I am a Wellstone liberal. I think Paul Wellstone was the last guy with balls in Washington. His book, The Conscience of a Liberal is incredible and a must read for liberals and conservatives alike. I know without a doubt that Paul Wellstone would be supporting John Kerry in this election. While I think Ralph Nader is right on just about everything he says, the math is unforgiving: Ralph Nader is unelectable. I wish that were not the case, but it is. A vote for Nader is a vote for idealism that will give us four more years of the worst president we have ever seen in the history of the United States.

Now I liked John Kerry long before he was running for president. He is extremely smart and he is very good at policy. Some people don’t like that he is a politician and speaks like a politician but we have a government, by definition, made up of politicians. As refreshing as straight talkers like Jesse Ventura may seem at times, they are wildly ineffective in our political system. John Kerry is very good at public policy and will be very good as the American president.

While John Kerry is not half the man that Paul Wellstone was, he is twice the man that George W. Bush is. John Kerry runs from the word “liberal” even as Paul Wellstone embraced it. John Kerry makes decisions with intense political calculation — Paul Wellstone followed his heart and trusted that we would see the political truth behind it. John Kerry has a lot to learn from Paul Wellstone. I hope he does.

John Kerry is the best choice for president because he is a little bit like Paul Wellstone, a little bit like Ralph Nader and almost nothing like George W. Bush. A sincerely hope that the American people reject the politics of fear and embrace the politics of reason.