A Harvard student publication reported yesterday that Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura says he would consider a bid for the Reform Party presidential nomination if the state's voters would muster behind him.

The news--released after the Harvard Current magazine conducted a phone interview with the governor yesterday-- created a nationwide media frenzy, with the Associated Press placing the story on its national wire and ABC's "Good Morning America" scheduling a live interview with the Current's editors for this morning's broadcast.

But Ventura advisers quickly downplayed the significance of the remarks, saying they do not represent a change in the governor's long-held personal view on the subject. In previous interviews, Ventura has said he's not interested in running.

A Reform Party spokesperson yesterday evening said she doubted Ventura's ability to galvanize the party's members behind a presidential bid.

In the interview, conducted by Harvard Current reporters Bom S. Kim '00 and Daniel M. Loss '00, Ventura seemed to suggest that if Minnesotans mobilized behind his candidacy, he would run.

"I told the people of Minnesota that I wanted to be their governor," Ventura said. "I will fulfill my four-year term. If I turn around and run for president, then I lied to all the people of Minnesota. So unless you can get Minnesotans to say, 'Go ahead, Governor Ventura, run for president, we give your our backing...'"

At this point, according to a transcript provided by the Current, one interviewer asked, "So, if the people in Minnesota mobilize themselves to support you fully to run in the presidential elections, would you run?"

Ventura's response: "I'd consider it, but then again I got to want the job and I'd have to consider it with my family and I don't know if my family would want me to do it."