Volume aaa, Number 7 November 1, 2002 f

Remembering Senator Paul Wellstone
TODD BUELL
COLUMNIST

The Senate lost a great man last Friday. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) died when a plane carrying him, his wife, three staffers, and two pilots crashed in the north Minnesota woods. No one survived the crash, and it will be months before we know precisely why the aircraft went down.

Senator Wellstone was one of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate. He began his Senate career voting against George H.W. Bush's resolution to attack Iraq in 1991. He voted against President Clinton's welfare reform package in 1996. He unequivocally supported women's rights, abortion rights, labor rights, and publicly financed campaigns. He nearly endorsed Ralph Nader in the 2000 election.

I write in tribute of him not out of a guilty sense of obligation following the death of a political leader, but out of genuine admiration for the courage Senator Wellstone showed in fighting for his convictions. Our political process would be more respected, more honest, and perhaps more productive if all politicians were as straightforward and compassionate as Senator Wellstone was. Even though I disagreed with him on almost all of his votes, he seemed like a man who would be great to debate with. Minnesota storyteller Garrison Keillor wrote of Senator Wellstone, "He was always the Carleton College prof., probing and pushing the question….And he was delighted by disagreement."

Wellstone began his career as a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. This explains his desire to engage young people in the political process. I heard two stories on a radio tribute last Friday that display his genuine interest in the development of young minds.

The first involved a campaign speech in his 1990 run for the Senate. He began the speech by talking about the number of young people who are disengaged with politics; they view it as corrupt, irrelevant, and not worth their time. Wellstone then said that observing from the way politicians are beholden to big corporations, and those "with money," the kids would be right. He challenged the voters to change both the perception and the reality in Washington.

I feel his portrayal of politicians was simplistic; however, I applaud his effort to attempt to engage young people in the political process. Regrettably, the dearth of young voters is a self-fulfilling prophecy because as they become more apathetic, the politicians care about them less, thus perpetuating the apathy. Senator Wellstone attempted to buck this trend.

Wellstone always acknowledged that not everyone would agree with him. However, he tried to remain amicable and respectful to those who did not see issues in the same way as he did. On this radio show, a man in his thirties called with an anecdote to prove this point. This man had been a member of the College Republicans at the University of Minnesota.

One day, Senator Wellstone came to speak at the University, and this student attended the talk. Following the talk, the student brought a shirt up to Senator Wellstone to sign. The shirt parodied the "this is your brain on drugs" ad. It negatively portrayed Senator Wellstone in the space for the "this is your brain on drugs" line. Remarkably, Wellstone laughed and signed the shirt. He wrote a note to this student encouraging him to always fight for his beliefs.

Paul Wellstone did fight for his beliefs, but fighting for one's beliefs is not a sufficient quality for respect; all of the world's great dictators "fought for their beliefs." Senator Wellstone also worked with honesty, integrity, and humility to improve the lives of the people of Minnesota. He is a man I wish I had met and am saddened that I will never get to meet. Washington needs more leaders with the character of Paul Wellstone.