The Verse or Worse electorate, back from contemplating sneaker cologne a few weeks ago, moved quickly to decide which of the entries in the competition for a headline about stolen cemetery flowers took the roses, so to speak.

They have awarded the laurels, and a florid MinnPost T-shirt, to returning champion Ervin Stembol, for this entry:

Grave Concern Over Bloomburgling; Victims Mum

Your genial host was astonished that there were no entries using the phrase "grave undertaking." He hopes for something at least that unspeakable among the entries for his new challenge.

And here is that challenge:

Jesse Ventura suggested recently that he might enter Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. Heck, maybe he should skip the preliminaries and go straight for the top job. Your challenge is to provide one or more reasons Jesse Ventura should run for president. Your genial host here underlines that he is searching for amusement, not serious politics or flaming partisanship. And this isn't Letterman, so your genial host is only looking for the top five reasons Jesse should run for president.

As usual, your genial host provides a not-too-terrific example:

Jesse Ventura should run for president because it's time this nation had a leader at least as odd as Kim Jong-Il.

E-mail one to three entries (please stop sending none) to asicherman [at] minnpost [dot] com by 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 19.

At 5:01, your genial host will enter MinnPost's giant presidential-campaign-coverage headquarters, shoo out all the jackals and begin screening the entries, ultimately choosing the best five.

He will post those five on Monday, June 23. You will have until Thursday afternoon, June 26, to vote for your favorite, which will win a perfectly presidential MinnPost T-shirt.

The name of the winner will be posted on Monday, June 30, along with a new challenge.

OK, time to add some bull to the bully pulpit!