Issue No. 610
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31 Oct. - 6 Nov. 2002 Issue No. 610 International |
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Lesson in integrity
Thomas Ford remembers the values and passions of a US liberal
On Friday, 25 October, United States Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, daughter Marcia, and three campaign- staff lost their lives in a plane accident in his home state of Minnesota. Senator Wellstone had been campaigning for his third term as a US senator. The loss of Paul Wellstone is a tragic loss not only for the people of Minnesota, whom he represented in the US Senate, but also for the unheard and under-represented throughout the nation.
Senator Wellstone was born in the Washington DC area in 1944. His father was a Russian immigrant and his mother's parents immigrated from Ukraine. In 1969, he received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of North Carolina, and in the same year began teaching political science at Carelton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Shortly after his arrival at Carelton he began a career in advocacy. In 1972 he started the Organisation for a Better Rice County which at times took legal action against state and local government agencies on behalf of the poor in rural Minnesota. In 1978, he authored "How the Rural Poor Got Power: Narrative of a Grass Roots Organiser." In 1981, he co-authored "Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War."
It is not the academic papers and published books that will define Wellstone's legacy -- his legacy will be defined by the fire and brimstone activism that he brought to American politics, and his willingness to take the political risk of standing alone on an issue. Seemingly inspired by the civil rights movement that surrounded him in North Carolina in the early 1960s, Wellstone developed oratory skills that were more comparable to civil rights leaders and activists than a future US congressman. Moreover, his time spent in the south did more than prompt him to become a great speaker.
In North Carolina he honed a keen interest in politics and even wrote his doctoral thesis on the roots of militancy in black politics. This interest in minority politics would surface again later in his career, as he managed Jesse Jackson's presidential nominee campaign in 1988.
In Minnesota he joined protests against power companies, food processing companies, and on behalf of the rural poor. He was passionate about the traditionally liberal ideals of working to help the poor, and controlling business interests. As a senator, his willingness to stand alone in order to support his beliefs, to take political risk, and his command of liberal ideals made him the champion of a diverse list of causes. The rural poor, clean energy proponents, farmers, Black Americans and Arabs, among others, have all benefited from his passion, and political risk-taking.
In the summer of 1997 Senator Wellstone took a "poverty tour" similar to one taken by Senator Robert Kennedy 30 years earlier. The tour was an effort to reintroduce the issues of race, gender, and poverty to the ongoing debate on welfare reform. He travelled to rural parts of America as well as big cities. In visits to Mississippi and Chicago he commented on the confining conditions of the poor and the issue of race. In January 1997, before the "poverty tour", Wellstone gave a speech, entitled, "The Unfinished Agenda: Race, Poverty and Gender in America" at Harvard University. The speech detailed his agenda, pushing for support of social programmes that not only serve and protect the poor but also provide training to the jobless. This speech highlights the forthright political agenda and passion that helped to define him. "Our population is more diverse than ever, and at mid-century we dismantled the legal framework encasing our original sin of state-sanctioned racism. We are in many varied ways a model for much of the world. But there is at least one way in which we are not a model, one area in which we have in recent times been moving in the wrong direction. That is in fulfilling our national vow of equal opportunity." Senator Wellstone went on to send a clear message, calling for a change in "the way we view women and minorities".
Too often Wellstone was deserted by the Democratic Party. The moderate Democrats and the Republican-dominated Congress of the 1990s often made Wellstone the singular liberal voice on Capitol Hill. Part of his liberal doctrine was a strong belief that war is not a legitimate tool. He led anti-Vietnam War protests at Carelton and one of his first votes as a US senator was against the 1991 Gulf War. He did not support military action to remove Saddam Hussein from occupied Kuwait.
As chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Sub- committee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Wellstone was vocal on issues of stability in the Middle East and resolving the Iraq issue. However, even as the Democrats and Republicans coalesced around the ideas of war and "regime change" in Iraq, Senator Wellstone held his ground and voted against legislation giving President Bush the authority to use force in Iraq. On the campaign trail and the Senate floor Wellstone was quoted as saying "Acting now on our own might be a sign of our power. Acting sensibly and in a measured way, in concert with our allies... would be a sign of our strength."
In addition to avoiding war, he emphasised the humanitarian need that would be created when war was deemed unavoidable. While he supported military efforts in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban, he was a major force in ensuring humanitarian aid for the Afghanis. This humanitarian view of the world led the senator to be one of the first to sponsor and support legislation that clearly outlined US support for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Senator Wellstone was proud of his liberal political views. In many ways he was a throwback to a different time. As a politician he was well-spoken, earnest and passionate about his politics. With dedication to his liberal ideas he helped defend the needs of many in the US and abroad.
Most importantly, as a man he remained approachable, modest, and empathetic. He was one of the few elected officials on Capitol Hill who not only talked to staff, but was genuine in his greeting and conversation. Those who knew him will miss him as a friend and colleague. His ability to be approachable, genuine and forthright with people, yet self-confident and passionate about his views will be sorely missed in American politics.
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