Comments on: Remembering Senator Wellstone

By: Dr. Dredd

Dr. Dredd — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:55:27 +0000

I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I wish I had. I admired him for many things, not the least of which was his work on the mental health parity bill.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:32:27 +0000

I met Wellstone twice–once at the MN State Fair, then again when I was in Washington for Bread for the World’s lobbying day in 2000, asking him to sign on to a piece of legislation offering debt relief to insolvent nations. He was already familiar with the legislation, and he said, “I want to thank you guys for the work you do.” “Senator,” I said, blinking back tears, “You’re the one with the perfect voting record on hunger relief. Thank *you*.” He was a good person as well as a good politician.

By: Mercredi

Mercredi — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:54:54 +0000

I had already sent in my absentee ballot when Wellstone’s plane crashed. It was my first time voting for him, and I had been really excited. All of the Minnesotans I knew at college had gotten together to witness each other’s ballots (a peculiarity of our state’s absentee system), and we were all pretty excited about voting for him… and pretty crushed when the bad news came.

My parents and I had to spend about $30 to get my replacement ballot to me and back to the state in time. It wasn’t until just about a year ago that I realized that was effectively a poll tax…

By: Daniel Martin

Daniel Martin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:30:47 +0000

It’s not just Minnesotans who haven’t gotten over that particular tragedy. Wellstone was a national figure.

Though he was already a senator by the time I got to Carleton, I knew lots of people who’d taken classes from him who were just crushed when the news came out.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:50:22 +0000

I met Wellstone just about two weeks before his death. We were at a cocktail reception and I started speaking with him about what I do, which I don’t talk about on the blogs, but which I have an almost evangelical passion for. In Washington, only a few real liberals are on board with me, and Wellstone and I connected right away. He understood what I was talking about and he believed what I believed.

Wellstone had an astounding physical presence. He was only about 5’8″ tall, but broad and as solid as a block of granite — he was a collegiate wrestler and he looked like he hadn’t missed a workout since. He gave the impression of both confidence and approachability, sort of the way Mike Rowe comes across on television. We only spoke for a short while, but he made a huge impression on me. When I saw the news, I was crushed.