ASHCROFT AND DOLE: TWO WORTH WATCHING

So Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft won't seek the Republican nomination for the presidency after all. In making this announcement last week, Ashcroft really did just about the only thing he could do. To say that isn't in any way to demean our state's junior senator, who has been extremely well received nationally over the last 18 months. As he has traveled to dozens of states and raised his profile by numerous appearances on national television, Ashcroft had become the favorite of many key players who count for plenty in the GOP nominating process.

Still, Gov. Mel Carnahan's early announcement, just the day after last November's election, that he would challenge Ashcroft next year, helped foreclose the senator's options. Virtually none of Ashcroft's supporters were advising him to continue on two tracks, simultaneously running for the presidency and for re-election to a second term. It would have required raising $20 million for the national effort while at the same time raising millions for his re-election campaign.

With the presidential decision behind him, Ashcroft is free to focus his famously competitive nature on the Senate race against the incumbent governor. It will prove a barnburner.

In addition, following his landslide re-election victory last November, Texas Gov. George W. Bush is thought by many to have become a nearly prohibitive favorite for the GOP presidential nod. With his father's Rolodex and his own, burnished by a strong record and an appealing persona, Bush occupies a very strong position indeed.

Still, another potential candidate made news this past week. Saying she may form an exploratory committee to consider a presidential run, Elizabeth Dole resigned from her position as president of the American Red Cross. At that post she has overseen the raising of $3.5 billion for the charity. Dole, a perfectionist, has held Cabinet positions under two presidents and has a compelling stage presence. She is an enormously impressive person. Still, the fact that she hasn't run for any public office will be a drawback, making it more likely that she would make any Republican a great vice presidential nominee. With Dole on a ticket, any reasonably strong presidential nominee could likely give Americans our first female vice president.