Gov. Mel Carnahan passed 6 years ago today

[OzarkDem]

A wonderful governor for Missouri from 1993 til his death. He was in a tightly contested race for the Senate with John Ashcroft when his plane crashed on the way to a campaign event, killing him, his son and his campaign manager. He was such a beloved governor that he won his senate race posthumously, giving Ashcroft his first defeat by a deceased candidate. His wife, Jean served in his place.

His son is in Congress and his daughter is Secy of State of Missouri, fighting electronic voting fraud.

I cried all morning when it hit the news as I folded laundry and got ready to go to work for the Gore 2000 campaign.

RIP Governor Carnahan. Missouri would be a much different place if you were still here. Claire McCaskill is going to win your seat back from Jim Talent.

[razors edge]

1. K&R

[Dinger]

2. Indeed!

I don't wantto jinx anything, but IF the right thing happens, I will celebrate the Claire McCaskill's Missouri victory with all my heart:loveya:

[Greeby]

3. Personally, I can't think of a better parting gift

Than throwing Ashkkkroft out of the Senate :patriot:

[AllegroRondo]

7. Asscroft is not in the Senate

thank god. Our current Senator up for de-election is Jim no-Talent.

After he lost to Carnahan in 2000, Bush chose him as Attorney General. He left that job a couple years ago and was replaced with Gonzales. Now he just peddles badly written books.

[Greeby]

14. Thats what I'm referring to

Like most people overseas, I only knew about this through Fahrenheit 9/11 "The voters preferred the dead guy" :rofl:

[deadparrot]

16. In St. Louis, that line was accompanied by cheers and whistles

from the audience. :)

[AllegroRondo]

18. Were you at the same screening I was at?

the cheers and laughter were amazing!

[bumblebee1]

4. Mr Ashcroft certainly fit the definition of unpopular.

Losing your Senate seat to a dead man.

[loyalsister]

5. In honor of Gov. Carnahan, today, the MO SC preserved voting rights..

AFFIRMED.
Court en banc holds: (1) The trial court properly held that SB 1014's photo ID requirement violates the equal protection clause of article I, section 2 of the state constitution. It also properly held that the photo ID requirement violates the right to vote as guaranteed by article I, section 25 of the state constitution, which provides more expansive and concrete protection to the right to vote than the federal constitution. In reaching these conclusions, this Court applies strict scrutiny analysis, in which any limitation on a fundamental right must serve compelling state interests and must be narrowly tailored to meet those interests. SB 1014's photo ID requirement fails to pass constitutional scrutiny because it creates a heavy burden on the fundamental right to vote and is not narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest.
(2) Many of the between 3 and 4 percent of Missourians who lack the requisite photo ID are eligible registered voters who, under the new law, will not be able to cast a regular ballot (or, after 2008 when the provisional ballot availability expires, any ballot at all) unless they obtain the requisite photo ID. Requiring these Missourians to obtain one of the limited types of photo ID approved by SB 1014 in order to vote is more than a de minimis (very small or trifling) burden on their constitutional right of suffrage.
http://www.courts.mo.gov/Courts/PubOpinions.nsf/0f87ea4ac0ad4c0186256405005d3b8e/cd66cf7b2479b16d86257209005f0e7a?OpenDocument


Jefferson City, Missouri – Secretary of State Robin Carnahan today released the following statement:

"Today's ruling is a victory for Missouri voters. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold Judge Callahan's ruling provides absolute clarity that the photo ID law is unconstitutional and thus will not go into effect in Missouri.

It's my job to ensure fair elections, and elections cannot be fair if eligible voters are not allowed to vote. I'm pleased that this issue was resolved in a way that protects Missouri voters and preserves free and fair elections."

http://www.sos.mo.gov/news.asp?id=585

[OzarkDem]

6. Mel would be so proud of Robin

She fought long and hard to defeat this legislation, while working under pressure from the idiotic MO governor and fighting breast cancer at the same time.

She's great!

[philly_bob]

8. In retrospect, any doubts or suspicions about the plane crash? /nt

[OzarkDem]

11. His family won a lawsuit against a parts maker

for malfunctioning vacuum pumps that caused the failure of the plane's indicators. Since it was storming and raining and dark, his son, the pilot, couldn't read the attitude indicator to know the position of the nose of the plane as he tried to fly by instruments.

The problem, IIRC was compounded when he kept having to glance at the only working instruments on the co-pilot's side of the plane. The movement of his head back and forth during flight disturbed his inner ear and caused him to become disoriented.

http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/7447

His wife, Jean Carnahan, later returned the jury award

http://www.aero-news.net/Community/DiscussTopic.cfm?ContentBlockID=404de7c1-368d-464f-a48c-397695ac2949

[philly_bob]

12. Thanks. Looks like I can put that conspiracy theory away. /nt

[malmapus]

9. At first I thoguht "has it really been 6 years already?"

But then I realized that it did happen while the world was still mostly sane. I still love it thought that he beat Ashcroft after the fact :)

[Fovea]

10. Every time I ride the KATY Trail

I stop at his memorial bench, just west of Jeff and spend some time paying my respects.

The river is beautiful there.

[AtomicKitten]

13. even in death he beat Ashcroft - RIP

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/07/senate.missouri/

[Cha]

15. Bless Mel Carnahan's

heart and soul~O8) And a reminder for Democrats to stay out of small planes any time.

I'm just sayin'.

[electron_blue]

17. esp right befor elections...