As well as the Nascar one at the end, there's a few good Ventura quotes in amongst the banal crap from Stein and Carville, as highlighted below.
Also, Stein predicts a second term for Obama, I'd to see him take that up with his buddy Bill O'Lielly.
Joining us now, Jesse Ventura, the former Independent and Reform Party governor of Minnesota. His new TV show, "Conspiracy Theory," will premiere on December 2nd on truTV. You can get a sneak peek at it by going to our Web site, CNN.com/larryking.
Also joining us, James Carville, the CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist, and Ben Stein, the economist and former presidential speechwriter. Ben is a columnist with "Fortune" magazine.
Already, Jesse, what's your read on tonight?
Is this a national implications here in Virginia?
JESSE VENTURA, FORMER GOVERNOR, MINNESOTA: Well, no. I just think it's the pendulum swinging around between the Democrats and the Republicans. You know, the thing I find most interesting is the lemming mentality of America and how they can be sold -- the fact that the economy is bad now and it's President Obama's fault.
Excuse me, it's George Bush's fault. You've usually got to go back two to three to four years and now you're reaping the results of that time.
L. KING: But Obama remains popular. It's just this candidate didn't win.
VENTURA: Right. And -- and you -- you understand that that can certainly happen. Again, the pendulum swings both ways.
Again, for me, the other interesting thing is like what David Gergen talked about, how this could cause Democrats to back off from health care and all this because of fear of losing. Well, you notice Democrats and Republicans, it's not about standing for what they believe in, it's about what do I have to do to win or lose, you know...
L. KING: You haven't changed, have you, Jesse?
VENTURA: No.
L. KING: No, you haven't.
VENTURA: And these guys hold their finger up to the proverbial wind to see which way it's blowing so that then they can decide where they're going to sit politically.
L. KING: Mr. Carville, do you seen any national implications so far in the Virginia results?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, it's a very significant thing. Governor Kaine, who's a great guy, by the way. He taught my class when I taught at a community college. He said 57 percent of registered voters had a favorable opinion of -- of President Obama. If you look at -- of the people that voted, that number is going to be considerably lower. And therein lies the Democratic problem tonight. It is that the drop-off voters -- this electorate in Virginia was a lot older and a lot whiter than the 2008 electorate. And that's why -- one of the reasons that -- the main reason that Deeds got -- got beat so badly. And in -- if we can -- in 2010, if we can't bring some of these people back in the fold, we're going to have another bad election night.
L. KING: Ben Stein, do you see this as an indication, as James does?
BEN STEIN, ECONOMIST, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER, COLUMNIST, "FORTUNE": I see it -- it has enormous racial content and enormous demographic content. Mr. Obama is an incredibly charismatic campaigner. He brought out the black vote like nobody else ever has in Virginia. That's why he won so big. He brought out the young people's vote. He brought out the government bureaucrats vote. Nobody can do that but him.
And may I say, the economy is not that bad in Virginia. Virginia is a very strong state economically compared to the rest of the country. It's just that Obama has the charisma and the present Democratic candidate for governor does not have the charisma. They need Obama's charisma to win and without it, I think the Republicans are going to have a field day.
L. KING: So you do not see Virginia as a national referendum on Obama?
STEIN: I see it as what it says is Obama is the key to the Democratic Party's future. He's got the charisma and turn out the black vote. He's got the charisma to turn out the college student vote. He's got the charisma to turn out the urban elites or self- selecting elites vote. The other people do not.
It's all up to Obama. If he can get those people to turn out, he can create another Democratic tidal wave. He can even do what Bush did in -- in an off-year election and can -- and sometimes win more seats for the incumbent president. But without Obama, the Democrats are, it seems to me, foundering.
L. KING: But he couldn't do it in Virginia, Jesse.
STEIN: But he...
(CROSSTALK)
STEIN: ...because he was not on the ballot.
(CROSSTALK)
STEIN: He was not on the ballot. He was not on the ballot.
L. KING: So he can't transfer (INAUDIBLE)?
VENTURA: You know what's interesting...
STEIN: I don't think so.
VENTURA: You know, everything Ben talked about is exac -- is exactly what I did in Minnesota. Ben -- I thought Ben was talking about me for a moment.
L. KING: What did you do in Minnesota?
STEIN: (INAUDIBLE) always thought you... VENTURA: Well, I...
(CROSSTALK)
VENTURA: I got the young -- I got -- I got people out to vote. I got older (INAUDIBLE). There were...
L. KING: But it was you on -- they were voting for you.
VENTURA: There was 15 percent higher turnout the year I ran, in '98, because tons of people who normally didn't vote came out and voted. And that's how I won.
L. KING: We'll take a break.
We'll be right back.
We've got an exclusive blog from BET's Jeff Johnson on the future of black politics. It's a great read. Check it out, www.CNN.com/larryking.
Midterm elections just a year away.
Does tonight give us any indication about that?
We'll ask our experts, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
L. KING: We're back.
James, will -- will this have any affect on the health care bill at all?
CARVILLE: Possibly. I mean, look, politicians, they read the election returns. And -- and that goes -- let's wait and see what happens in New Jersey. We're getting slightly ahead of ourselves here.
But if -- if you assume if Corzine loses, then you could -- you could -- that could cause Democrats to get very skittish about voting on some of these things between now and 2000 -- the election of 2010.
You know, if Corzine wins, then there's the -- the takeaway will be, well, the Republicans had a good night, but they kind of split the big governor races, the first time in 24 years any party has won either Virginia or New Jersey. So there's a pretty good bend in the interpretation riding on the outcome of the New Jersey race here.
L. KING: Ben, what do you think?
STEIN: I don't think this election is about issues at all. I think the last election and this election is about the charisma of the candidates. Mr. Obama had unimaginable charisma with African American voters. He had unimaginable charisma with young voters. The president and Democrats in Virginia did not have that. Does Mr. Corzine have it in New Jersey? He is a fine guy. He is the only person I've ever heard of from Goldman Sachs who does seem like a fine guy, frankly. That's just my humble opinion. But does he have the kind of charisma that Mr. Obama has? I don't think so. He's a fine man, but he doesn't have charisma. We shall see. It's not about issues. It's about personal charisma.
L. KING: Jesse, you think we're going to be up late with New Jersey?
VENTURA: Why is it that the election results have such a bearing on how other Democrats will vote on health care? Why don't they stand up for what they believe, instead of holding their finger touch the proverbial winds, and stand for what they believe in. That's the whole problem. Democrats are spineless. They don't know what they believe in.
(CROSS TALK)
L. KING: Can you answer that question? First, James, frankly, is Jesse right? Do they hold their finger up to the wind?
CARVILLE: I don't know. I know a lot of Democrats that don't hold their finger up to the wind, a lot of them are pretty courageous people. But look, you're right, some of them are politicians and some of them look at the last election. That's hardly anything new in American politics. It's hardly something that's unique to the Democratic party.
But if you ask me does an election result have an effect on the way that people behave, elected officials behave after the election? Of course it does. It would be wrong -- I couldn't tell your viewers that there's not some correlation between election results and the behavior of office holders. There is.
VENTURA: They're career politicians, Larry. They make a career out of it. Therefore, they have to behave that way.
L. KING: Ben, you're a Republican. Is your party in a fight now between -- based on that upstate New York Congressional race -- between the conservatives and the moderates?
STEIN: No, I think the conservatives have won. I don't think it's in a fight. The fight's over. That woman -- I can't even pronounce her name -- she was chosen by a small group of party insiders who are not in touch with the party faithful. She shouldn't have been there in the first place. The fact that she withdrew and then endorsed a Democrat, as opposed to a conservative, is shocking. It shows they made a wildly incorrect choice in choosing here.
I don't know what the future is for the Republican party. I hope it's a good one. I hope they find some leaders. I hope they find some good candidates, which they have not done so far. But the key to everything is Mr. Obama. He is a campaigner like we have not seen in this country since John F. Kennedy. He is astounding campaigner. If he in it, if he's on the ballot, everything goes one way. If he is not on the ballot, it is a whole different story.
(CROSS TALK)
L. KING: Ben is making it seem like 2012 is a foregone conclusion.
STEIN: If he's on the ballot, I think it is.
CARVILLE: I'm pretty sure he'll be on the ballot.
STEIN: He may decided he wants to retire and play basketball.
CARVILLE: The one thing -- I guess, Ben, you're not looking for the Republicans to recruit out of Goldman Sachs, are you?
STEIN: Boy, I hope not. I sure hope not.
(CROSS TALK)
L. KING: You seem to look back, and look at both of these parties with askance look.
VENTURA: To me, Larry -- and I have said it before, and I know I'll get a laugh out of this. But I wish they would pass a law where all Democrats and Republicans had to wear Nascar racing suits, because if you look at the Nascar drivers, it tells who their sponsors are. And if they do that, we could then become informed voters, because we would know who owns them.
Let's move forward with some law making like that for a change.
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