At 6:04 PM -0500 on 11/6/98, National Review DC wrote:

ASHCROFT 2000 RIP? Gov. Mel Carnahan (D., Mo.) has announced he will challenge Sen. John Ashcroft's (R., Mo.) re-election. It's an ominous move for the freshman senator's presidential bid. Sen. Phil Gramm had a tougher race than usual following his disastrous 1996 run for the presidency, and he was running against a political nobody. Gov. Carnahan is politically formidable, and could give Ashcroft a run for his money even without the distractions, missed votes, and potential embarrassments of a presidential campaign. Ashcroft now must worry about the Dornan effect.

On the other hand, Ashcroft would be able to convert any funds raised in a presidential campaign to his Senate race if he lost the former. But handicappers already question how much he can raise.

----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'