There may be a lesson in Ventura's success.

Voters have power. Real power. When they tire of the system, they're likely to do something dramatic.

Republicans and Democrats alike are casting a wary eye toward Minnesota, wondering if Ventura might represent a new brand of politics--without the politics.

But while some are enthralled by Ventura's new approach, others are convinced that his attraction is only fleeting.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Senator Joseph R. Biden (D- Del) said that voters traditionally latch onto third-party candidates partly out of frustration over the current state of affairs than out of any real affinity for the candidate himself.

"In four years, he'll be where our boy from Texas [Perot] is--only without the money," he said. "It's a predictable aberration; every four to 10 years in American politics there's a character like Rush Limbaugh or Jerry Falwell with something interesting to say who becomes a repository for despair within the existing system."

Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee professor of government and the media at the Kennedy School of Government, suggested that controversial candidates rise to prominence quickly, but they tend to fall even more rapidly.

"There are people in Congress who get themselves re-elected time after time by not being controversial," he said. "Media attention is a double-edged sword....and the brightest stars burn out faster."