Point Reyes Light - October 31, 2002

Point Reyes woman was spokewoman for senator

By Ivan Gale

The death of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone in a small-plane crash Friday was particularly strongly felt in Point Reyes Station where Martha Francis, his former press secretary, lives.

Francis, wife of round-the-world trekker John Francis, worked in Senator Wellstone’s office from 1992 to 1996. During that time she worked her way up from a press intern to a press assistant, then served as a legislative correspondent before becoming the senator’s deputy press secretary and finally his press secretary.

"He was like everyone said, passionate and courageous. He was also very gentle," Francis recalled this week but added, "I always sensed he felt kind of lonely."

Progressive politics

In fact, Wellstone was often a lone voice for progressive politics. Most recently, he was the only Democratic senator in a tight reelection race who voted against the resolution that gave the Bush Administration war powers in Iraq.

Senator Wellstone, his wife Sheila, his daughter Marcia, three staff members, and two pilots died when their King Air A-100 crashed into a Minnesota woods during a freezing rain and light snow.

Minnesota’s Democratic Party is expected to name former Vice President Walter Mondale, 74, as Wellstone’s stand-in to oppose Republican candidate Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul, in the Tuesday, Nov. 5, election.

Francis recalled what made it "so wonderful" to work for Senator Wellstone was his refusal to compromise his convictions, she said Monday. "He was courageous in the face of great resistance. He had his principles, and he stuck to them."

The former press spokeswoman said Wellstone could get frustrated when "he believed the line between right and wrong was so clear, and he couldn’t convince others about that."

Jumping and waving on floor of Senate

She compared him to Sisyphus, who in an ancient Greek myth was condemned to constantly roll a rock uphill. He was always trying to push things through against great resistance, she said, noting that seeing Wellstone waving his arms and jumping up and down on the Senate floor was not unusual, Francis recalled.

But Wellstone was not only an orator; he stayed connected to the public, she said, noting that the senator kept a picture on his desk of a boy who suffered from a learning disorder.

Francis said the boy told Wellstone he was his role model, because the senator himself had a learning disorder, which interfered with his sense of direction. "The picture reminded the senator why he was there in Congress, to work for people like that," Francis said.

Unlike the Sisyphus of mythology, whose rock slipped away from him every time he neared the summit, Wellstone could often manage to roll a legislative rock through Congress.

Healthcare reform

In a show of bipartisan cooperation, Wellstone in 1996 teamed up with Pete Domenici, a conservative Republican senator from New Mexico, to author the Mental Health Parity Act. The bill directs insurance providers to treat mental-health claims the same as claims for other illnesses.

In 1995, he jointly carried the Wellstone-Feingold Amendment, which banned significant gifts to congressmen. An example of his perseverance, it took the senator three years to win passage.

Francis this week credited Senator Wellstone’s courage and determination with inspiring her to change her life’s work in order to help others face to face as a social worker.

After leaving his office, Francis earned a master’s in social work degree and has been a social worker at Golden Gate Regional Center in Corte Madera but is about to begin working as a Child Protective Services worker at West Marin Health and Human Services in Point Reyes Station.

Senator Wellstone "helped me see the value of working one on one with people, that it was as worthy as working on larger policy issues," Francis said.

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