We need 1,000 Melissa Hortmans right now

I once naively believed that the worst kind of loss in politics was at the ballot box.

I learned the hard way about real loss in October 2002, when Sen. Paul Wellstone’s plane went down while he was traveling the state doing his job as U.S. senator and running for reelection.

That loss shook the state and devastated his supporters. Many people said to me, “Paul spoke for me. Who will speak for me now?”

But after some of the grief and mourning settled, something amazing happened.