Governor and I think he’s doing the right thing. You want to set out a lot of things on the menu because there is a lot to be done whether you accomplish them all, or not. You won’t know until you are done. But you certainly want to attempt to accomplish as many of them as you can. I don’t find that troubling at all. I also support his budget. I don’t find it troubling at all that he wants to give twenty cents return on the dollar back to the tax payer. I would advocate that we should get back at least quarter on the dollar.