he news that real estate wheeler-dealer Donald Trump is taking ''a very good, strong look'' at running for president on the Reform Party ticket will be good news for those who regard presidential politics as entertainment.
But when all the hype and sizzle have subsided, the chances are that Trump's foray into the presidential race will prove a good thing for those traditionalists who continue to believe that running the country is like performing brain surgery or pitching in the World Series: an activity best left to experienced and proven professionals.
Of course, there are refreshing qualities that a novice might bring to the consultant-ridden wasteland of presidential politics. The Donald, no less than his Reform Party backer, Jesse Ventura, is not in the habit of quacking in consultant-speak.
There he was on NBC's ''Today'' show yesterday, telling interviewer Matt Lauer that his anticipated opponent for the Reform Party nomination, Patrick Buchanan, was in love with Adolf Hitler. It was the kind of indiscreet remark that high-paid advisers and pollsters would never allow a mainstream candidate such as Al Gore, Bill Bradley, or George W. Bush to utter.
For his part, Buchanan has made the most of his free media time to discourse on his antique ''America First'' notions about how the democracies were mistaken to distract Hitler from his primary objective of conquering Stalin's Soviet Union. It was left to Trump to point out that unlike Buchanan, he does not need to use a presidential campaign to pump up sales of a book.
Meanwhile, Jesse ''the Body'' Ventura was in Cambridge at the Kennedy School, valiantly defending puerile remarks he made in a Playboy interview. In case Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell weren't paying attention, he reaffirmed his belief that organized religion is ''a crutch for weak-minded people'' and if he were reincarnated he would want to return as an item of women's underwear.
Ventura, Trump, and Buchanan are soon going to make voters appreciate the dull gray virtues of professional politicians.
