Wellstone Action campaign group pushing out senator's sons

[WhiskeyGrinder]

Source: Star Tribune

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A liberal campaign organization dedicated to the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone is pushing out the senator's two sons over differences in how the organization should run.

Wellstone Action informed David and Mark Wellstone on Wednesday that they would be voted off the governing board in the coming days, following what group leaders described as months of friction. They said the Wellstones have pushed repeatedly to shift focus from training progressive candidates and campaigns to more aggressive issue advocacy following Donald Trump's election as president.

David Wellstone did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on his ouster. A working phone listing could not be found for Mark Wellstone.

Co-founder and board member Jeff Blodgett, who was Paul Wellstone's campaign manager, told The Associated Press the "necessary but sad step" of removing the brothers from the board comes after months of tension. He said the brothers have asked that the group no longer use the family name.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/apnewsbreak-wellstone-action-pushing-out-senator-s-sons/474067603/

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The board's official statement can be found here:

https://www.wellstone.org/wellstone-action-official-board-statement-2018

[zentrum]

1. Disturbing story.

Would love to hear Al Franken's take on all this.

[OKNancy]

2. That's really unfortunate. I wish they would do what Joe Kennedy said....

Why not do both?!!

[Hortensis]

3. DO NOT CALL THESE PEOPLE LIBERALS!

Language matters. These people want and need to take over the term liberals for the implications of caring, cooperation and liberal values deeply embedded in the American left that come with it.

Whenever you hear that one group is unwilling to cooperate with others working for the same goals and is aggressively trying to take power from other working for the same goals, you can be pretty damned sure the aggressively intolerant and uncooperative group is NOT the liberal one.

I never called myself it in his day, but I was a Paul Wellstone liberal, and he was a very fine progressive liberal, no cap-P progressive fighting other progressives but the real thing fighting for progress.

[cp]

4. Camp Wellstone helped me get elected

to town supervisor in 2011. It was wonderful training.
The group seems to be moving in a different direction lately.
If they pushed out Mark and David Wellstone, they must change their name. It's no longer Wellstone.