But preoccupation with image is exactly the kind of politics the voters who put Jesse Ventura in office are sick of. Jesse Ventura, as his recent comments in Playboy made painfully clear, does not care about image. Bush, on the other hand, is trying to create the image of someone who doesn't care about image.

Before this race is over, voters may well see through Bush's posturing. Even if they don't, there is a danger in running as an anti-politician. It only takes a couple of Jesse Venturas bashing organized religion to remind us why we've been electing those loathsome politicians to office all these years in the first place. And as columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. '73 wrote yesterday, Ventura's act is already wearing thin. By the time Ventura-style brashness no longer seems like such a smart political move, will it be too late for Bush to change gears and start acting like a grown-up?

Alan E. Wirzbicki '01 is a history and literature concentrator in Eliot House. His column appears on alternate Tuesdays.