...and had the privilege and opportunity to hear him speak about casting that vote against the Iraq War.
He was in a neck & neck race for his Senate seat with Republican Norm Coleman,
and, as usual, Wellstone was fighting for his seat without much support from the Democratic Party establishment.
President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and other Big Name Republicans were making weekly appearances in the Twin Cities, cutting TV commercials, fund raising, and stumping for Coleman. You couldn't turn on a TV without seeing their faces.
Not too many (none) Big Name Democratic Party celebrities were showing up in Minnesota to help Wellstone in his campaign.
He was doing his usual thing, barnstorming the state and relying on Grass Roots activists to help him keep his seat.
ALL the advisers and pundits had told him that he would surely lose his seat if he cast a NO vote. He told us that he had spent a sleepless night mulling that over before he cast his vote. When asked WHY he took that chance,
he said that sometimes you just have to do the right thing regardless of the consequences.
Wellstone was the only Democratic Senator involved in a re-election battle that voted NO on the IWR.
Against all the predictions of the pundits and advisers, he began to pull ahead of Coleman in the polls, and the gap was widening until he was killed.
I don't idolize Paul Wellstone.
He was a human just like the rest of us,
but I do remember Paul Wellstone, and use his courage and integrity as a model and a measure with which to evaluate other politicians.
He was one of the very best.
[font color=firebrick size=3][center]"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone[/font][/center]
[center]
[/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]
[font size=5 color=firebrick]Solidarity![/font]
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