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The Conscience of a Liberal
Reclaiming the Compassionate Agenda
Senator Paul Wellstone
Tributes to the Wellstone legacy:
New York Times$17.95 Paper
ISBN: 0-8166-4179-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4179-6
Minnesota’s Senator Paul Wellstone describes his tireless fight for a fresh, progressive, truly compassionate politics.
From his earliest childhood memories to the college classroom, from rural Minnesota farm fields and the defense of workers' rights to his 1990 election campaign promises of politics for the benefit of the people, The Conscience of a Liberal candidly discusses Wellstone's life experiences and the coming-of-age of his political views. What emerges is an intriguing inside look at Wellstone's crusade to assert an unabashedly liberal agenda.
From the moment he was elected, Wellstone passionately articulated a path to economic and social justice for all citizens, justice not contingent on the size of a person's bank account or their political influence. A call for personal politics and deep commitment to beliefs, Wellstone's tenure as a U.S. senator was a vigorous, at times outraged, and always active fight for support for farmers, working families, and other Minnesotans; for decent jobs, improved health care, a good education, and retirement security.
At once responding to the conservative hijacking of compassion as a political yardstick and explaining his own political record, Wellstone engagingly elucidates what contrasts conservative and liberal interests and, as always, rouses progressives to influence the future of American politics.
"Wellstone promised to be what Washingtonians always say their city desperately needs: a colorful character. No one was disappointed. He still considers himself an activist, and his book reads like the work of an activist." —Wall Street Journal
"Wellstone relishes the role of the lonely hero taking on powerful bullies, and irritates his jaded colleagues with his stubborn stand on principles." —Washington Monthly
"A call to arms aimed at politically like-minded Americans, time and again The Conscience of a Liberal argues that a grassroots movement of progressives can defy the odds." —National Journal
Senator Paul Wellstone (1944-2002) was a professor of political science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, for twenty-one years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1990.Wellstone also wrote How the Rural Poor Got Power: Narrative of a Grass-Roots Organizer and co-wrote, with Barry M. Casper, Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War. Wellstone's 1990 Senate campaign is detailed in Professor Wellstone Goes to Washington: The Inside Story of a Grassroots U.S. Senate Campaign.
240 pages | 5 3/8 x 8 1/4 | 2002