Wellstone colleagues join crowd for memorial

MINNEAPOLIS -- With poignant eulogies and furious rallying cries -- and nearly as much laughter as tears -- some 20,000 friends of Paul Wellstone bade the late senator a boisterous farewell on Tuesday.

The first eulogies were tender remembrances. But when it was time to recall Wellstone, who was locked in a tough re-election fight when he died, his friend and former student Rick Kahn adopted the late senator's fiery speaking style.

He chopped the air with his hands, as Wellstone often did, and exhorted the crowd to keep Wellstone's dream alive.

"A week from today, Paul Wellstone's name will not be on the ballot," Kahn said. "But there will be a choice just the same ... either keep his legacy alive, or bring it forever to an end!"

As the crowd erupted in a loud "No!" Kahn continued:

"If Paul Wellstone's legacy in the Senate comes to an end just days after this unspeakable tragedy, our spirits will be crushed, and we will drown in a river of tears. We are begging you, do not let this happen."

An overflow crowd of thousands gathered nearby to watch on giant video screens, and multitudes more watched and listened on statewide TV and radio to the ceremony for Wellstone; his wife Sheila, 58; his daughter Marcia Wellstone Markuson, 33; and campaign staffers Mary McEvoy, 49, Tom Lapic, 49, and Will McLaughlin, 23.

All six were killed in a plane crash Friday in northern Minnesota. The plane's two pilots, Richard Conry, 55, and Michael Guess, 30, also died.

Many political figures

The service was packed with national political figures. Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's arrival drew a huge cheer from the crowd. They were followed by former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and many others.

David McLaughlin, brother of Will McLaughlin, recalled several of his brother's adventures as Wellstone's personal assistant and driver.

"Will and Paul really did work well together," McLaughlin said. "I really do believe that's why they became such good friends. Both wanted to do things their way and they wouldn't do what people told them."

But he also recalled one instance, when McLaughlin and Wellstone were stuck in traffic and they debated which way to go: "I don't know what words were said, but Will learned very quickly you don't tell a senator to just chill out."

Before the eulogies, the crowd erupted when Walter Mondale, expected to replace Wellstone on the ballot, walked in with his wife, Joan. Mondale smiled broadly, exchanging handshakes and hugs with Clinton and others.

Bush emissary

Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, former governor of neighboring Wisconsin.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Vice President Dick Cheney offered to attend the service.

Another White House official said privately that with the memorial service expected to draw thousands, the Wellstone family told the White House they did not want mourners subjected to the kind of security screenings that Cheney's attendance would have required. This official also said White House advisers worried that the memorial service, with unions bringing supporters by the busload, would double as a Democrat get-out-the-vote rally and be awkward for Cheney.

Elizabeth Jacobson, of St. Paul, cried as she waited for the service.

"I think he might have been the greatest politician who ever came from here," she said. "I feel a lot of comfort being here."

Family and close friends attended a private funeral for Paul and Sheila Wellstone at a Minneapolis synagogue on Monday.