REFORM! Part 2 | Pretty Good

Ross Perot wasn’t the only one fed up with the two-party system. In the 1990s, Minnesota resident Jesse Ventura joined Perot’s Reform ticket and stunned the American political establishment. It seemed as though the Reform Party had beaten all the odds to become a national political power. But as it turned out, the Reform Party was about to face its most daunting foe yet: the Reform Party.

Written, edited, produced, everything by Jon Bois

[princessjellyfish]

An yes, the triumphant return of my favorite sport: politics

[Thej]

I can’t imagine how Gargan must have felt as he watched the party that he helped to create literally scream at him and disintegrate right in front of him on that Nashville stage. I think if I were him, I would have cried too

[rukaumora]

I had no idea who Jack Gargan was before all of this. Now I'm crying with him when he's removed from his position by a mob of people that don't understand what the party was about at all. "You don't even know me." That hurt, man. Such is American politics.

[real_surreal_sir]

As far unions, keep in mind Ventura literally led the attempt to unionize wrestling, almost pulled it off arguably

[RobSomeone]

I can't believe you told a story so well that I was so pissed at Ross Perot that I was thinking, 'Oh thank god Trump's here.'

[philluso]

"There is a very tight correlation between knowing Pat Buchanan and disliking Pat Buchanan"

[techyn]

Why did the Reform Party become so prominent? Ross Perot.

Why did the Reform Party collapse so quickly? Ross Perot.

[averagejoe]

2014 Bed must be studied in depth while is non patrons wait 34 months for the next series

[deputay]

As someone who was interning on a public affairs show in Minnesota where Jesse guested many times the summer/fall of '98, here's what's important that you left out:
1) The BIGGEST point - there was now same-day registration for voting. So yes, Ventura dominated the youth vote but think how many were really out because of Jesse and no one/thing else, and didn't have to register well ahead of time as they did in the past.
2) The DFL state convention chose Mike Freeman, not Humphrey, to be their candidate to be governor. When he wasn't polling anywhere near Coleman's totals, the push toward the primary in September was for state Attorney General Skip Humphrey, in their theory a more marketable name, but in essence gave him less time to campaign with the party 100% behind him.
3) Coleman was viewed by a lot of Democrats (at least the ones I talked to at the time) as being too conservative when he WAS a Democrat. When he went Republican, he went all in...which (as Jesse pointed out) did seem to have leave some independent voters wondering how one person could change their values so strongly in such a short time.

4) Dean Barkley (outside of Jesse, which is an acknowledged large gap) was probably the most successful 3rd party candidate in the state's recent history. You could do a video on him.

As 1998 went on, it was something else seeing Ventura initially interviewed separately from other candidates (because the press didn't take him seriously). Once he was involved, he won each and every debate. Honestly, the biggest hurdle Ventura had was the press. Face to face, to a lowly intern, he was incredibly polite and engaging. That, in combination with his forthright stances on policy (and very clearly taking the campaign seriously) won him the job.

[ScholarlyHiccup]

That 2010-2014 bed is unintentionally one of the funniest things I’ve seen

[BBB]

I want Jesse Ventura vs Pat Buchanan 1 on 1 in Hell in a Cell

[sethmaki]

I turned 18 in September 1998. Damn straight I voted for Jesse.

[nahometesfay]

Moments I particularly liked
1) Donald Trump as the reform party's last hope
2) the animation of a block slapping another block
3) Ventura's political ads
4) the reform silly party

[cabwaylingo_]

calling buchanan a "human margin of error" is just the best way to describe the man isn't it

[mickat]

heads up to the admins, there's an unrelated clip superimposed over the video at 1:39

[thomasgillespie]

Trump's entry into this story was the most incredible jumpscare. Never change Jon, this was perfect

[Jameman]

Crazy how Jesse Ventura and Donald Trump have diverged so much since this all went down.

Jesse, for his part, essentially remained the reform minded fiscal conservative with socially progressive views(which is my kind of guy) who recently was invited by Democrat Tim Walz to attend the signing of the bill that legalized weed in Minnesota. Something Jesse himself was unsuccessful in achieving during his time as governor.

Donald, however, became Pat Buchanan

[LINUXLINUXLINUXLINUXLINUXLINUX]

The moment Ventura became governor he became defacto leader of the Reform movement, they should have realized this. The party should have re engineered around his ideas as to replicate success elsewhere and also to be focused on aiding him.

[slickm]

“Can trump win the presidency, of course not its never gonna happen” its hilarious how that would be a perfectly normal sentence pre 2016

[kfilarski]

For those of you who haven’t seen parts 2 and 3 yet… you’re gonna love it. The story only gets better from here.