In Missouri’s November senatorial election, John Ashcroft was defeated by the then recently deceased Mel Carnahan. Before the election, Missouri’s governor announced that Mr. Carnahan’s wife, Jean, would be appointed to the Senate if her deceased husband won the race. She is now a U.S. senator.
Following his defeat, John Ashcroft elected to take the high road and did not proceed with what some thought might have been a successful contest of the Missouri election results (there were some irregularities in the process). Part of the rationale for Mr. Ashcroft not contesting the election was his stated belief that the process might add to the already considerable anguish suffered by the Carnahan family.
Later, Sen. Jean Carnahan joined the slandering Democratic minority and voted against the nomination of John Ashcroft for the position of U.S. attorney general. Regrettably her act gives credence to the oft-uttered adage “no good deed goes unpunished.”
