Senator killed in Minnesota plane crash
Friday, October 25, 2002 Posted: 1:52 PM EDT (1752 GMT)

Wellstone

EVELETH, Minnesota (CNN) -- Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Democrat from Minnesota, was killed in a small plane crash Friday about seven miles east of Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, authorities said.

Eight people were reported aboard the plane -- a twin-engine turboprop King Air manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft.

Wellstone held a key Democratic seat in the U.S. Senate and was criss-crossing the state in a tough re-election campaign against former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman.

CNN's John King reported that White House sources confirmed there were fatalities in the accident -- and that Sen. Wellstone was on the plane's manifest.

Wellstone, 58, was first elected to the Senate in 1990. Before that he worked as a teacher and political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
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Sad but true. Politics aside, this was a great man. If you get a chance to read up on his bio, he was a true leader who didn't pander to votes, and always voted his conscience.
Peace, Christian.
(edit: changed title of thread)
[This message was edited Tue Oct 29 9:49:24 PST 2002 by mrchristian]

My condolences to his family...RIP.

Minnesota is going to hell in a hand basket.
This is a true tragedy.

lady in my office just told me about this...freek out...

Very sad. . .I don't want to imagine Norm Coleman in office. . .so wrong. . .

On principle, I'm still voting for Paul. . .

sad...



my heart goes out to Mr. Wellstone and his wife's family..(she was also on the plane...)

...and to the great people of the state of Minnesota

SkletonKee said:

So was his daughter.

i've only lived here in minnesota 4 almost two years, so i didn't know all that much about wellstone...sounds like he wuz an awesome guy...that and i remember seein that old green bus back in june...

PlastikLuvAffair said:

im really not alll that into politics, but he was the one politician that I totally respected. And now my pretty kittys, minnesota is fucked, becasue Norm DUMBASS Coleman is going to get elected.

arrrgggh.

violett said:

dont count on that...in most cases when a death is involved, that candidate recieves a huge sympathy vote...the race was a close one so I am sure Wellstone will win... The governer will then have to decide who succeeds...And in most cases, the governer will choose the winners political party (out of a sign of respect for the voters will).

wonders who the heck this norm coleman-cat is

....i don't follow poli-trix m'damn self....


no! no! no!
[This message was edited Fri Oct 25 11:50:16 PDT 2002 by PlastikLuvAffair]

I agree with my lova, this is a sad day, and a scare one. Call me crazy if you will, but I do think the government or some aspect of the government might have sabotaged that plane. Wellstone was one of the key anti-Iraqi war votes. I smell a dead fish.

Hug all around Minnesota--my home town.

Norm Coleman,

XxAxX said:

me too.

he was an honorable man. an actual idealist who made it into the political arena. i felt so much better knowing someone like him was watching out for us

his name will still be on the ballot and i think those of us who planned on voting for him should do so. we can elect (i think?) his successor

I'm speechless



I hope his name still IS on the ballot, cos that's where my vote will go!

to all the MN kitties! This is a sad day for us

and for the rest of the country...

endorphin74 said:

I've been freaking out all afternoon.

MN state law says if a nominee dies, his or her political party can select a new nominee not later than 4 days before the election. So we may have a new nominee, as far as that goes.

But, I'm just still in shock. He was probably the only political figure I never lost respect for, in some way or another. He had heart and passion and of the few times I shook his hand or saw him speak he always seemed genuine.

Minnesota, America and the world lost a great man today.

This is really sad news!
However, let me jump on the conspiracy theory bandwagon and point out that here in Missouri, the same thing happened in the last election to Mel Carnahan, as well as to Jerry Litton. All three, who were leading democratic candidates, died in plane crashes shortly before their election.
Coincidence?

SkletonKee said:

Minnesota law does not allow this.

The Govenor can appoint someone to finish his term, but Wellstone's name cannot be on the ballot.

Very sad

lovemachine said:

i hear ya...i forgot to take into account each state has its own laws regarding its own elections...

listening to npr on my ride home its rather apparent that the democractic officials are to shocked to start considering their options...i guess once the grieving is over things will get sorted...

its just such a sad lose...

...For the families of all..

On another note: the memorial for Senator Wellstone will be at the U of M in Williams arena tomorrow night, Tues October 29th at about 6PM.
I read that most, if not all US Senators and former Pres Clinton will be attending too, which i thought was nice.

Mr Wellstone, you will be missed.

lovemachine said:

really??? sigh. that's too bad, I wonder who Jesse will pick...

Okay...I got a big beef here...When responding to this, why did President Bush say the following, "I pray for those who mourn."

No..."my heart goes out to his family.."

No..."I am sorrowful for the great people of Minn"

No..."Today our country mourns"

He straight out said, "I pray for those who mourn!!"


Duyba please

violett said:

It can work both ways: either the Gov can pick someone or the DFL party can come up with a new choice to run for Senate. They will likely choose Mondale(i think they already have), who served in Congress for 16 years. His senority in Congress will automatically give him committee seats and such.
It's been said that a new Democrat will likely win because of a sympathy vote, but that remains to be seen. Personally i would rather see Skip Humphrey given this position because his ethics and political stance are the closest to Paul Wellstone's, but it won't happen.

mrchristian said:

It was a rather interesting Sunday with all the political shows...Many kind words said about Wellstone. I guess your governer will be appointing a Democract to Senate. But he has said whomever is chosen should not have any political aspirations beyond serving out the rest of the term.

It also seems a forgone conclusion that Mondale will be the Democractic Nominee and appearant next Senator. Im sure sympathy is going to come into play, however Mondale, with his credentials seems like a sure thang. Even the conservative pundents seem to approve of Mondale...he brings a certain level of statemanship that is sorely lacking in our politics...and while Mondale is much more moderate then Wellstone, I dont think you can ever find a national figure that is as liberal as Wellstone...he was a one of a kind leader...and will be missed.

SkletonKee said:

Even though the Governor will only appoint someone for the remaining 2 or 3 months of the late Senator's term, i am hoping it will be Paul Wellstone's son David, but i don't know if he's old enough or even up to the task of finishing the term.
He likely is just destroyed by the tragic loss of his family, so i could understand if he didn't.

If anyone is going tonite to the memorial service for the Senator, his wife and daughter, and his campaign staff, it starts at 630PM, but traffic and security will likely be very tight, so plan accordingly.

mrchristian said:

I just heard from people at my work that "reverend" phelps is going to be protesting there today...does anyone have confirmation of this?