Paul Wellstone Dead

Posted on October 25, 2002 in Courage & Activism Liberals & Progressives

As soon as I opened Yahoo, I saw the bad news: Hero Senator Paul Wellstone is dead after a plane crash. Just two weeks ago, Wellstone put his political future on the line by saying “No” to George W. Bush’s war. His stand brought him ahead of his challenger, the former mayor of St. Paul. The people of Minnesota seemed poised to take the nation back from the reactionary minority now in control of the country.

The last Senate candidate to die in a plane crash was Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan who defeated current Attorney General John Ashcroft from the grave. Wellstone, alas, comes from a state whose Governor Jesse Ventura may not be likely to appoint a liberal in his place. Ventura could hand Bush the election without the need to win it. Or he could appoint some improbable maverick to the post.

I won’t say anything about “mysterious circumstances”. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Wellstone’s plane went down: the pilot took off in dodgy conditions: snow and freezing rain have brought down many aircraft. A few might regard this as the hand of God punishing Wellstone, but I remind these that there is an opposite maxim: Only the Good die young.

And George W. Bush and his henchmen still live.

If I were in Minnesota, I would still vote for Paul Wellstone. Bush and Ventura need to hear the message that national politics belong to the people.