2016 Postmortem

Adenoid_Hynkel

(14,093 posts) Thu Oct 25, 2012, 09:46 PM Oct 2012

Al Franken pays tribute to Paul Wellstone on 10th anniversary of his death

Sometimes politics can be pretty dehumanizing. But we’re lucky enough to have some people who can run for public office without losing their genuine selves, people who are remembered not only for what they do in public life but for who they are in private.

Paul Wellstone was one of those people. This week, 10 years after his death, people across the country are remembering his passion, his political courage and the way he worked with Republicans like former Congressman Jim Ramstad when there was a chance to get something done for folks who needed help.

But lots of Minnesotans have personal stories about Paul, stories about a man with a remarkable ability to touch other people’s lives and lift them up.

Here’s mine: The last time I saw Paul was a couple weeks before the crash, at a rally in St. Paul. I’d just come from visiting my mom in the nursing home in Minneapolis. And, of course, at the time, Paul was in the political fight of his life. But the first thing he said to me when I saw him was, “How’s your mom?”

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/247668/