I'm still here... News and Wellstone

I've been a little busy, and I'd like to apologize for the lack of postings here. And I still don't have much to say today, either, but I have three items to mention.

First, of course, is the excitement in the ongoing CIA Leak Investigation. If you don't already know about it, you need to be reading more news, 'cause this is big. "Fitzmas," they're calling it at Daily Kos and some other places. I'm not going to make any predictions... it seems sometimes like the best way for something not to happen is for me to predict it will happen (ie. a couple dozen elections), but I do think that this week will see a lot of big news. Cross your fingers, and hope for the best. I'd love to see Honest Russ Feingold replace the most corrupt administration in history.

Also, as a preview for the future, Ilya at RussForPresident.com and I have been working on a project that should get going pretty soon. More will come shortly.

Finally, a note not related to Feingold, but still very important.

You see, Senator Feingold wasn't originally the man I wanted to run for president. The 2004 election was supposed to be the one where we took down President Bush, and I had someone else in mind for it in 2001 and 2002, although Feingold has always been a favorite in the Senate. My pick was Paul Wellstone.

I've been satisfied with my Democratic senators, of course. Carl Levin is a great man, and Debbie Stabenow, though just in her first term, seems promising, and will be a great advocate for Michigan's interests and the best interests of the country in what I hope is a long tenure in the Senate. But for some time, I felt like Paul Wellstone was my senator. I didn't always agree with him, but I felt like he represented the best parts of the progressive movement, the best parts of America. If I served in government, I would strive to be like him.

And I was hoping he'd run for the White House, especially after choosing not to in 2000. It would be tough... who would ever elect some bald liberal senator from Minnesota? He would have had everything going against him, from religion to his health. Conventional wisdom was that he could never have won a single primary state. But I think he could have, if we put the energy into it. He could have won the nomination, and then defeated President Bush by doing what he did best-- speaking the truth without hesitation. "The conscience of the Senate."

And then, three years ago today, I heard the news. My father and I were chatting about something, and then, as we were starting to talk about politics, he said, "Oh, did you hear about Wellstone?" "No," I replied. "CNN is saying he might have died in a plane crash." As soon as I got home, the television went on, and I sat there, staring at it. I didn't know what to think.

I first got interested in politics by chance. I would flip through the channels and, with only basic cable to keep me entertained, sometimes I would put C-SPAN 2 on as background noise. But it ceased to be background noise when I heard Senator Wellstone start speaking. This was a man who I could trust. This was someone who was fighting for me in Washington.

And Wellstone is why I'm here, trying to get Russ Feingold elected. While Wellstone will always come first in my heart, Feingold was always his partner in progressivism. Forward with Feingold is the direction for us to go.

Jerry at New Jersey for Feingold posted about a new biography of Wellstone, which I'm hoping to buy sometime in the near future. And danielua on DKos has a fantastic diary, which is what reminded me about the significance of the day.