Wellstone embodied progressive advocacy

With the tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., in a
plane crash last Friday, this country lost one of its most
passionate and inspiring social justice advocates and a deeply
moral voice for compassion in a nation too often characterized by
selfishness. Citizens and politicians alike should look to follow
his lead.

For me, and for a growing number of people in our generation,
Wellstone was our Bobby Kennedy. He inspired us to see the best in
this country, and to remain hopeful that with sober reflection and
hard work, Americans might transcend a history marred by
injustice.

It is a cruel irony that, like Kennedy, Wellstone died
prematurely and under tragic circumstances long before his work was
completed.

The first time I saw Wellstone speak ““ at the Shadow
Convention coinciding with the 2000 Democratic National Convention
in Los Angeles ““ I became convinced that a Wellstone
presidential campaign, while unlikely to succeed, would engage,
enlighten and organize thousands, if not millions of Americans to
launch the progressive movement for social change that could one
day transform this country.

Unlike the vast majority of our elected leaders, Wellstone
understood that elections shouldn’t be about polls, ad buys
and professional political operatives. His Senate campaigns aimed
at educating and organizing regular citizens. He did not obfuscate
or try to mask his record. He stood for his ideals, voted his
conscience, and went from door to door, coffee shop to coffee shop
and church to church to convince people that he was right.

That is how, during his first campaign in 1990, Wellstone went
from unknown college professor to U.S. senator. That is how the
campaign left in its wake an organized movement that has advocated
social justice in Minnesota ever since. And that is how Wellstone
maintained a lead in his 2002 reelection campaign, despite being
one of the Bush Administration’s chief targets for
defeat.

Wellstone’s death leaves a vacuum for progressive dissent
in the corridors of power at a time when such dissent is vital.

For his entire career, Wellstone championed the plight of the
poor and economically disenfranchised. Amid the irrational
exuberance of the ’90s economic boom, he patiently chided the
power elite to pay attention to the millions of Americans who had
been left behind.

Now, as the economy swings downward and the realities of
corporate misconduct become apparent, his critique of the excesses
of unimpeded capitalism seems particularly prescient.

Likewise, Wellstone spoke out in recent weeks against the
frightening militarism that has gripped our national leaders and
fueled their irrational and immoral zeal to launch a preemptive
strike on Iraq.

Wellstone was one of only a handful of Jews in public office who
recognized that Jewish values are more important than so-called
Jewish “interests,” and that criticizing the actions of
Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority without also
criticizing the policies of Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government
is morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest (just as the
reverse is true).

Wellstone was not a saint. When he supported the repressive
U.S.A. Patriot Act one year ago, his vote was based on a political
calculation, not on his honest beliefs.

But ultimately, few public officials in the political history of
this country have spoken truth to power with more eloquence,
passion and poise. Wellstone’s example inspired thousands of
others to speak out, and I can only hope that his untimely death
will prompt more Americans to become advocates for justice.

Wellstone would want no other legacy.