Former Vice President Walter Mondale Accepts Nomination To Replace Sen. Wellstone on Ballot

Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who served as a Minnesota senator from 1964-1976, on Oct. 30 accepted a nomination from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party to replace Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) on the ballot for the November election, the New York Times reports (Wilgoren, New York Times, 10/31). Wellstone, who died in a plane crash last week, had been locked in a tight reelection race against former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman (R), and his death may have repercussions for the "balance of power" in the Senate, where Democrats currently hold a one-seat majority. Wellstone's seat is considered "key" to maintaining Democrats' control of the Senate. While a senator, Wellstone advocated enhanced insurance coverage for mental illnesses, cosponsoring the 1996 mental health parity law and a pending reauthorization that would bar health plans from establishing higher deductibles or copayments for mental health benefits than for other medical conditions. He also was a supporter of universal health care (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/28). During his acceptance speech, Mondale listed a Medicare prescription drug benefit and abortion rights among his priorities. "I will stand up for the families who are hurting, who are working with two jobs to make ends meet or have no jobs at all," he said (New York Times, 10/31). Mondale's last experience in electoral politics came in 1984, when he lost a "lopsided" presidential election to former President Reagan. Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, said, "The irony ... is that the Democratic Party has spent most of the past 18 years trying to exorcise Walter Mondale. When Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton or Al Gore called themselves a 'different kind of Democrat,' they meant they were different from Mondale." He added, "Now Democrats embrace him as passionately as they repudiated him" (Simon/Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, 10/31).