Sen. Paul Wellstone spoke at an event sponsored by the Cal Berkeley Democrats.
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The Senator was the guest speaker at a Saturday afternoon event in the State Capitol sponsored by the Cal Berkeley Democrats. Fearing I was late, I rushed through the main hallway of the Capitol and found myself waiting at an elevator with three other men.
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I asked if they were going to the Wellstone event; one of them turned around and it was the Senator himself! So we rode up the elevator and talked about the weather (which seems to be a favorite topic of out-of-state politicians when they visit).
He was greeted by about 50 delegates, mostly college students with a sprinkling of older folks. Demonstrating that he was in his element, the former professor removed his jacket, made a five-minute speech, then opened a free-flowing dialog with the assembled activists.
Wellstone first discussed the previous year's tough re-election campaign--one that some experts said he would lose--and credited much of his win to a strong grassroots operation in which volunteers made 10,000 get-out-the-vote calls per hour.
He also used a unique approach to advertising: "Once a week, all week, I would face the TV camera and talk," he said. "There was no morphing or any of that stuff. Basically, I would make a substantive argument. I made a substantive argument many times over about education. I made a substantive argument about living-wage jobs. I made a substantive argument about the environment. I made a substantive argument about reform." He also focused on domestic violence--against the advice of consultants--and found that the issue won many voters to his side.
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And what did he tell the voters about his opposition to the welfare reform bill? "I think it's going to impoverish more children, and I'll vote for what I believe in," he said.
Not that he's against welfare reform in principle. "If you want to have real welfare reform, you should focus on a good education, good health care, and a living-wage job," he said.
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The Cal Democrats honored the Senator in true Berkeley fashion: with
a T-shirt.
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| "If you want to reduce poverty, you should focus on a good education and a living-wage job. If you want to have a stable middle-class, you need a good education and a good job. If you want our country to do well going into the next millennium. . . you focus on a good education and a good job. If you want our country to do well in the international economy, you focus on a good education and a good job."
It may be out of fashion these days, but Wellstone also tied education and jobs to the issue of crime: "We should hold people accountable for committing brutal crimes, and we shouldn't feel sorry for them, but in the last analysis, we can build a million new prisons and fill them all up and we will never stop the cycle of violence unless we invest in the health, skills, and intellect of our children."
Such talk might horrify your typical campaign consultant, but Wellstone contended that it was ultimately a winning strategy. "I think that by treating people with intelligence and staying focused on issues that are critical in people's lives, we got a better turnout because we gave people something to turn out for."
Wellstone touched on many issues, but one theme linked them all: the challenge of advancing a progressive agenda in a Republican Congress. It calls for a mindset in which you strive for what you believe in while recognizing what you can realistically accomplish.
Asked for a comment on health care reform, Wellstone said: "I'll give you my pragmatic answer and then I'll give you my 'fight for truth, beauty, and justice' answer. The pragmatic answer is that we're not passing in this Congress a universal health care bill and certainly not single-payer [Canadian-style], but there are a couple of interesting efforts." He went on to describe two relatively modest pieces of legislation, one addressing children's health care, the other a consumer-protection bill. "Now here's the truth, beauty, and justice part: I think I'm actually going to introduce a comprehensive health care bill. . . but it's spitting in the wind until a constituency develops to fight for it."
Given that he represents Minnesota, it may be surprising that Wellstone has gone out of his way to oppose immigrant-bashing. But he noted that in the Minneapolis schools, children come from homes where some 70 languages are spoken. The state also has a large population of legal immigrants from Southeast Asia. "What does eliminating supplemental security income and food assistance for an 80-year-old Hmong woman--who worked all her life and paid taxes--have to do with reform?" he asked.
These were words the audience wanted to hear, and when he was done, they rewarded him with a standing ovation--and a T-shirt courtesy of the Cal Berkeley Democrats.
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