Reid backs proposed choice of Mondale

Benjamin Grove

Monday, Oct. 28, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would help Minnesota Democrats hold onto the seat of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, and Reid supports the propsoed choice of former Vice President Walter Mondale to take Wellstone's place.

"I'll do everything I can," said Reid, the Senate majority whip. "It'll be a five-day campaign if he decides to run."

Reid, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and often a Democratic spokesman and partisan activist, would not comment on whether he has talked to Mondale or specifically what he has done or plans to do to help him.

"I think he'd be great for the country," Reid said.

The Minnesota race, which has always been key to the efforts of both Democrats and Republicans battling for control of the Senate, is now under increased scrutiny.

Reid told the Sun Wellstone's GOP opponent, former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, had run a "devisive, mean, vicious" campaign. On CNN's "Late Edition" Sunday, Reid challenged CNN guest Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said Coleman ran a principled race.

"I've spoken to the Wellstone family, both Sheila and I've talked to Paul, and I know how they felt about Coleman and his campaign," Reid said. "So I'm willing to go along and be nice guy, but don't talk about principled race that he conducted against Paul Wellstone, because it wasn't."

Reid spoke with former President Jimmy Carter on Friday, whose wife, Rosalynn, is a mental health care advocate and who was in tears over Wellstone's death, Reid said. Reid, Rosalynn Carter and Wellstone had worked together on mental health issues.

Reid said he would help carry the torch in a renewed effort next year to pass legislation aimed at offering people more mental health insurance coverage, which had become a passion of Wellstone.

Wellstone was a tireless advocate for the poor and working class, Reid said.

"How many senators know the people that clean their offices at night except Paul Wellstone?" Reid said.

Former Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said Wellstone followed his conscience -- not polls -- more than most lawmakers.

"At a time when being a liberal is not a banner one wants to unfurl in American politics, Paul Wellstone was a liberal and he never sought to conceal it," Bryan said. "He was always proud of his credentials."

Bryan remembers well Wellstone's impassioned speeches. While some lawmakers rarely speak on the Senate floor, Wellstone often stepped to the microphone at his desk to explain his views and advocate causes.

"He was a very animated speaker -- very animated," Bryan said.

For Bryan and other current and former lawmakers, Wellstone's death stirred memories of their own harrowing flights in small planes.

"A senator's death under these circumstances is a reminder that there are real occupational hazards in this job," Bryan said. "Every one of us can relate to being on one of those small, darn planes and flying into weather we probably should not have been flying into."

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., joined a bipartisan chorus of senators who mourned the loss of Wellstone's passion and energy. Ensign said he had great respect for Wellstone.

"Although we disagreed on many issues, he was truly unabashed in his principles, and I always admired him for that," Ensign said.