Word: ashcroft
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...weeks ago, Missouri's freshman senator, John Ashcroft, running neck-and-neck against the state's Democratic governor, Mel Carnahan, appeared to have been handed the race when Carnahan was killed in an air crash. Ashcroft said and did all the right things in the face of the tragedy, suspending his campaign and paying tribute to his opponent...
...Democrats' chances of taking control of the Senate. Ironically, they had that opportunity only because two G.O.P. Senators--Georgia's Paul Coverdell and Rhode Island's John Chaffee--died while in office. Carnahan's death would seem to all but guarantee the re-election of John Ashcroft, a conservative Republican Carnahan had feuded with since serving as his lieutenant governor back...
There's still a slim chance that Carnahan may win a posthumous victory. Under Missouri law, Carnahan's name will remain on the ballot despite his death. If he were somehow to defeat Ashcroft--the race had been very close--a series of odd but formidable events would unfold. On Jan. 3, Ashcroft's Senate term would expire. Missouri law would require the seat to be declared "vacant," since the victor in the election would be dead. The state's interim Governor, Roger Wilson, who took office last week upon Carnahan's death, would appoint an interim Senator, who would...
About the only way the late Carnahan can beat a living Ashcroft is if Wilson announces in advance whom he intends to appoint should Ashcroft lose. The problem for Wilson, and the Democrats, is that the choices are few. The state's leading member of Congress, House minority leader Richard Gephardt, doesn't want the job. Attorney General Jay Nixon and former Senator Thomas Eagleton probably can't beat Ashcroft. The only Democrat with a shot at doing that would be Carnahan's widow Jean. But since she also lost a son, Roger, in the crash (an aide...
...There are some indications she'll say yes - could she already be a front-runner? Missouri Democrats say Carnahan's support has jumped over 50 percent posthumously, and of course his opponent, John Ashcroft, has been forced to wait out this race in the shackles of decorum - no attacks, no comparisons, no nothing. It's harder running against a departed opponent than you might think...