ScrappleFace: Democrats Mourn Oddity: Man of Conscience

Democrats Mourn Oddity: Man of Conscience

(2002-10-29) -- Democrat officials from around the country flock to Minnesota this week to mourn a man of conscience, and to marvel. The funeral service for Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife, daughter and five others, is expected to draw more than 14,000 people to an arena at the University of Minnesota.

"He had courage," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, "Paul Wellstone could not vote against his conscience."

And that's just what has so many Democrats confused. Sen. Wellstone--marginalized by his party in life, lionized in death--still leaves colleagues scratching their heads.

"It appears he had beliefs about how things should be," said one DNC insider. "And he actually voted according to those beliefs, rather than the way the rest of us do it."

DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said he considered appointing a committee to research whether Wellstone's "principled approach to politics was practical," but then rejected the idea because of pressure from long-standing party leaders, and union lobbyists.

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Right on the money.

Posted by: at October 29, 2002 09:41 AM

But will Clinton be one of the pall-bearers?

Posted by: Jack at October 29, 2002 10:09 AM

LMAO!

Posted by: Brent at October 29, 2002 11:55 AM

The junior senator from New York said she found it unfortunate that the senate lost one of its Democratic members (which helped boost her own standing by making her a member of the majority party) and, when told that Wellstone was a man of conscience, asked "conscience... I'm not clear on what that means... can you explain it to me?"

Posted by: the talking dog at October 29, 2002 12:23 PM

Ouch! Too right.

Posted by: Dodd at October 29, 2002 12:51 PM

Truth.

Posted by: Mike at October 29, 2002 03:12 PM

According to Drudge, the House is planning to call for a study to investigate the matter-- to verify if there is any truth to the contention that legislatorís should act according to their conscience.

According to John Lott, ìthis cannot be proven statistically, as it would require that legislators have a conscience.î He clarified that there could be a study performed if the requirement was the examination of their souls rather than their conscience.

The conservative think tank, CATO has convened a panel to discuss the issue. They agree with Lott's theory, but they are concerned that the Democrats in the House and Senate may no longer be in possession or ownership of their souls. A recent Fox News poll has the democrats leading the republicans by 6 percentage points in some of the key races in the upcoming November election. This is proof that a majority of the candidates have made secret pacts with the devil. According to CATO, ìUnless an agreement can be reached with Hell, Inc., to allow access to the legislator's souls, for the sole purpose of the study, the Bill calling for the study, may be dead before it comes to a vote.î

Posted by: Mrs. du Toit at October 29, 2002 04:19 PM

A politician with a conscience? I remember my parents telling stories of such things long ago, but I always thought they were like, you know, fairy tales. Did anyone actually see this, to verify it?

Posted by: rinardman at October 29, 2002 05:32 PM

I'd never vote for a man who would have his picture taken wearing a turtleneck.

Posted by: r. kern at October 30, 2002 05:08 PM