Genie, the practical realities were being dealt with by Minnesotans. What is more "life must go on" than having to plan funerals and memorial services, and all the other practical realities that need attending to in the wake of eight people being killed in a single catastrophic accident. Add to that that one of the parties killed was a sitting US Senator, and you can see how people were a little busy with details, like "what the hell happened" and "who is going to do what" and "who do we call for this"--some of which DID deal with the upcoming elections, but most of it really truly was the need for Wellstone campaign and Senate staffers needing to take care of all the business at once.

The last thing they needed was a DFL hack campaigning for Mondale in the media on Friday afternoon, before the fire from the crash was even extinguished, and then leaking the details of the Wellstone family's attempts to do the painful work of meeting with possible replacements for their father to CNN as a trial balloon for their guy.

Ever try planning both a private family funeral for three family members, a public memorial for eight people and their families to broadcast nationally, with politicos and dignitaries coming from all over hell and creation during a close senate campaign to boot? No? Neither have I. Imagine that some of us thought the Wellstone family and campaign, as well as all the state political offices (like the Secretary of State and Attorney General) needed some time and privacy to sort a very complex situation out. Hatch was at the prayer vigil on Friday night, and I heard someone in front of me say to someone they were with "Hey there's Hatch--should we go tell him "shoulda waited 'til Monday, eh?" I think all of us would have been fine waiting for the details from those offices until Monday, because no campaigning was going on over the weekend anyway (supposedly), and they never stopped mailing absentee ballots. But hell folks, this happened on a Friday. It all could easily have waited until Wednesday anyway, considering it was so damn close to the election, most of it wasn't going to matter anyway. We Minnesotans would have appreciated it if ego maniacs looking for their political 15 minutes of fame had refrained from carrying out all the tedious business that had to be dealt with in front of national TV cameras...

Is it so wrong to say so? I mean c'mon, we aren't idiots here in Minnesota, nor are we so overcome with grief that we aren't taking care of the business that gets taken care of in the wake of a tragedy like this. It was all being done. It was all being dealt with. Nobody was holding anything back from anyone, they simply weren't talking about what they were doing and/or thinking about doing publicly is all.

As to the idealism being crushed--it has happened, mostly with the young Wellstone supporters who are so turned off by all this. They are angry, and they feel betrayed by the party, because the party showed so little respect for Wellstone, his family, and them. I know one kid who had gotten an internship with the campaign this fall who was a poli sci major at the University. He quit yesterday in disgust over the whole fiasco, and was sobbing when I met him in front of the campaign offices yesterday afternoon. What the hell do people expect when you slap people around who have just had their hearts broken, and their dreams dashed like that?