Remembering Paul Wellstone (1944-2002)

I was reminded late this evening that it has been exactly 3 years since we lost a great senator named Paul David Wellstone. Senator Wellstone also held a Ph.D. in political science and was a professor at Carleton College in Minnesota before running for the United States Senate in 1990 against Rudy Boschwitz. Tragically, he died in a plane crash.

Paul's wife, Sheila, who also died three years ago in that tragic plane crash was a student at UK while he was at UNC (Interesting). She would be in North Carolina after their freshman year as they married in 1963.

You can view Senator Wellstone's biography at his website.

In 2002, Wellstone sought a third term to the Senate, and was targeted by the White House’s political operation as a top target for defeat. Despite taking a politically unpopular vote against the impending war in Iraq, polls showed him with a solid lead going into the final two weeks of the campaign. Then on October 25, 2002, Paul and Sheila, their daughter Marcia and three campaign staffers – Tom Lapic, Will McLaughlin, and Mary McEvoy – were traveling to campaign events in northern Minnesota when their plane crashed near the Eveleth airport. There were no survivors. Paul and Sheila Wellstone are survived by their two sons, Mark and David.

I have his book The Conscience of a Liberal in my bookcase. You can buy it through the blog through my Amazon links.

In high school, we had to write letters to leaders in the community or nation. My brother wrote to Sen. Paul Wellstone in 2002 for that class. Unfortunately, my brother never heard back as the Senator passed away tragically. The day that Senator Wellstone died, I called up Waldenbooks to place an order for his book. Sadly, somehow, the publisher cancelled it and I ended up ordering it via Amazon. I highly recommend it.

Paul, we miss you still. We hope that Al Franken decides to run for your seat in 2008. To say that the world would be a better place with you still in it would be an understatement. Paul, you were a conscience of the Senate.