I just heard on the news that Mel Carnahan’s mini plane went down somewhere near St. Louis. They’re calling it “a crash no one could survive.”
Fuck me.
–Tim
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/governor001017.html
Looks like it.
<hugs for the state at large>
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Homer *
**I just heard on the news that Mel Carnahan’s mini plane went down somewhere near St. Louis. They’re calling it “a crash no one could survive.”
Well, that’s never any good. ;p ick. I hate hearing about plane crashes… creeps me out.
Great googly moogly! Way to wake me up in the middle of a late shift! That poor family, losing both a father and a son at the same time. The holidays are just going to be hell for them.
On a related note, the newsroom is going to be hell tomorrow afternoon because of this. And I bet my current article gets bumped into the Thursday edition. I really hate myself for having these be the first thoughts to pop into my head.
Fortunately for my self-esteeem, my first thoughts were “That’s terrible. His poor family.”
Of course, human curiousity being what it is, my second thoughts were: “So what happens in the Senate race - does it get deferred, or do the Dems quickly nominate someone else?”
{{{Homer}}}
Hmm, wonder if they’ll postpone the debates tonight, weren’t they there?
How sad. I hope it was quick, with not much pain or terror. I’ve heard for years from my dad that those small planes are much more dangerous than the large ones.
JTI, you don’t postpone those races. They don’t even take the name off the ballot after a certain point. Leads to dead people being elected (one in NYC a few years ago - upper west side, IIRC). Procedures for naming a substitute for an elected dead guy is usually a party runoff, I believe. Some positions can be appointed, but I think the original had to take the seat first.
lurkernomore is correct. Carnahan is the democratic nominee and nothing can change that at this point. If he gets the majority of votes then I’m not sure what Missouri says has to happen. Either the governor gets to appoint someone to fill out the remainder of the term (in this case 6 full years) or a new election is called for next fall.
He was a good guy. This Missourian is in shock…
This story says that The governor’s name will indeed remain on the ballot. It does not say what would happen if he were to win. It does say that only way to elect a democrat at this point is a write-in campaign. However, it may mean the only way for that to happen on election day, and that if the governor wins there will be another election. Just a WAG.
I woke up to this news about an hour ago, and I am still pretty shocked. My wife works in the Missouri Capitol building and knew Chris Sifford, who was also killed in the crash, in a passing in the hallway sort of way. I am sure that she is in for a strange day at work.
This was discussed on the radio news this morning, with the possibilities of either postponing the debates, or just outright cancelling them. No updates here yet.
I believe that the story I linked to below says that the Federal Election Commission has consulted with both Senate campaigns and that they have made no recommendation as to cancelling tonight’s debate, and that at this point the plan is for the debate to go on as planned. This could change however.
Sorry, the story I linked to is above my last post. Also I should have said that they consulted the presidential campaigns, not the Senate campaigns.
What I heard on Fox news (so take it with a grain of salt) in St. Louis is that if Carnahan still wins the election, that the Lieutenant Governor (Roger Wilson, who is now interim Governor and will become Governor when they identify Governor Carnahan) would either pick a Democrat to be senator or would do it himself, and there’d be another election in 2 years. That doesn’t sound right, but it’s what I heard.
I didn’t agree with the governor on a lot of things, but it’s an awful way to die and a terrible sorrow for his family. Prayers go with him and his survivors.
Palandine, what you heard on Fox appears to be correct. It is being reported on the AP wire.
Every Missourian out there has my deepest condolences. Governor Carnahan was a good friend to my organization, and we were doing our best to see him elected to the Senate this November. He was a damn good man, and I hope his wife will be well-taken care of. I’ve spoken to him and to his associates myself, and have nothing but kind regards for his administration.
I am also sorry that you guys in Missouri will likely have to deal with another six years of Ashcroft.
MR
I heard this morning that Ashcroft said he’d postpone the debates this evening out of respect for the family.
You can read about the story itself here: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/us/Governor_Mel_Carnahan/
My condolences to all Missourians. How very sad.