For people who are still coming to this site for information and updates, you've probably noticed that I haven't been blogging here recently. A few days ago, I began a new gig as executive director of Labor Research Association. So much is going on that it may be difficult to keep this site refreshed in terms of the blog but the content will remain here.

Be assured that I am continuing to work on the issues that we all care so much about. We are working to build a progressive network of people in our state, which will include a new website sometime down the road. It may be that this current site evolves into the longer term site. We'll see.

I just got off a conference call organized by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. On the call were Senator-elect Sherrod Brown and Reps-Elect Heath Schuler and Joe Donnelly, and Steelworkers President Leo Gerard and Public Citizen's Lori Wallach. The subject of the call was how trade was an important issue in the 2006 elections.

Like many others, I believe the elections were primarily about the Iraq War. But, one of the other issues I kept hearing voters talk about repeatedly for the past several months was the idiocy of so-called “free trade.” And, thankfully, perhaps we can finally declare so-called “free trade” dead.

Over the past few weeks, a number of people have told me that they simply have no desire to vote for the available candidates listed on the ballot for U.S. Senate in New York. They asked me: "Can we just write you in?"

I didn't particularly focus on this idea until I received a letter from a senior citizen supporter who, in shaky handwriting, asked my permission to write in my name for the Senate race. Her letter was touching and passionate.

So, while I will not make a big effort to push this idea, if you want to write in my name--or, frankly, anyone else but the incumbent--please feel free to do so. The truth is that no one should have to vote for an incumbent who has supported a war that has killed more than 2,800 American men and women and 650,000 Iraqis, wounded hundreds of thousands more, destroyed a country and will end up costing our country as much as 2 trillion dollars. Every vote that is not cast for the incumbent is a vote against the war (so, FYI, please DO NOT CAST A VOTE FOR THE WORKING FAMILIES PARTY, which is cynically urging people to vote for the incumbent on the WFP line as an ANTI-WAR VOTE...)

Here is how you do that:

Locate the button over the column of numbered slots on the left of the voting machine and:

Depress the button and, while holding it in, open the slot opposite the office for which you wish to write in a candidate's name.

Write the name of your preferred candidate in the slot. A pencil is provided. Cast your vote for other offices in the usual manner.

When you finish making your selection, leave the levers down and pull the large red handle all the way to the left. The write-in slot will close, the levers will return to their original position and your vote is recorded. if you need help, you can demand that the poll workers assist you.

We have the power to end the illegal, immoral occupation of Iraq. The war cannot continue if Congress refuses to provide money to fund the occupation. Please sign this crucial petition. Read on.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) has introduced H.R. 4232: End The War In Iraq Act. The bill could be voted on once the House of Representatives comes back into session after the election--if our representatives hear from tens of thousands of people throughout the country.

Led by Progressive Democrats of America, there is a nationwide effort to gather as many signatures as possible to support the bill. The signatures would be delivered after the November election. We need to show Rep. McGovern and his 12 co-sponsors that we have their backs--and encourage other Members of Congress to add their names as co-sponsors.

Please sign this crucial petition.

Four years ago today, Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash, along with his wife, Sheila, daughter Marcia and several campaign staffers—Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic, and Will McLaughlin. On that day, the progressive movement lost an amazing voice for a decent America. In some ways, I don’t think we’ve ever been the same.

He was the only senator running for re-election who had the courage to vote against the Iraq war resolution. And it wasn’t an easy political vote—he was in a tough re-election race but one that I believe he would have won because ultimately Minnesota voters, even those who didn’t always agree with him, respected his integrity and authenticity. Frankly, had he been alive today, I think there would be a huge movement to get him to take up the banner as the progressive candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination (though, with his typical self-deprecating humor, Paul once dismissed his chances of running for president, saying, “I’m short, I’m Jewish and I’m a liberal”) While other senators who want to grab the nomination explain their vote for the war resolution as one that was cast because they were lied to or because of “false intelligence,” Paul had the moral compass to understand that attacking Iraq was immoral, unnecessary and would lead to the pointless deaths of tens of thousands of people.

What would an America be like if Sen. Paul Wellstone had still been in the U.S. Senate? Well, for one thing, Republican Norm Coleman would not be a U.S. Senator. You can bet Paul would have led a filibuster fight against the nominations of now-Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts. My guess is that he would also have stood with Russ Feingold and called for the censure of the president—a position that no other Democrats have the courage to take.

I don’t know of any politician today who I think has the moral courage and decency that Paul had—and his integrity stands even starker relief to the people who now run this country and run for political office (Republicans and Democrats). While he was a progressive, he also appealed to voters across the political spectrum because people knew that he was in the political arena to advance the interests of regular people, not the powerful. Putting aside his policy positions, his vision of politics was so much more than what we see in the unbridled ambitions of the political machines that vie for power: “Politics is not just about power and money games, politics can be about the improvement of peoples lives, about lessening human suffering in our world and bringing about more peace and more justice,” he said. It’s one reason that I adopted his slogan during my campaign: Vote For What You Believe In. I often invoked his memory, reminding people what a different country we would be if we had 51 Paul Wellstones in the U.S. Senate.

And he saw how our system was slowly being corrupted by the influence of money: “Money, all to often, determines who runs for office. Should a person have to be a millionaire to run for the U.S. Senate? Money, all too often, determines what both Democrats and Republicans have to say on the issues for fear of offending big contributors. Should a candidate mortgage his or her vision to the wealthy and powerful and privileged? Money, all too often, determines how our elected officials spend their time in Washington. Politics becomes about amassing huge amounts of money. Issues and accountability do count when it comes to the cozy relationship between a Senator or Representative and the political action committees who contribute the big bucks. They give the money to influence legislation and expect results. But during campaigns and elections most of what the people get is images. Not issues, not accountability. As a result people view politics as phony, irrelevant to their lives, and a game where the rules are rigged for the well healed and powerful interest, not ordinary citizens.”

I will always remember exactly where I was when I heard Paul had been killed and who I called immediately to share the pain of the loss of an amazing individual. Even though I didn’t live in Minnesota, I thought of him as my senator. And I still cry when I think of what we have lost. But, at the same time, his legacy will remain strongest if we keep on fighting hard. At the end of my campaign, I quoted Paul to the many people who had worked so hard: “The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The future will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

I’d like people to post their own recollections of Paul Wellstone and what he meant to you.