Anti-Climacus

PAUL WELLSTONE: John J. Miller

"Democratic senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash Friday in Minnesota.

He was the most liberal member of the Senate ? a title that had him beating out the likes of Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. At just under 5-and-a-half feet tall, Wellstone was a short man, but high on principle. Probably no other member of the Senate had been on the losing side of more 99-1 or 98-2 votes. None had voted more consistently against the Bush administration, according to Congressional Quarterly. Wellstone aspired to be a Barry Goldwater of the Left; the title of his recent book, The Conscience of a Liberal, is a deliberate echo of the conservative hero's own classic. Before the 2000 election, Wellstone was the clear favorite of his party's "progressive" wing ? i.e., anti-New Democrats who swear by The Nation ? to run for the White House. Yet he bowed out, citing a bad back, and stumped for Bill Bradley. Al Gore was simply too mainstream.

Wellstone may have sat at the far end of the political spectrum, but it was difficult to dislike him on a personal level ? even Right-wingers must admit that he would have made a good neighbor. Smiles and laughs came easily to him. His personal life, in fact, seemed quite conservative: He married young, had a few kids, and remained married to his wife, who was also on board the fatal flight, for 29 years. He could be feisty, but was rarely rude; even in Washington, there was still something of the college professor about him, acquired over the 21 years he spent teaching political science at Carleton College. When many Democrats talk about, say, extending unemployment benefits, their fists pound podiums, their ears billow smoke, and their faces turn red with rage. Not Wellstone. He spoke in measured tones, as if believing reasonable people will agree with him if they just listen long enough. He was an opponent of conservatism, but he was a decent man.

Today in Texas, President Bush acknowledged the death of Wellstone, his wife, an adult daughter, and five other people on board the plane: "Our prayers and heartfelt sympathy goes to their sons, their loved ones, their friends and the people of Minnesota. Paul Wellstone was a man of deep convictions. He was a plainspoken fellow who did his best for his state and for his country.''

Under Minnesota law, Wellstone's name must now come off the ballot; his party will have an opportunity to replace it. His reelection race was regarded one of the tightest in the nation this fall, though recent polls had him leading the GOP's Norm Coleman, the former mayor of St. Paul."