Holden says decisions weren't always politically smart

SEDALIA, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden said Thursday he was defeated for renomination because he made tough decisions that weren't always politically smart.

But Holden told The Associated Press he has no regrets -- either about his administration or the Democratic gubernatorial primary campaign he lost Aug. 3 to State Auditor Claire McCaskill.

"I had the right message. I spoke to the right values. I had to make some tough decisions," Holden said as he relaxed after opening the 103rd Missouri State Fair on Thursday evening.

Holden smiled and said he carries no bitterness about being rejected by a majority of voters in his own party. He attributed the defeat to tough state economic times that coincided with his watch as chief executive.

"When you're in the governor's office and you cut $1.2 billion, when you downsize government by over 3,000 people, you make a lot of decisions that may be right for the population but they may not always be right politically inside the Capitol," Holden said in his first extended interview since election night.

"But in every decision I made, the question I always asked myself is: 'Is this in the best interest of our children?' And if it wasn't in the best interest of our children, no matter who was out there against me, I was there fighting."

Holden lost most rural Missouri counties to McCaskill, who finished about 54,000 votes ahead of the one-term governor. Still, he introduced himself to the polite fair audience as "a son of a farmer" from Shannon County in the Ozarks.

In the audience, Greg Melton held up a poster he hand-lettered on the spot: "Governor Bob Holden, Thank you for 4 great years!"

"I just think he has shown a lot of class, especially in his concession speech," Melton said. "That really showed me some character."

In that election night speech, Holden quickly endorsed McCaskill and called for Democratic unity in November. He said he has already agreed to appear at a couple of fund-raising events for McCaskill,.

Holden said he and McCaskill have "mutual respect," after meeting for a private breakfast the morning after the election.

"We sometimes differ on approaches to issues maybe, but she would be a far better governor than Matt Blunt," the secretary of state and newly minted Republican gubernatorial nominee, Holden said.

With election pressure off, Holden was able to relish the 19-cannon salute accorded to the governor to open the fair, and spent Thursday evening walking the midway with his wife, Lori, and their son, John D.

Asked about job prospects once his term ends next January, Holden said, "I'm not ruling anything out." He said that included any prospect of a federal job if Democrat John Kerry wins the White House.

Since his defeat, Holden said, he has "gotten hundreds of letters and e-mails and things like this from people, because a lot of the constituencies that I protected don't vote, can't vote, but they are important to me."

And while he knew the race was tightening, Holden said he and his advisers still expected to pull off a win.

"All of our information was far different from how it came out," he said.