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A lot of people scoffed and laughed last year when ex-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura ran for governor of Minnesota. They thought a candidate outside the two-party mainstream had no chance against entrenched Republican or Democratic nominees. They were wrong.  

Now a lot of people are probably scoffing and laughing after Willie Logan decided to run for a Florida seat in the U.S. Senate as a political independent, while keeping his Democratic voter registration.

Logan lacks Ventura's flamboyance and pizzazz. But he shouldn't be dismissed as a fluke or a flake, an opportunist or a vengeful spoiler who can't possibly win and can only hurt fellow Democrats and help Republicans.

While a victory remains unlikely, Logan's presence and ideas could possibly invigorate the election campaign and energize an electorate turned off by two-party politics as usual. So could the presence of another independent, Jack Armstrong, and a Reform Party candidate, former Indiana U.S. Rep. Joel Deckard.

Imagine going to the polls on Nov. 7, 2000, and having four or five choices for U.S. Senator. More candidates inevitably means a wider choice of styles of leadership and governance, laws and public policies.       

Having political "outsiders" running for Senate could encourage others to run for different offices.

The Senate seat is being vacated by retiring Republican Connie Mack.  The best-known announced candidates are Democrats Bill Nelson, state treasurer and insurance commissioner, and Republican U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of Longwood.

Nationally, third-party or independent candidates have rarely achieved victory at the polls. Nevertheless, their presence o£ten made a difference on Election Day and their ideas often were adopted later by major-party candidates.

Logan has mounted a sophisticated campaign, trying to generate support from vast numbers of alienated, disaffected voters turned off by "politics as usual," disappointed by failures of the two-party system and willing to make a break from the status quo.        

The 17-year state representative and former mayor of Opa-locka is getting a lot of attention because of his high-profile quarrel with fellow Democrats in the House. They ousted him from a Florida House leadership position as speaker-designate in January 1998.

Logan admits he faces an "uphill fight, , , saying he needs $2 million to $5 million in campaign contributions. He faces competition from both major parties, expected to pour millions of dollars into their candidate's campaigns, in hopes of either keeping or overturning the narrow GOP majority in the U.S. Senate. 

Being a black man trying to win election to an all-white U.S. Senate won't be easy either. 

For decades, third-party or independent candidates have been blocked by Florida's harsh, unfair and discriminatory ballot-access laws. But Florida voters opened the door to these outsiders last November by approving a state amendment to ease their path onto the ballot. Logan can qualify by paying a $4,800 qualifying fee, or collecting several hundred thousand petition signatures.

Those who think Republicans and Democrats are always going to be in charge need to check the numbers.  Since January 1995, Democrats have dipped from 49 percent to 44.5 percent of Florida's registered voters. Republicans have shrunk from 41.8 percent to 39.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the fastest-growing group is outside the two-party mainstream. Those registered as political independents rose from 8.4 percent to 14 percent. Those registered in minor parties rose from 0.7 percent to 1.8 percent.

Imagine: 1.3 million voters, nearly 16 of every 100, are not aligned with either major party.

The first alarm bell that Logan could become a serious threat has been sounded. He hired Minnesota advertising guru Bill Hillsman, who developed the media campaign used by Ventura.

No matter how they are registered and who they vote for, voters should consider the advice of Logan's campaign slogan: "Think independent."

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