CARNAHAN NEEDS TO TAKE STAND ON ASHCROFT

U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan will soon have to make a decision about the nomination of John Ashcroft to be U.S. attorney general. Her unwillingness to either give outright support to a fellow Missourian or to oppose his nomination on partisan or idealistic grounds leaves an unnecessary void.

So far, Carnahan's public statements on the Ashcroft nomination have been meek and mild. She is on record as saying she differs with her Senate predecessor and her husband's political foe on issues but believes he isn't a racist, as some of her Democratic colleagues have suggested. Carnahan's staff also is on record as saying she shouldn't be dragged into the nomination controversy. Why not?

Carnahan is the junior U.S. senator from Missouri. She got to Washington by being willing to accept a senatorial appointment after her late husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, won by a slim margin as Ashcroft sought to retain his Senate seat.

Jean Carnahan is no political novice. She was at her husband's side throughout his long and distinguished political career. She observed firsthand the nuances of political strategy. She knows full well the importance attached to an officeholder's words or lack of comment, particularly when that officeholder is a governor or U.S. senator.

So why hasn't Carnahan taken a position on Ashcroft?

The reasons are many. As a new senator with only a few days of on-the-job experience under her belt, Carnahan and her handlers obviously don't want to start her Senate career by speaking out strongly on such a controversial issue -- controversial to some special-interest groups that supported her husband. If she says what she knows in her heart -- that Ashcroft is an honorable man and demonstrated it as governor, attorney general and auditor of Missouri -- she will be attacked by these special interests and some fellow Democrats. If she sells out to the opposition nonsense being tossed around about Ashcroft, she will have to face irate Republicans -- in this case voters here in Missouri who could make or break her political future.

Adding to the disappointment of her meek position so far was the release last week of anti-Ashcroft research generated by her husband's campaign organization. Carnahan says she didn't have anything to do with that. If that's true, it's a pretty clear indication of who's in charge of her Senate office: clintonized staff members who believe any means is justified by the end.

If Jean Carnahan wants to be a senator in the mold of either her dead husband or her predecessor in the U.S. Senate, she needs to take command. She can start by speaking up, either for or against John Ashcroft.