Rochelle Olsen follows up her upbeat ode to Keith Ellison with a more somber, but equally vapid soft serving of Ember Reichgott Junge that carries the inspiring title, Reichgott Junge: Disappointment shaped her:
In the piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room five days after Sept. 11, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge watched her 83-year-old father, Norbert Reichgott, lead a packed room in "God Bless America."
Then she joined her father, who was in a wheelchair and needed an oxygen tank, in a duet of "I Wish You Love."
He died early the next morning, the third of what would be four deaths in the small family over a short period. Her mother, Diane Reichgott, had died months before. Her brother-in-law committed suicide in 1999. A beloved cousin's death followed them all.
And they all took place shortly after Reichgott Junge lost the DFL primary for attorney general.
The losses -- personal and professional -- taught the high-achieving Reichgott Junge a lesson and led to the centerpiece issue in her campaign for Congress: universal health care.
Who says the Democrats don't have a positive vision for America? Not exactly what one would call Reaganesque.
Later, we learn about a period in Junge's past that may be even more troubling than Keith Ellison's flirtation with the Nation of Islam.
As might be expected of someone who traveled in 1971-72 with the singing group "Up With People," she does 7 a.m. elliptical machine workouts at Lifetime Fitness near her home to gear her up for long days.
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