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Originally Posted by guy44
Also, I'd like to point out that he wasn't just reviled during his stint as AG. During the 2000 election, he lost to his dead opponent (Mel Carnahan). I mean, that's really saying something.
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I would just like to point out that this has very little to do with anything. Ashcroft, believe it or not, is (or maybe was) the most popular Governor MO has ever had. He served 2 terms as Governor and easily won his first term in the Senate in 94. In 2000 he was leading by as much as 7 points in the polls over Gov. Carnahan until the day his plane crashed. Since Gov. Carnahan was also a 2 term Governor who was survived by his wife and children, there was an overwhelming sympathy vote. Furthermore, Ashcroft suspended campaigning out of respect for the Carnahan family, even as the MO Dem. party was continuing the Carnahan campaign and announcing that they would appoint his widow to serve his term if he won. Jean Carnahan was appointed after the sympathy vote and served 2 yrs. in the Senate. She lost re-election in 2002 (the first election to fill the seat for the remainder of the 6 yr. term) to former Rep. Jim Talent. It is widely regarded here in MO that one of the main contributing factors to Mrs. Carnahan's loss is that she opposed John Ashcroft's appointment to AG. That was seen as a ridiculous act of partisanship and gave the impression that she was only a puppet of Sen. Daschle and the Dem. leadership. In effect, she lost to a Pro-Ashcroft backlash.
Doesn't really answer why Ashcroft is so hated on the national scene, but I thought it would provide some background on the "lost to a dead man" issue.