The Senate gap left by the loss of Wellstone

Paul Wellstone was a liberal in the tradition of 60s activism, a grass-roots organizer, and an authentic voice for the causes he believed in. By the time the Minnesota Democrat died last Friday in a plane crash, he was also very much a cherished member of the Senate family, as colleagues across the political spectrum made clear.

The question of who "replaces" Senator Wellstone has many layers. In the immediate sense, reports indicate that former Vice President Walter Mondale – who represented Minnesota in the Senate from 1964 to 1976 – has agreed to take Wellstone's spot in the tight race to keep his Senate seat in the Nov. 5 election.

Political handicappers predict Mr. Mondale, who is well-respected in Minnesota, has a shot at beating the Republican can- didate, former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman. With Democrats in control of the Senate by just one seat, the Minnesota race could tip the balance.

Mondale is "one of the few people who begins with such stature," says political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "I wouldn't expect him to really run a campaign. What he says is: 'Wellstone would have wanted it this way. You all know what a tragedy this was, you all know I can do the job.'"

Mondale and Coleman aren't likely to do much campaigning, if any, in the next week. Coleman largely ran a negative campaign against Wellstone, and with Wellstone off the ballot, the question is, does Mondale win over any Coleman voters? Will Mondale get any sympathy votes as happened in Missouri two years ago, when the late Gov. Mel Carnahan was elected to the Senate and his seat was filled by his wife? Do Minnesotans under the age of 35 even remember Mondale, who last ran for office in 1984?

In a larger sense, Wellstone is irreplaceable. In an era where politicians live by the polls and, especially among Democrats, try to crowd the safe center, Wellstone was one of the Senate's few unabashed liberals.

"The activist left that arose in the 1960s had its institutional culmination in his arrival in the Senate – and his departure marks the end of an era," says Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., who taught with Wellstone there before his election to the Senate in 1990.

In 1996, Wellstone was the only senator in a reelection race to vote against President Clinton's welfare reform plan; he believed it would hurt children. Just this month, Wellstone again was the only senator fighting for reelection to vote against the resolution that gives President Bush broad leeway to go to war with Iraq.

Wellstone had a running competition with Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold (D) to see who could cast the most lone votes in the Senate. But part of what earned Wellstone the respect of Republicans as well as Democrats was his willingness to work across the aisle on causes he held dear. Sen. Pete Domenici (R) of New Mexico, who spearheaded legislation with Wellstone to expand health coverage for the mentally ill, choked up and couldn't speak Friday in a television interview about Wellstone's passing.

Wellstone wasn't known as a legislative strategist but as a voice for the little guy. He and his wife, Sheila, who died, too, along with their daughter and five others in Friday's crash, fought hard to protect women against domestic violence, and to ptomote international human rights, universal healthcare, veterans' rights, and the environment.

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