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Paul Simon: 50 Ways to Donate to Kerry Longtime Democrat Paul Simon — the singer, not the late senator — is pitching in for John Kerry. No, he's not slated to perform at either the Bette Midler and friends show at Radio City or the Barbra Streisand event in Los Angeles. Simon and wife Edie Brickell are going one better. They're having strangers to their house. Simon and Brickell, who are not very public people, have agreed to give a Kerry fund-raiser at their beautiful country home near Greenwich, Conn., one week from today. The minimum contribution asked for on...

A terrorist attack on presidential candidates could throw the US into unprecedented political turmoil. So why do so few people want to talk about it? WORST-CASE SCENARIO number one: It's the night before Election Day. Across America, voters turn on their televisions hoping to catch the final hours of the presidential campaign and instead hear the awful news. In coordinated attacks, terrorists have killed their favored candidates for both president and vice president. Now what?The answer in both cases -- and several equally unpleasant variants: Nobody knows.

Democrat Barack Obama is the odds-on favorite to win Illinois’ open Senate seat this November. Mr. Obama has said he’ll pattern himself after the late Senator Paul Simon. Mr. Simon was regarded very highly by members of both major parties. I have no reason to doubt that the stories of his honesty and personal decency are true. He seemed, unlike the many pols who flip flop all the time, enormously principled and voted his conscience. The problem, from this conservative’s perspective, is that the Senator was hopelessly, numbingly, irredeemably liberal. So is Mr. Obama, who in the primary campaign ran...

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) - Former Sen. Paul Simon was memorialized in a musical and emotional service where he was hailed as a tireless champion of the oppressed and a decent man even to his adversaries. The two-hour service at a Southern Illinois University arena was downright grand for a man who was famous for his modesty. It included a 60-piece orchestra and the rousing strains of ``Battle Hymn of the Republic,'' ``America the Beautiful,'' and Beethoven's ``Ode to Joy.'' The tribute was based on the instructions of the 75-year-old Simon, who died unexpectedly Dec. 9 in Springfield after suffering complications...

<p>More Wire Service Stories Breaking News Business Entertainment Politics Science Sports Technology World Simon died at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, a day after undergoing heart surgery, his office at Southern Illinois University said.</p> <p>Through two terms in the U.S. Senate and five in the House of Representatives, as well as 14 years in the Illinois state legislature and a unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, Simon remained an approachable man of conscience. After leaving Washington in 1997, he became the head of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University and continued to be involved in a number of major issues including reform of the death penalty and the campaign finance system. House Speaker Dennis Hastert called Simon "a distinguished statesman ... a selfless public servant." Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont said Simon "served the residents of Illinois and the entire nation with grace, intelligence and passion. He was always one to put partisan politics aside and fight for what he truly believed in." The author or co-author of at least 20 books, he wrote on topics ranging from world hunger to Abraham Lincoln. Two of his books were published in October, including one, "Our Culture of Pandering" in which he wrote: "In too many areas we have spawned 'leadership' that does not lead, that panders to our whims rather than telling us the truth, that follows the crowd rather than challenging us, that weakens us rather than strengthening us." SPONSORED VARIED BILLS Liberal to moderate in politics, he was the chief Democratic sponsor of the balanced budget amendment while in the Senate and he authored a number of education and job-related laws. When he sought the presidential nomination he portrayed himself as a genuine, down-to-earth person in an era of slick image makers. While other Democrats spoke of redefining their party's image and said the time for big social welfare programs had passed, Simon pressed for traditional Democratic programs such as government jobs programs and higher health care spending. A college drop-out, Simon once owned more than a dozen small weekly newspapers in rural Illinois. Born in Eugene, Oregon, on Nov. 29, 1928, shortly after his missionary parents returned from China, he moved to Southern Illinois after his parents were assigned there. He studied journalism at the University of Oregon and attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but did not receive a degree from either school. At the age of 19 Simon left college to buy a defunct newspaper in Troy, Illinois, with a $3,600 loan underwritten by the local Lions Club -- a move that made him the youngest editor-publisher in the nation at the time. He earned a reputation as a crusader who exposed syndicated gambling ties to local officials and made a successful run for the Illinois House at the age of 25. He was married to Jeanne Simon, also a former state lawmaker, in 1960, and the couple had two children. A collaborator on many of Simon's books, she died in 2000. Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.</p>

Sen. Simon passed away. It was just announced on FNC. This is the previous thread on his condition.Former Sen. Paul Simon Awaits Heart Surgery, Endorses Dean From Hospital Bed

Dec 5, 2003 Former Sen. Paul Simon Awaits Heart Surgery, Endorses Dean From Hospital Bed The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Former Sen. Paul Simon has been hospitalized for a heart condition. The 75-year-old Simon was admitted to St. John's Hospital after suffering shortness of breath on Thursday, when he had planned to announce his endorsement of Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean. Simon, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, went ahead with the announcement in a telephone conference call, but he didn't tell reporters he was speaking from a hospital bed. Simon said by telephone Friday he...

Just heard on the news that two Republicans will join Gray Davis in voting for stalled California Budget. Just two more votes needed to pass the Largest budget in California History. If this is passed with the help of Republicans it could propell Davis into a second Governorship.