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MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura halted his political comeback before it began, using a national TV platform to announce that he won’t launch a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate “at this moment.”

Even so, Ventura kept the door open a crack, saying things could always change before the 5 p.m. Tuesday filing deadline.

In his appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Monday, the former pro wrestler called it an “agonizing decision” and said he thought he could have defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat challenger Al Franken, the former “Saturday Night Live” personality.

But Ventura went on to catalog a familiar list of grievances, saying he didn’t want to subject his family to what they feared would be attacks in the media if he runs “because nothing is off-limits today in the world of politics.”

He also brought up his long-standing resentment toward the Minnesota media for what he perceived as unfair criticism of his outside sources of income when he was governor.

After his CNN interview, Ventura walked out of a TV studio in downtown Minneapolis and teased a throng of local reporters, responding to shouted questions by noting how pleased he was with the recent performance of the Minnesota Twins.

Ventura’s fame and occasionally outrageous behavior regularly brought national attention to the state but wore on the patience of many Minnesotans.

For the past week, Minnesota’s political class waited to see if Ventura would really get back into the race — or if he was just enjoying a new chance to bask in the spotlight almost six years after he left the governor’s office after a single term.

Coleman and Franken had initially dismissed Ventura’s interest in the race as an attempt to publicize his latest book, “Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me,” a quirky blend of personal memoir and political rant published this spring. But both candidates moderated their remarks more recently, admitting that a Ventura candidacy would have altered the race.

Ventura proved that he still has a flair for effortlessly generating media attention, but a political scientist who’s followed his career said he might have found it harder than in his historic 1998 run, when he went from novelty candidate to governor of Minnesota.

“We’re in a much more serious time than when he ran in 1998,” said Steve Frank, co-author of a book about Ventura. “I think there’d be some initial infatuation with Jesse, but as we get closer — especially with two decent candidates who are well-financed — I think it would be tougher.”

In mostly national media interviews over the last week, Ventura ridiculed both of the Senate candidates. He said Franken’s 2005 move back to Minnesota — where he grew up but left after high school — was politically opportunistic.

Ventura also condemned Coleman for his support of the Iraq war, of which he is a staunch critic, and has happily pointed out that he already beat Coleman once, in the 1998 governor’s race.

Ventura, long a detractor of organized religion, said he wouldn’t file for the Senate by Tuesday’s state-mandated deadline “assuming that God doesn’t call.”

For the last few years, Ventura has split his time between homes in Minnesota and in Baja California, Mexico. He said while he came close to running, his decision came down to “surfing vs. the Senate.”

“And I found surfing to be much more honorable than the Senate,” Ventura said.

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WASHINGTON — Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is shooting down media reports that he’s decided to run for Senate.

National Public Radio on Wednesday reported that Ventura says he’s running for the seat, quoting him as saying “I run” because of Senator Norm Coleman’s support for the Iraq war. But Ventura tells The Associated Press he had been speaking hypothetically.

Ventura says in responding to the NPR reporter’s question about why he would run, “I gave him the reasons why I would run. But I said ultimately, it will come down to whether I want to change my lifestyle and go to that lifestyle or not.”

ABC News followed up with a blog item headlined, “Jesse Ventura To Run for Senate,” citing the NPR report.

Ventura says bluntly that no one knows whether he will run — not even his wife. He says the decision won’t be made until next Tuesday, the filing deadline.

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When Republicans said they were a “big tent” party, city officials in Minneapolis apparently took them literally.

With the Republican convention set just across the river in St. Paul for the first week in September, Minneapolis parks officials have hiked their rental prices for large hospitality-style tents from a bargain-basement $50 to a sticker-shocking $10,000 — a 20,000 percent increase, MyFoxTwinCities.com reports.

In one city meeting, Minneapolis Parks Superintendent Jon Gurban jokingly referred to the price hikes as a “gold mine” timed to coincide with the presidential nominating event. The board faces a $1 million deficit.

“We always like taking some fun pokes at the Republicans,” Gurban told MyFoxTwinCities.

Gurban later explained that the city undertook a survey of park fees compared to what other cities were charging, “and we found out that we were grossly underpricing the park system.”

“It really is kind of a square-footage fee as much as anything,” Gurban said, noting that the fees also would affect other events that use the city’s large tents, like annual triathalons and hockey tournaments.

Gurban, however, said he had not yet heard from the Republican Host Committee, which is planning the convention events, on whether it plans on using any park space in his city.

Click here for the full report from MyFoxTwinCities.com.

Al Franken, who is running for U. S. Senate in Minnesota, addresses delegates at the Democratic Party's state convention in Rochester, Minn., in June. (AP Photo)

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WASHINGTON — Moving from celebrity to senator isn’t exactly an untraveled path. But that doesn’t mean comedian Al Franken, who is vying for a Senate seat in Minnesota, will coast to Capitol Hill on a wide, smooth road.

Franken, a Democrat, best-selling author and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, once penned a racy piece for Playboy that has offended the Midwestern sensibilities of some Minnesotans. It is that history as a satirist and comedian, Franken says, that puts him “in a little uncharted territory” as he tries to woo voters.

At his nomination speech a few weeks ago, Franken acknowledged that some of his past writings and comments were “downright offensive.”

“There were some things that I said that gave some people reason to believe I wouldn’t fight for all Minnesotans, specifically for women,” Franken said in a telephone interview. “I said I was sorry for that, ’cause that’s not who I am.”

If he can overcome his past, colorful commentary, Franken would join a long list of entertainers who have found a second or third career in elected office, most notably former President Reagan. They include:

–Helen Gahagan Douglas, a 1930s actress and opera singer who was a Democratic congresswoman before losing the 1950 California Senate race to Richard Nixon in a landslide. In that race, the future president called her “pink right down to her underwear” and earned the nickname “Tricky Dick.”

–Tough-guy actor and director Clint Eastwood, who became mayor of Carmel, Calif.

–Fred Grandy, Gopher on the TV show “The Love Boat,” who became a Republican congressman from Iowa.

–Sonny Bono, of “Sonny and Cher” fame, a Republican who became mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., and then a California congressman.

–Ben Jones, who played the mechanic Cooter on the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard” before winning a congressional seat from Georgia as a Democrat.

–Jesse Ventura, a professional wrestler and actor who served one term as Reform Party governor of Minnesota.

–Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, now Republican governor of California.

–Song-and-dance actor George Murphy, a Republican senator from California in the 1960s.

–Fred Thompson, a congressional staffer who became an actor and then a Republican senator from Tennessee and presidential candidate.

Also, actor Sonny Landham, who appeared in “48 Hours” and “Predator,” is mounting a Libertarian challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Not all entertainers have been able to make the switch. In 1967, former child actress Shirley Temple Black, a California Republican, stressed to voters, “Little Shirley Temple is not running,” but lost the congressional election anyway. The little curly haired girl went on to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

Entertainment is good preparation for politics, said Rep. John Hall, a New York Democrat who had been frontman for the band Orleans (big hit “Still the One”).

“The advantage to being a performer is that I’ve always been the product — I’m used to getting up in front of people and selling myself and my ideas,” he said. “They may be musical or lyrical ideas, but they’re ideas nonetheless.”

But some of Franken’s writings are a little stronger than, say, “You’re still the one I want to talk to in bed,” and Franken’s Republican opponent, Sen. Norm Coleman, has highlighted the “Porn-O-Rama!” column Franken wrote for Playboy in 2000.

“Eight years ago I was making the streets of St. Paul safer,” said Coleman, the city’s former mayor, “and he was writing porn.”

When Reagan ran for governor of California in 1966, his Democratic opponent, Gov. Pat Brown, also ridiculed Reagan’s past career.

“While we’ve been building a dynamic working society in California, he was off making such film epics as ‘Bedtime for Bonzo’ and ‘Tugboat Annie Sails Again,”‘ Brown said. But the strategy didn’t work; Reagan won in a landslide.

By the time Reagan mounted his first successful presidential bid in 1980, he was invoking “Bedtime for Bonzo” — which featured Reagan and a chimpanzee. Responding to hecklers at a campaign event, he said, “A little while ago they were calling out ‘Bonzo.’ They’d better be careful. Bonzo grew up to be King Kong.”

Reagan biographer Lou Cannon said Franken has a bigger credibility hurdle to clear than Reagan did.

“Franken is a comedian, who writes these outrageous lines and books,” he said. “Reagan had most recently been host of the very dignified GE Theater. I also think that Minnesota is a different political culture than California, which was welcoming to stars.”

Still, Franken wouldn’t be the first entertainer to win in Minnesota; the state elected Ventura governor in 1998.

Ventura said he was on a flight with Franken a couple of years ago and warned him: “If you have any ghosts in your closet, get ready, because they’re going to be splattered all over the front page of the world.”

“It’s a shame,” added Ventura, who says he’s considering running against Franken and Coleman as an independent. “Take my opinion on his Playboy article — it’s irrelevant. He was asked to do a job, he’s a writer, whatever it is he does. I more worry about how he will govern.”

Ventura said his own celebrity status had been a boon in the ‘98 campaign — “you’re already a household word, so you don’t have to purchase that.”

Grandy had a similar take. He said his previous career on “The Love Boat” was a “secret weapon,” because people thought it would be a disadvantage. In fact, it provided instant name recognition.

“It’s better to start with a negative impression than none at all, because you can always turn that around,” Grandy said.

He said he didn’t have much show business baggage, having been on a “fairly white bread show. There was really not much there that you could call salacious or controversial.”

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MINNEAPOLIS — A University of Minnesota student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall’s presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay. But prosecutors didn’t see the humor in the stunt.

Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate. “Good luck!” Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. “You’re (sic) country depends on You!”

Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.

“We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote,” said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. “There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, ‘I can be bought.’

“It’s a real shame,” he said. “I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not.”

The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said. Diamond said he believed his office responded appropriately in charging Sanders, a liberal arts major from Edina.

“There are two things going on here in terms of why it’s a crime,” he said. “One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out ‘I can buy your vote.’ The second notion is that everybody gets one vote and you don’t get to buy another one.”

Sanders and his attorney, Steven Levine, declined to comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

As for the offer on eBay? It got no bids.

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WASHINGTON — A watchdog group asked the Senate ethics investigators on Tuesday to look into whether Sen. Norm Coleman’s living arrangement on Capitol Hill violates the rules.

Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, has been living in the basement of a Capitol Hill town house owned by campaign consultant Jeff Larson for the past year. He missed a couple of rent payments until the magazine National Journal brought them to his attention. Coleman also paid one month’s rent by selling furniture to Larson.

Coleman has said he moved into the basement apartment — which he described as a tiny bedroom and bathroom — to cut down on expenses.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants the Senate Ethics Committee to determine, among other things, whether the $600 monthly rent Coleman pays is fair market value and whether Coleman would have paid the missing rent checks had the magazine not flagged them.

“Few Americans have landlords who sometimes fail to cash their rent checks, ignore unpaid rent, or accept furniture in lieu of rent,” said CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan.

“That Sen. Coleman has just such a landlord, who also happens to financially benefit from his relationship with the senator, creates exactly the sort of appearance of impropriety that undermines the public’s faith in government.”

Coleman faces a tough re-election challenge from Democrat Al Franken.

Coleman campaign spokesman Luke Friedrich replied that Coleman is paying fair market value “for a cramped basement bedroom.”

He also questioned Sloan’s independence, noting she often appeared as a guest on Franken’s Air America radio show.

“The only surprise is that it took Al Franken’s surrogate this long to file a politically motivated attack against Senator Coleman,” Friedrich said, calling her “a reliable attack dog for the Democrat Party.”

And the Minnesota Republican Party pointed out that one of CREW’s board members, John Luongo, had contributed $2,000 to Franken, while another board member, Daniel Berger, donated $44,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The GOP also noted that Sloan had worked as counsel for the House Judiciary Committee’s crime subcommittee when it was chaired by then-Rep. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who now chairs the DSCC.

“In the interest of full disclosure, CREW must acknowledge its close relationship to Al Franken, and explain how they can claim to be an independent group with its long history with Democrats and specifically Al Franken and Charles Schumer,” said Minnesota GOP Chairman Ron Carey.

CREW spokeswoman Naomi Seligman responded that prior to this complaint, the group had filed complaints against three other senators this year, all Democrats.

“The Republican committees use our work when we target Democrats all the time,” she said. “It’s only when we target Republicans that they turn around and try to discredit us.”

Seligman said that Sloan appeared as a guest on Franken’s show to discuss government ethics issues.