University of North Carolina Athletics
Champion Of The Little Guy: Part 2
October 30, 2002 | Wrestling
 Paul Wellstone during his days at UNC.  |
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In 1969, the family moved to Northfield, Minn., where Paul had just been hired as a professor of political science at Carleton College. The Wellstones' third child, Mark, was born there. Mark went on to be a high school wrestling champion in Minnesota, attended the University of Wisconsin and returned to the Twin Cities where he teaches Spanish and is a high school wrestling coach.
Paul soon became involved in the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota and styled himself in the party's tradition of progressive voices like U.S. Senators and Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator Gene McCarthy, Governor and Kennedy Cabinet Officer Orville Freeman and Minneapolis Mayor and U.S. Congressman Don Fraser. This was fitting as Paul's political idols growing up were Eleanor Roosevelt and Bobby Kennedy, two of the most prominent voices of the 20th century for civil rights and the concerns of middle and working class families.
In 1982, Paul ran on the DFL ticket for state auditor but was defeated. Just eight years later he would make his improbable run that resulted in a U.S. Senate seat.
I first became acquainted with Paul Wellstone in 1996. Following his election to the Senate I had become a big fan, in large measure because I shared his ideology and as a political junkie myself I appreciated his passion for what he believed in. I had always wanted to write a story about him for one of our office's publications so I called his Senate office, talked to an aide and begged for five minutes on the phone with him.
A couple of days later a student in my office told me that Paul Wellstone was on the phone asking to speak with me. I picked up the phone expecting a secretary to be there but the words were, "Dave, hello, this is Paul Wellstone."
My heart stopped. I immediately babbled something about him being my political hero and I am sure I was nonsensical for a while. When I calmed down I started to ask him the questions I needed answered in order to write my story. Two hours later we were still on the phone. He kept laughing that several
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I met Sheila for the first time when Paula and Sheila were in Chapel Hill for an alumni weekend/football game function. I then discovered how amazingly genuine and without pretense the two were.
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A few months later I met Sheila for the first time when Paula and Sheila were in Chapel Hill for an alumni weekend/football game function. I then discovered how amazingly genuine and without pretense the two were. "No one ever wore the title of 'senator' better and used it less," said Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, one of Wellstone's closest Senate friends, at Tuesday night's memorial service. Senator Harkin is so right. Every few months I would talk to one of them on the phone and we exchanged Christmas cards. I have a picture that Paul signed for me hanging on the wall of my office. And when my mother was hospitalized last winter I came home one night to find a message on my answering machine from Paul wanting to make sure things were all right.
That was just the kind of guy he was. And Sheila was his partner in life in everything. She was a constant presence in his office and a tireless advocate against the rise of domestic violence against women and children in our country. She often suggested areas of legislation that Paul worked on with other senators, often crossing the aisle to work with Republicans like Sam Brownback of Kansas and Pete Domenici of New Mexico. The loss of Sheila and Marcia is every bit as much of a loss as Paul. Paul and Sheila leave behind two wonderful sons and six grandchildren who will carry on their work as best they can.
I think it is a measure of a man like Paul that in death his political opposites felt such a sense of loss. Even Jesse Helms had become Paul's friend after 12 years together in the U.S. Senate. Many Republicans from the Senate and the House attended Tuesday's memorial service because they were Paul's friends. They knew that the evening would eventually take on a partisan tone but they were there to honor a man they truly respected.
You see, you couldn't meet Paul Wellstone and not be drawn to him. He was so engaging. He was a committed liberal of course. But even conservatives appreciated his passion for what he believed in because so many of them know the same kind passion. And Paul truly believed that if he worked hard enough he could always convince you to take his side. But he never savaged anyone personally for their beliefs, a pleasant view in today's world of attack politics.
Agree with him or not, Paul Wellstone, standing all of 5 feet, 5 inches tall, was a political giant. He fashioned himself as the voice of the little man and little woman in the world which is why everyone from steelworkers to family farmers to veterans to schoolteachers to campus liberals were devoted to him. His campaigns were always run on the grass roots level. The average political contribution he received was around $20.
Paul's voice has been stilled. Hopefully his ideals have not. I told the Daily Tar Heel on Sunday that one of the great things about Paul was he truly believed that folks on the far left or the far right of the political spectrum needed a voice in government. That is what makes a democracy work. Paul's voice resonated for those who lacked power and privilege.
Paul would quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Paul believed that to the very core of his being. And I loved him for that.
