OT: A Tragic Anniversary

Four years ago today, Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia, and three campaign aides were killed in a tragic plane accident in outstate Minnesota.  I still remember my wife calling in tears, asking if I’d heard yet.  I hadn’t.  It was a terrible day.

I took a semester off from college to work on Senator Wellstone’s first campaign for Senate, volunteering (with occasional paid stints) full-time from precinct caucuses through the endorsing convention (i.e., when his election was impossible).  I continued to work for the campaign that fall, as campus organizer at Macalester College, where we hosted one of the largst rallies of the campaign.  I also interned in his office the spring following his remarkable election, working on immigrant and refugee issues.

I remember seeing him on an plane, flying from Minneapolis to D.C., sometime after I started in practice, probably in early 2001.  I hadn’t seen him since sometime in the mid-90s, but he immediately greeted me, asked after Dena, and asked after my parents.

Regardless of your views of his politics (and I did not agree with him on all issues), Paul had the courage of his convictions, he said what he believed, and he voted consistently.  Our public debate is poorer for his absence.

The Wellstone Alliance has posted a rememberance and has a page relating to the memorial.

“Never separate the lives you live from the words you speak.”