ASHCROFT SAYS THIS FALL'S SENATE RACE OFFERS A CLEAR CHOICE TO VOTERS

U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., said Wednesday that this fall's Senate race in Missouri offers voters a clear choice.

Ashcroft, a Republican, is opposed in November by Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan.

Ashcroft said the election offers a choice between "the old ways of Washington" and those who have worked to reform government.

He told about a dozen supporters in Cape Girardeau that he was campaigning on a "Missouri Values" platform that has balanced the budget and protected Social Security.

He said Carnahan stands for an old-fashioned tax-and-spend agenda that in the past has raided Social Security and Medicare.

Ashcroft met with supporters at the rural Cape Girardeau home of Paul Summers, one of several stops he made around the state Wednesday.

The senator talked about past problems with the federal government.

In 1994, the federal government raided $296 billion from Social Security, racked up a national debt of $1.2 trillion and left Medicare on the brink of bankruptcy, he said.

"Instead of fighting for Missouri's working families, Mel Carnahan went to Washington that year and lobbied for the old Washington ways," Ashcroft said.

The senator said Carnahan opposes eliminating the marriage tax.

"Old habits die hard, making Mel Carnahan a threat to working families," he said.

Ashcroft said welfare-to-work and other reforms instituted by the GOP-led Congress have worked and will continue to work.