Dear Friends,
This is going to a combination of lists that I have been keeping, including previous campaign supporters, peace activists, and environmentalists. You are all folks who have touched my life in one way or another, and all folks who, in one way or another are active in community affairs and issue advocacy. Because I believe we all have certain shared values and concerns, I am wondering if you, too, are feeling a little depressed these days. The recent anniversary and still all-too-fresh memories of the September 11 tragedy, the impending war with Iraq, the Sniper attacks, and most recently the tragic death in an airplane crash of Senator Wellstone, along with family and staff who were close to him, are, collectively, very hard to bear and accept. Let me focus for a moment on "the little guy."
I met Paul Wellstone on several occasions, during the last several years. Actually, our acquaintance goes back to the years when I lived in California where I practiced law, ran against Bill Thomas in California's 21st Congressional District, and was active in issue advocacy, including universal health care, and opposition to the Gulf War. When I moved back to my childhood home in Chevy Chase, I would again, only occasionally and briefly, meet Paul Wellstone at rallies and conferences. I never had a long extended meeting with Paul Wellstone. These were always very brief encounters at conferences that had one thing or another to do with issue advocacy, partisan politics, or both. But even at these brief and infrequent encounters, Paul Wellstone would remember me, and thank me for my involvement. Beyond these brief personal encounters, I followed Paul Wellstone's career with great admiration and appreciation, reading accounts in the newspaper, and following his speeches on C-Span. Paul Wellstone stood for the values, and positions on so many of the important issues of the day, that I do. He is also one of the main reasons that, despite my disappointment with the Democratic Party's drift to the right, I have remained a Democrat, rather than joining the Greens, or seeking, or even starting, an alternative party.
Paul Wellstone started in the U.S. Senate with a vote against the Gulf War. One of his last votes before the tragic plane crash was to cast a courageous dissenting vote in the Senate against giving President Bush the authority to go to war with Iraq. He was also a tireless advocate for such causes as universal health care, at a time when other activists, discouraged by the failure of the proposed health care reforms under the Clinton administration, had given up on this most important priority in our time. The Clinton health care reform effort failed for a variety of reasons, the most significant being the huge amount of money poured into advertising against it by the health insurance industry. Paul Wellstone realized this. He also realized that the influence of the big money of special interests in politics has a corrosive influence on our government.
What would the "little guy" want us to do in his memory? I am sure that he would be just a little in awe of the tremendous outpouring of grief in the last few days. He would also be heartened to know that just a few days after his passing, a hundred thousand or so people marched in Washington D.C. to end this insane mobilization toward going to war with Iraq. He would want us to pause, and remember him, and the others close to him who perished in that plane crash, but he would also want us to continue his legacy by getting out there and working for the progressive causes that he, and we, believe in. Don't mourn, he would tell us, organize!
So, in Paul Wellstone's name, and in our own names as well, I would like to urge all of my friends to consider the following causes as worthy of your attention and energy. I do not mean this list to be in any way exclusive. Paul would want us to be thoughtful, and creative, and to add to this list. But here is a start.
1. Let us do whatever we can, in a peaceful yet assertive way, to end this terrible mobilization to go to war with Iraq. Let's continue to march in the streets, lobby Congress, and work to mobilize public opinion against this war.
2. Let us remember that there are over 41 million Americans who have no health care coverage, and there are many more who are inadequately insured. It is time for a rebirth of the movement for universal health care! Let us take the lead!!
3. Our system of choosing our leaders in government is terribly flawed. We no longer have a democracy. It is dollars that rule, not people. We must work for both public financing of campaigns, and for rules requiring the media to give free and low-cost air time to candidates!
4. We must continue to work on various fronts to protect our Earth's fragile environment.
5. We must be active in issue advocacy at all levels-- in our communities, our nation, and our world! For those of us who are Democrats, this means devoting some of our efforts to working within the Democratic party to make it more liberal and progressive and responsive to the issues we care about.
6. Looking at the immediate future (the next week), we need to muster all the energy that we can, to focus on the November 5 general election. Let's further the liberal progressive agenda, by contacting our friends and neighbors and family members, and getting out the vote! Pick a campaign you believe in, and get out there and work! Paul Wellstone would want us to do no less.
Peace and Love,
Deborah A. Vollmer
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