Word: ashcroft
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...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 unexpectedly while in office. Carnahan's death would seem to all but guarantee the re-election of John Ashcroft, a conservative Republican he had feuded with since serving as his Lieutenant Governor back...
...there's still a slim chance that Carnahan might 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 requires 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 stand...
...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...
...piloted by Carnahan's son Randy crashed Monday night in the rainy Missouri woods about 30 miles south of St. Louis. Carnahan was on the way to a campaign stop in New Madrid, Mo., in the midst of a hotly contested race to unseat conservative Republican senator John Ashcroft in a race considered crucial to the future balance of the Senate. (Ashcroft's campaign immediately pulled all its advertising in deference to the tragedy...
...race has been ugly. When Ashcroft opposed the nomination of Missouri's Ronnie White, an African American, to the federal bench last year, some Democrats suggested the opposition was racially motivated. Ashcroft, whose wife teaches at historically black Howard University, took justifiable umbrage. Shortly after the controversy erupted, a G.O.P. source leaked a 40-year-old photo of Carnahan in blackface at a minstrel show at a Kiwanis Club. (The Governor apologized.) This kind of sniping probably won't decide the race. If Carnahan can make Ashcroft seem too conservative, he'll win. Likewise, if Ashcroft can seem like...