He was an intellectual. a Ph.D.. but never abstract. all the theories in the world meant nothing to Paul if they couldnt lift up the single mother struggling to support a family or the torture victim seeking refuge in America or the sufferer of mental illness marked with an unjust stigma. Paul suffered with each of them. In fact. the pain that Paul felt in his lifethe ache of his multiple sclerosis. the challenges of growing up the son of immigrants. the pain of his brothers mental illnessbecame his most powerful political weapon. Pain cuts some of us off. but not Paul Wellstone: He found the greatest salve in reaching out. in traveling up and down Minnesota in the dead of winter in his rickety green campaign bus. in taking time to thank the cooks. waiters. and janitors who served at so many of Pauls events. in stretching out an appearance to two or three times its planned length because he was so caught up in a conversation. until his staff were forced to grab him by the arm and literally drag him out of the room. He was given 12 years to make his mark in the Senate.
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immigrants