Waiting On Walter

Walter Mondale topped the list of possible replacements for Sen. Paul Wellstone on the Minnesota ballot Saturday, and other Democrats interested in running in Wellstone's place were sitting tight until Mondale decides whether to seek Wellstone's seat.

That's what CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch hears from her Democratic sources.

Wellstone, his wife and daughter and five others were killed in the crash of a small plane in northeastern Minnesota on Friday. Wellstone, a leading Senate liberal, was in the midst of a tight reelection campaign against Republican challenger Norm Coleman, a former mayor of St. Paul and President Bush's choice to take on the two-term incumbent.

As of last week, a poll showed Wellstone with a slight lead, 47 percent to 41 percent.

The balance of power in the Senate could hang in the balance. Before Wellstone's death, Democrats held the slimmest of majorities, one vote.

Mondale, the former vice president and senator, hadn't closed the door on the possiblity of running on Saturday, Lynch reports. Democrats were reluctant to say much out of respect for the Wellstone family, she adds, and Mondale himself was said to be devastated by the news of Wellstone's death.

"I just want to spend today mourning," Mondale told The Washington Post for its Saturday editions.

One Democratic source, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Mondale had indicated some interest.

Two Democratic sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Sen. Patty Murray, head of the party's campaign committee, had reached out to Mondale. Democratic sources said prominent labor leaders had expressed interest in Mondale as well.

"If he says yes, it's pretty much over," said Democratic consultant Wy Spano.

There had been some confusion over whether Wellstone's name could, or had to be, replaced on the ballot.

But Lynch says Democrats now believe that by law, Wellstone's name must be replaced. They have until Thursday to name a new candidate, and voters who have already voted by absentee ballot would have to vote again.

Political operatives from both parties had agreed at first glance that Democrats had the right to replace Wellstone with a new nominee but also could decide to leave his name on the ballot.

While Democrats mulled their options, Gov. Jesse Ventura met with legal advisers to discuss appointing a temporary replacement for Wellstone to finish the final months of Congressman's second term. Ventura, an independent, said he would probably appoint a Democrat.

"To me that's only fair," Ventura said. He said Minnesotans elected a Democrat for a term that runs through January so the seat should stay in the party's hands for now. He also said he'd favor someone who doesn't plan to run for the office.

"I don't want it to become political," he said.

Ventura said he is concerned about leaving the seat open until election results are certified.

"What if something happens? We have to have a senator," he said. "If terrorism hits and they call a special session, we have to have someone to go out there."

The process to nominate a replacement candidate for the ballot will take at least three days for the required notice to about 1,000 state central committee members of the date of a nominating meeting.

Attorney General Mike Hatch, a Democrat, said his reading of the law suggests Ventura's appointee would only serve until election results are certified by the state canvassing board - typically within weeks of Election Day - not through the end of Wellstone's term.

Democrats said others being suggested as possible replacements included former Mondale's son, Ted, an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate; Skip Humphrey, former state attorney general and son of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey; state Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, a former pro football star, and Hatch.

"You need somebody who's known statewide," said Craig Grau, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. "In the past, people have had widows. That is not the case in this situation."

None of the top contenders to face Coleman returned phone calls seeking comment, but their names and a handful of others were in circulation within hours of the plane crash Friday.

State Party Chairman Mike Erlandson said officials won't decide who will replace Wellstone on the ballot until after the family has decided on funeral arrangements. Several party officials also said a decision would wait until Wellstone's sons, Paul Jr., 37, and Mark, 30, could be contacted to see if either of them had an interest in entering politics.

Wellstone was one of Republicans' hottest targets this year, and the race broke Minnesota records for the money that washed in. The two candidates raised a collective $19 million, with at least that much spent by others on their behalf.

The Democrats' best possibility might be Mondale, who is now an attorney in Minneapolis. Mondale, who will turn 75 in January, didn't return a phone call seeking comment and didn't take questions Friday as he and other Democrats, including Sen. Ted Kennedy, expressed sorrow at Wellstone's death.

"He's definitely a very fit, coherent, smart 74-year-old man who is extremely active in lots of different ways," said Lilly Goren, head of the political science department at College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.

She noted that Mondale is younger than Frank Lautenberg, the former senator lured out of retirement to replace scandal-tainted Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli on the New Jersey ballot.

"Wellstone was cut from the political tradition of Minnesota and (Hubert) Humphrey and Mondale, and carrying on the fight is something Mondale continues to do," Goren said.

Skip Humphrey, son of the former vice president and a former state attorney general, lost some of his luster when he came in third in the 1998 gubernatorial race behind Gov. Jesse Ventura and Coleman, but he's still on the list of possibilities.

Page has been courted for Senate before, but has said he was happy being a state Supreme Court justice.

Other potential candidates include Mondale's son, Ted, an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate in 1998, and Rebecca Yanisch and Mike Ciresi, both of whom unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Senate nomination two years ago. Yanisch indicated she might be interested.

"Obviously, I would still love to be able to serve our state," said Yanisch, who is Ventura's trade commissioner, quickly adding, "I don't even want to talk about the next step."

Judi Dutcher, the state auditor and a gubernatorial candidate earlier this year, said she wasn't interested. But she said she hoped the party picked someone "who's really going to carry on his progressive traditions - carry on the fight he has fought so well for the last 12 years."

As for the election, Wellstone's spot on the ballot already is considered a vacancy. If or when the party names a replacement, county election officials would blot out all the Senate candidates' names on the original ballot and print up a supplemental ballot just for that race.

Two years ago, when Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the election while running for the Senate, his name remained on the ballot and he beat Republican Sen. John Ashcroft. Carnahan's widow, Jean, was appointed to serve in his place. She is now running in a special election to complete the six-year term originally won by Mel Carnahan.

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