Sen. Ron Wyden: Making Noise with Fearless Chutzpah
Ron Wyden was a 31-year-old organizer with militant seniors of the Gray Panthers when Portland voters sent him to Congress, upsetting veteran Rep. Bob Duncan.
Duncan was a pal of Tip O’Neill, and Wyden strove to project collegiality and competence when first meeting the House Speaker. It worked. “Look, kid, you will do just fine around here,” Tip told him with a broad grin.
Wyden has been “around here” for 44 years: He is now second longest serving Democrat (after Patty Murray) in the U.S. Senate. The “kid” is now 75 and himself a senior. But Sen. Wyden is still evincing youthful energy, hammering Cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for his anti-vaxxer views at a confirmation hearing last week.
Wyden faces a long commute home and has put to good use hours spent in seat 17C of Alaska Airlines’ D.C.-Portland flight. He has written a book entitled: It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change (Grand Central, $30).
https://www.postalley.org/2025/02/08/sen-ron-wyden-making-noise-with-fearless-chutzpah/