The Other One

15 December 2003


Senator Paul Simon Passes on at 75

"He isn't Art Garfunkel's partner." It is a pity that such is the way Senator Paul Simon often had to be introduced, but it never seemed to bother the Illinois liberal. He died last Tuesday, at the age of 75, one of the few remaining good guys from American politics. He was the best kind of politician, not because he was a lefty, but because he believed that a public servant should serve the public.

More than 30 years ago, as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, he heard a truck driver complaining about the wretched state of the roads and about the depth of the potholes. Mr. Simon volunteered to ride across the state with the fellow, and after the trip, the roads were improved. It is difficult to think of a politician today who would do that -- they are too busy attending fund-raisers.

With his goofy glasses and bow-tie, Senator Simon looked more like popcorn magnate Orville Reddenbacher than a powerful Washington insider. As one commentator put it, "He didn't have a big hairspray bill." What he had, though, was the ability to connect with the people in Illinois. Former US Senator Adlai Stevenson III said, "His retail politicking -- the handshaking and working of the crowds -- was legendary." A man or woman can only do that if they believe that they are there to help the voters rather than the other way around.

An unapologetic social liberal and a fiscal hawk, his real hobbyhorse was political reform. Cleaning up government in a state that included Daley's Chicago remains a work-in-progress. It was more than ironic that Governor Blagojevich signed a rather sweeping reform bill into law just half an hour after the good Senator died.

According to the Chicago SunTimes, on his last day in the US Senate in 1996, every senator save one wore a bow-tie in his honor. Looking over his career and his character, one can only conclude that there was one member of the Senate who simply couldn't tie a bow.

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