California Senator Kuehl Receives Paul and Sheila Wellstone Leadership Award

It is in that spirit that the club presented the award to Senator Kuehl. Her political career has been marked by steady, courageous and effective leadership on issues that affect the lives of ordinary people – the people Paul and Sheila Wellstone kept always at the front of their political radar. From gay and lesbian rights to women’s rights to education to the environment and health care, Senator Kuehl has worked on behalf of all the residents of California.

During her informal and delightfully humorous acceptance speech, Senator Kuehl stressed the fact that we are in a long term struggle for single payer health care. She acknowledged that the governor will never sign SB 840; in fact she has serious doubts that some of the potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates would sign if elected. She mentioned the Medicare fight repeatedly as a model, and how people worked on it until an unstoppable momentum developed. She believes the years spent working on SB 840, amending it, listening to experts, working on details, is creating a plan that will withstand criticism and be initiative-ready if it needs to go to the ballot.

I drove Sheila Kuehl to and from the airport, and had a chance to talk with her. The conversations were a total treat.

I asked Senator Kuehl why she took 10 hours out of her busy day, submitted herself to yet another airplane trip when she normally flies twice a week between Sacramento and her home in Santa Monica, and came north to an event of an organization she hardly knows.

In fact she was very curious about our club’s history and how we operate, including our collaborative leadership style with rotating monthly chairs drawn from our Coordinating Committee. She asked several of us at the reception about our club’s governance and incorporated some of what she heard into her talk.

She explained that she was grateful for the intense work we’ve done on SB 840. She also said the name Wellstone was a draw. She knew Sheila Wellstone personally and admired Paul without knowing him and was drawn to a club named for him and modeled on his political vision.

And she believes elected officials like herself have an obligation to help build activist progressive political organizations like the Wellstone Club and support our work.

Senator Kuehl is termed out next year. She said a number of legislators are ready to take up the leadership on SB 840. That was good to hear. But oh we will miss Sheila Kuehl!

Judy Pope is State and National Issues Coordinator for the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club located in Alameda County. Judy has been a speaker and speaker trainer on single payer health care since 1994.She also created and led the club’s fundraising house party program that raised $280,000 for swing states activity in 2004. She teaches public speaking and house party organizing to progressive political groups. She can be reached at jpope4@earthlink.net.