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Missouri Elects Dead Democrat to Senate as Republicans Cling to Narrow Leads in Both Houses November 8, 2000 Republicans retained the majority of both houses of Congress in Tuesday's elections but lost ground in both chambers. In one of the weirdest political moves since insane Roman emperor Caligula appointed his horse as consul, Missouri voters elected dead governor Mel Carnahan as their senator. Carnahan was killed in a plane crash on October 16. His death came too late under Missouri law to remove his name from the ballot. His successor as governor, Lt. Gov. Gov. Roger Wilson, also a Democrat, said that he would appoint Carnahan's widow to the seat if the dead governor won the election. Carnahan defeated incumbent Republican Senator John Ashcroft. Despite Ashcroft's loss in Missouri, Republicans held onto a one-seat majority in the Senate, but one unresolved race could leave the body evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. In Washington, Republican incumbent Slade Gorton is locked in a dead heat with Democrat Maria Cantwell, a dot.com millionaire who spent $10 million of her own money to her campaign. Pending the outcome of the Washington race, Republicans hold 50 seats in the Senate and Democrats 49. Should the final outcome be a 50-50 split, Republicans will maintain control of the Senate, no matter who wins the White House. A Republican vice president, in his role as president of the Senate, would break a tie in favor of the Republicans. But if Democrats take the White House, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was re-elected to the Senate in Connecticut, would resign his Senate seat to become vice president. That would leave Connecticut's Republican governor to name a GOP replacement. Carnahan and Ashcroft were longtime rivals in Missouri politics and had been locked in a neck-and-neck race. But Carnahan proved more popular dead than alive, and Ashcroft was unwilling to sling mud at his dead rival. Ashcroft, a former Missouri governor himself, was serving his first term in the Senate. Carnahan's election is the first time anyone a dead man has been elected to the Senate seat, although voters on three occasions have elected dead candidates to the House. Republicans have weighed whether they will go to court to challenge the Missouri outcome, but Ashcroft said Wednesday he would not. The U.S. Constitution states that "No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen." Some have argued that being dead disqualifies Carnahan from being an inhabitant of Missouri, since inhabit means to "live in." However, Carnahan's supporters insist that even though he is six feet under, he still "inhabits" Missouri" in the same sense that Pikes Peak "inhabits" Colorado and Mammoth Cave "inhabits" Kentucky. It all depends on what your definition of "is" is. With their success in electing the dead Carnahan to the Senate, Missouri Democrats may next turn to running Harry Truman for the Senate. Republican Christopher "Kit" Bond was re-elected to a third term in the United States Senate in 1998 with a nine point margin in a year when the Republican Party lost other key incumbent Senators nationwide. However, now that Missourians have set a precedent of electing dead people to the Senate, Bond could expect a stiff challenge from the dead former president in 2004 assuming that the governorship remains in Democratic hands. However, this would raise an interesting question of who would be the senior senator, since Truman has been dead longer than Carnahan. The narrow Republican edge puts new focus on two older Republicans in states with Democratic governors who would appoint any replacements. South Carolina's Strom Thurmond, at 97, is the oldest senator ever. (However, Truman, born in 1884, will break that record if Missouri returns him to the Senate.) Thurmond was briefly hospitalized last month after fainting in a restaurant (was it age or the food?) but returned to preside over a Senate session less than two days later. North Carolina's Jesse Helms, 79, also went to the hospital in October with pneumonia that has kept him home for nearly a month. However, now that the precedent has been set for electing dead men to the Senate, maybe senators will be able to retain their senate seats after they die. Tuesday's elections saw Democrats pick up three seats in the Senate. Four GOP incumbents, including Ashcroft, and one Democrat lost re-election battles. In addition to Ashcroft, Republican incumbents losing re-election bids were Rod Grams of Minnesota, William Roth of Delaware, and Spencer Abraham of Michigan. Democratic incumbent Charles Robb of Virginia lost to George Allen, Jr., son of dead Washington Redskins coach George Allen, Sr. If the Redskins continue their poor performance this season, the Redskins management may reappoint the dead Allen, Sr., as head coach. After all, if it works for the Senate, why not the NFL? Tuesday's race also saw first lady Hillary Clinton win a Senate seat from New York, replacing a retiring Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Mrs. Clinton won the Senate seat despite never living in New York. The U.S. Constitution states that "No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen." Mrs. Clinton was born and raised in Illinois, educated at Wellesley (Massachusetts) and Yale (Connecticut), worked in Washington, D.C., then married Bill Clinton and moved to Arkansas, where she remained until returning to Washington as first lady in 1993. Since she never set foot in New York except to campaign and shop, some have argued that she doesn't qualify to be New York's senator. However, Mrs. Clinton's supporters point out that a rich acquaintance "gave" the Clintons a $1.7 million house in Chappaqua, New York (note: when some one gives the president $1.7 million of property, it's not a bribe but a campaign contribution). Presumably, ownership of any property worth a million dollars qualifies one for New York residency whether one lives there or not. Besides, in the three weeks before the election, Mrs. Clinton "lived" in New York longer than Mel Carnahan "lived" in Missouri (note that we said "lived" which implies alive, in the same sense that Pikes Peak lives in Colorado). It all depends on what your definition of "is" is. In New Jersey, political novice Jon Corzine, a Democrat, proved that money counts. The former Goldman Sachs chief executive spent a Senate campaign record of $60 million, mostly his own money, to fill a vacant Democratic seat. The Democratic challenger in Minnesota, Mark Dayton, spent more than $11 million of his own money to defeat Rod Grams. What is it with all of these rich Democratic politicians? We thought the Republicans were the rich ones. In the House, Republicans will retain the narrowest majority since the 1954 elections. It appears that when the 107th Congress convenes in January 2001, the Republicans will have 220 seats; Democrats 211 seats; and independents 2 seats. A majority in the 435-seat House requires at least 218 seats. Heading into the election, Republicans held a 13-seat margin over the Democrats in the House, 223-210, and two seats were held by independents. Although all 435 members of the House were up for re-election Tuesday, control of the lower chamber hinged on the outcome of a relatively small number of competitive races -- particularly for 26 seats vacated by retiring Republicans, and nine others left open by Democrats. Republicans successfully defended nearly all their open seats, while most strong Democratic challenges to Republican incumbents never fully materialized. President Clinton made good on his vow to wreak vengeance on the House Republicans behind his impeachment. Republican Jay Dickey, a House impeachment manager, lost his Arkansas' 4th District seat to Democratic challenger Mike Ross. And, in California, Republican Jim Rogan, another impeachment manager, was defeated by Democratic state Sen. Adam Schiff.
© 2000 TruthNews. All Rights Reserved. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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