My Brush with Greatness:
Remembering Senator Paul Wellstone
October 2002
by Alexander Washburn

It was late-February in Harlem, and by 6pm a line had already formed outside of the Apollo Theater. We were situated across the street, in a second floor small church above a Krispy Kreme. For the better part of the day, we had worked through logistical problems - the lack of high-speed dial-up lines, no dedicated fax line, poor cell phone reception. Thankfully, this was our last debate and being through this so many times, we had all the work done - response documents, talking points, fact sheets for the post-debate spin doctors - all in the bag.

We've been through this dance before from farm country of Iowa through the quaint towns like Portsmith, in the fiercely independent New Hampshire. We've survived blizzards, having to rely on bus, rail and rental car to make a 6-hour journey in 12. Our thanks for surviving that trip was dinner purchased by a supporter named Ed and an opportunity for an impromptu debate with a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. Or the time when an alarm went off while we were flying in a small private plane, again in a snowstorm, and the only person with the courage to stand up and find out the cause of the alarm was the man who should be President.

Now we were back on the ground, in Harlem, awaiting another chance to clean the Vice President's clock, awaiting another chance to give the electorate more reasons to stand with us in a "world of new possibilities." The Majority Leader and I decided to step outside, so she could smoke her pre-debate cigarette and so I could check to see if the people I reserved debate tickets for had gotten them and that they have secured a place in line. Walking toward 125th street, a man limped in front of me. Upon sight, he didn't look like a United States Senator - didn't have that stiff stature that they all seem to be born with or acquire along the way. He shook hands along the way as if he was a resident of these hardcore streets. From the limp, from the handshakes and from the glance at his shiny baldhead, I knew it was Senator Paul Wellstone.

One of our most dedicated researchers, nicknamed the "Voice of Reason", was a diehard Wellstone fan. It was his compassion, energy and dedication to the fight for the voiceless is what attracted her and all of us to Wellstone. After the entire Democratic Party, from Congressmen to Senators to interest groups, all fell in line behind the sitting Vice President, Wellstone was the only one to follow his heart and not the party line. He knew, like the rest of us, that a fight needed to be waged for removing children from poverty, for affordable and quality health care for all and to perhaps once have a frank and open nationwide discussion about racism in this country.

For our insurgent campaign, Wellstone had traveled to Iowa and talked to farmers who find very few takers for their crops these days and a Federal government more apt to assist large corporate farmers than the ones of the family variety. He bought that populist spirit to snowy New Hampshire, where he was a natural. Now, here he is, on the streets of Harlem, trying to get people fired up about our campaign.

There is a story about Wellstone that after having lunch in the Senate dining room he takes time to thank everyone in the room. The cooks, the cashier, right down to the dishwasher. You couldn't believe that about Trent Lott or even Ted Kennedy but you could see Paul Wellstone doing that. He was just that nice of a guy.

When I saw Senator Wellstone in front of me, the first person I thought of was the "Voice of Reason". A recent college grad, who still had idealism, that most of us had lost after years of political campaigns, still shining in her eyes. I sped up, for even though he walked with a limp, he still moved quickly, trying to touch and reach out to as many people as he could. I reached into my suit pocket and grabbed my Nokia and dialed the campaign headquarters. Being on full debate mode, it was answered on the first ring. I told her to hold on and tapped the Senator on the shoulder.

I identified myself, but it didn't matter. He was so warm and welcoming that I could've been a homeless person who just crawled out of a gutter on St. Nicholas Avenue and he would've been just as nice. As I began to tell him of this special young lady in our office, he grabbed the phone out of my hand before I could even ask him to speak with her.

I didn't eavesdrop on the conversation but I did hear Wellstone thank her for all her hard work. Thanking her? That's what Paul Wellstone did - he thanked people for getting involved when it should've been the other way around.

He handed back the phone to me and thanked me again for giving him the opportunity to talk to the "Voice of Reason". He then proceeded to shake hands and listen to stories again. From that moment on, I wished that Paul Wellstone was my Senator.

Paul Wellstone fought for people who didn't have a voice, didn't have a lobbyist and those who didn't make campaign contributions. When a Senate vote tallied 99-1, you could count on that Wellstone was the one. If one dollar wasn't being spent in the right place, Wellstone made it known to the as many who would hear. When corporations were getting tax breaks at the expense of the poor and both parties fell in line, Wellstone broke that line. He wasn't about political expediency, he wasn't about poll numbers or approval ratings. He was about principle. He's about going home at the end of the day and looking himself in the mirror and Sheila in the eye and knowing that he fought hard and honest for the people of his state and for the country.

Wellstone was locked in a tough re-election campaign this year. On the eve of the recent vote authorizing military force against Iraq, Wellstone decided after soul-searching that he couldn't vote for war. With popularity of the President and the country's desire to see someone pay for September 11th, this was going to cost Wellstone politically. When he had made his decision known to his campaign staff, a friend of mine who works on Wellstone's campaign sent me this email:

"Whatever your personal opinions on possible military action with Iraq, I feel compelled to remind everyone why this business I'm in can be so rewarding some times. With 5 weeks to go, and his political career on the line, Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone is going to vote against the resolution authorizing force on Iraq. It may cost him the election, but it's a decision that supercedes political maneuvering, and makes me goddamned proud to work for him."

It is now our time to remember the fights that Wellstone fought and the work that remains to be done. He died trying to make this world a better place and we cannot forget that.

(Alexander Washburn is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine)