Thousands To Mourn Wellstone
Mourners were converging on Minnesota for a public memorial service for Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven other victims of last Friday's plane crash. More than 15,000 people were expected to join senators of both parties for the proceedings, to be carried live on radio and television.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore were also expected to attend.
President Bush, who led a moment of silence for Wellstone on Tuesday morning, will not be at the service. At a signing ceremony for legislation overhauling the election system, Mr. Bush paid tribute to Wellstone as a man of deep conviction who "will be missed."
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson was attending on behalf of the administration. The Wellstone family turned down an offer from the White House to have Vice President Dick Cheney present.
That may have been because of all the extra security required for a Cheney visit, but it may just be politics, reports CBS News Correspondent Manuel Gallegus.
The Wellstone family was reportedly upset by some Republican campaign tactics in what was – and still is – a very tight Senate race. During a period of mourning they had criticized Wellstone's expected replacement on the ballot, former Vice President Walter F. Mondale.
A Democratic official said Tuesday that Mondale intends to appear before party leaders in Minnesota on Wednesday to launch a campaign to take Wellstone's place.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mondale was also planning a public rally on Thursday.
The former vice president had quickly emerged as the consensus choice of party elders concerned about holding Wellstone's seat, and his candidacy has seemed likely since Wellstone's sons expressed their support.
Wellstone's Republican challenger, former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, temporarily suspended campaign activities after Wellstone's death.
Leaders of the DFL, the Minnesota Democratic Party, scheduled a meeting for Wednesday night to ratify the selection of Mondale as a replacement for Wellstone.
Party sources said the former vice president would speak to the gathering, and was expected to file formal paperwork either Wednesday or Thursday.
Wellstone and Coleman had been scheduled to debate Friday night, and it was not known whether Mondale would keep the date.
The former vice president, 74, last ran for public office in 1984, when he was the losing Democratic presidential nominee. His name last appeared on a ballot for the Senate in 1972, when he won the second of two terms in Minnesota.
Mondale was ambassador to Japan under President Clinton after leaving partisan politics. And since leaving that post, he has lived the life of a lawyer in Minnesota and an elder statesman in his party.