Editing Paul Wellstone (section)

==U.S. Senate campaigns (1990–2002)==
[[File:wellstonebus.jpg|thumb|Wellstone's [[campaign bus]]]]
In [[United States Senate election in Minnesota, 1990|1990]], Wellstone ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent [[Rudy Boschwitz]], beginning the race as a serious underdog. He narrowly won the election despite being outspent 7 to 1. Wellstone played off his underdog image with quirky, humorous ads created by political consultant [[Bill Hillsman]], including "Fast Paul"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbmMlTsKo30| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/NbmMlTsKo30| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=Paul Wellstone TV Ad "Fast Paul"| date=October 25, 2006|via=YouTube|access-date=July 20, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and "Looking for Rudy",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfZuplTlu4M| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nfZuplTlu4M| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=North Woods Advertising – "Looking for Rudy" – Paul Wellstone for U.S. Senate (MN)| date=July 13, 2009|via=YouTube|access-date=December 7, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> a [[pastiche]] of the 1989 [[Michael Moore]] documentary ''[[Roger & Me]]''. Boschwitz was also hurt by a letter his supporters wrote, on campaign stationery, to members of the Minnesota Jewish community days before the election, accusing Wellstone of being a "bad Jew" for marrying a [[Gentile]] and not raising his children in the Jewish faith. (Boschwitz, like Wellstone, is Jewish.) Wellstone's reply, widely broadcast on Minnesota television, was "He has a problem with Christians, then." Boschwitz was the only incumbent U.S. senator not to be reelected that year.

Wellstone defeated Boschwitz again in [[United States Senate election in Minnesota, 1996|1996]]. During that campaign, Boschwitz ran ads accusing Wellstone of being "embarrassingly liberal" and calling him "Senator Welfare". He accused Wellstone of supporting [[flag burning]], a move some believe backfired. Before that accusation, the race was close, but Wellstone beat Boschwitz by nine points despite again being significantly outspent. Reform Party candidate [[Dean Barkley]] received 7% of the vote.

Wellstone's upset victory in 1990 and reelection in 1996 were also credited to a [[Grassroots democracy|grassroots]] campaign that inspired college students, poor people, and minorities to get involved in politics, many for the first time. In 1990, the number of young people involved in the campaign was so notable that shortly after the election, [[Walter Mondale]] told Wellstone that "the kids won it for you". Wellstone also spent much of his Senate career working with the [[Hmong American|Hmong]] community in Minnesota, which had not previously been much involved in American politics, and with the [[veterans]] community—serving on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, successfully campaigning for [[atomic veteran]]s to receive compensation from the federal government, and for increased spending on health care for veterans.<ref>{{cite web|author=A. Schneider, Mark Kuhn |url=https://www.npr.org/news/specials/wellstone/ |title=Sen. Paul Wellstone, 1944–2002 |publisher=Npr.org |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/broudy23.htm |title=OMB Approves Benefits for Vets Suffering from Radiogenic Cancers |access-date=August 27, 2001 |archive-date=August 27, 2001 |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20010827024524/http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/broudy23.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/july99/072699d.htm |title=Wellstone Welcomes White House Announcement on Increased Funding for Vets Health Care, But Says "We Must Do Better" |publisher=Commondreams.org |date=July 26, 1999 |access-date=December 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629092523/http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/july99/072699d.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In 2002, Wellstone campaigned for reelection to a third term despite an earlier campaign pledge to serve only two. His [[Republican Party of Minnesota|Republican]] opponent was [[Norm Coleman]], a two-term mayor of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] and former Democrat, who had supported Wellstone's 1996 campaign. Earlier that year Wellstone announced he had a mild form of [[multiple sclerosis]], causing the limp he had believed was an old wrestling injury.

Wellstone was in a line of center-left senators from the [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party|Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]] (DFL). The first three, [[Hubert Humphrey]], [[Eugene McCarthy]], and [[Walter Mondale]], were all prominent in the national Democratic Party. Shortly after joining the Senate, South Carolina Senator [[Ernest Hollings|Fritz Hollings]] told Wellstone, "You remind me of Hubert Humphrey. You talk too much."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_4_39/ai_94596503 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709180116/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_4_39/ai_94596503 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |title=Paul Wellstone was a true mensch and Christ-like soul |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=November 15, 2002 |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref>