Political Quotes

“5 years ago today, the Senate lost one of its hardest working, most respected Members: Senator Paul Wellstone. I can still remember very clearly the phone call I received from Pete Rouse, who was the chief of staff for Senator Daschle, and he said: I have some terrible news. There was an airplane crash, and we think Paul Wellstone was on that plane. Well, hope springs eternal, and I was hoping that was wrong, but it wasn't. He was in a plane crash. Sheila, who was his partner--she was with him everyplace--was killed in that plane crash. One of his three children, Marcia, was also killed, and three campaign aides. Typical for Paul Wellstone, he had made a commitment to be someplace, and he wanted to go. The weather was bad. The pilot said everything would be OK. The pilot wasn't telling him the way it really was. I am not going to get into how the accident happened or why it happened, but certainly it was nothing that Paul Wellstone did wrong. Paul Wellstone wanted to fulfill a commitment. He shouldn't have been up in that airplane. The pilot shouldn't have taken that airplane into the areas that he did, but he did. In his life, Paul Wellstone earned the titles of doctor, professor, Senator, but he liked to be called Paul. That is what I am going to call him today. Paul loved to talk. He stood back there, and he was a good speaker. I can remember the first time I heard him speak.…”