Paul Wellstone, 10 Years gone, needed more than ever.

One US politician I'd love to have seen and heard in action: Senator Paul Wellstone. If he had lived he would perhaps have been running now for the nation's highest office.

In an obituary at Legacy.com is noted, with regard to a failed presidential run in 1998:

Wellstone also was known for his sense of humor. When he made a brief and futile run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1998, he said conspiratorially to an Associated Press reporter that he really didn't think he had a chance to win. The reporter asked why, and Wellstone whispered: “I'm short, I'm Jewish and I'm a liberal.”

We sorely need a politician of Paul Wellstone's calibre in the USA today.

“Traditional progressive bread and butter economic issues are the heart of the solution. It's about ensuring decent jobs with a good wage. It's about ensuring a free public education in all the communities of America, whether they are in the shiny new affluent suburbs or the crumbling old schools of the older suburbs and cities. It's about ensuring a system where all Americans have access to health care, instead of a steadily declining share of our population.” ― Paul Wellstone

Senator Wellstone, and others, died in a plane crash on 25 October 2002.

From an excellent article about Paul Wellstone by astrologer, Maya del Mar:
"Paul Wellstone, Man of the People". It begins:

"Senator Paul Wellstone’s plane crashed in northern Minnesota at 10:00 a.m. on October 25, killing him, his wife, their daughter, several campaign aides, and two pilots. He was there to attend the funeral of a co-worker, taking that time even in the midst of a hard-fought campaign. That’s how Paul Wellstone was; he really cared about people. Many saw him as their best friend."

Later in the article :

"Paul Wellstone was born on July 21, 1944 in Washington DC. His chart was dominated by Cancer Sun and Cancer planets, and Leo Moon and Leo planets. He was a quintessential Cancer-Leo, the man of the people, spreading sunshine to his audience. Someone said that the room lit up when he came into it. Leo likes its audience, and enjoys talking — witness Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro."

In Wellstone's chart (set for 12 noon as I can find no time of birth for him) Sun and Saturn are in Cancer, Mars in Virgo, with every other personal planet in Leo.


(Wellstone Memorial, 2002).

Help "from the other side"?

I sometimes wish that I'd experienced more elections in the USA. There's one politician in particular I'd like to have seen in action, and, if he had lived, perhaps running for the nation's highest office, President of the USA: Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in October 2002.



From an excellent article about Paul Wellstone by astrologer, Maya del Mar:
"Paul Wellstone, Man of the People". It starts:

"Senator Paul Wellstone’s plane crashed in northern Minnesota at 10:00 a.m. on October 25, killing him, his wife, their daughter, several campaign aides, and two pilots. He was there to attend the funeral of a co-worker, taking that time even in the midst of a hard-fought campaign. That’s how Paul Wellstone was; he really cared about people. Many saw him as their best friend."

Later in the article :

"Paul Wellstone was born on July 21, 1944 in Washington DC. His chart was dominated by Cancer Sun and Cancer planets, and Leo Moon and Leo planets. He was a quintessential Cancer-Leo, the man of the people, spreading sunshine to his audience. Someone said that the room lit up when he came into it. Leo likes its audience, and enjoys talking—witness Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro."

(In Wellstone's chart Sun and Saturn are in Cancer, Mars in Virgo and every other personal planet in Leo.)

And, poignantly:

"He died at this time of year when the veil is thinnest, and I feel him very close to the progressive movement, picking up on this crucial moment in time. Perhaps as its soul, he is more effective working on the other side."

Now, in 2008, comedian and Democrat, Al Franken is running for Paul Wellstone's old Senatorial seat in Minnesota, against present incumbent, Republican Norm Coleman. According to polls reported at Real Clear Politics HERE, Franken is leading in all but one poll.

Although I'm not sure I believe that people can "work from the other side", I do enjoy the idea that the late Paul Wellstone is indeed doing so this time around, when the country is most in need of his assistance, both locally and nationally.

From an article by Ezra Klein, written a year ago, to mark the fifth anniversary of Wellstone's death - "Remembering Paul Wellstone":

"Economic inequality, wage stagnation, and the health care crisis dominate the Democrats' domestic agenda, just as Wellstone always said they should. It's easier to be a liberal today, to be a progressive, to be proud. But there was a time when it wasn't. When liberalism in defense of peace was mocked, and moderation in service of imperialism was praised. In those days, it was hard to be a liberal. It must have been hard to be Paul Wellstone. He never showed it, though. He liked to quote Marcia Timmel. "I'm so small and the darkness is so great," she said. "We must light a candle," Wellstone would reply. He was ours. Would that he was here to enjoy the dawn. "

Indeed! Perhaps he is.