I really liked this guy. He was a former college professor who ran for US Senate in his first ever political campaign and won, defeating the incumbent Rudy Boschowitz, the only one to defeat a Senate incumbent in '90.
He was a liberal as they come, probably the most liberal Senator of his day but it wasn’t an act; the guy really was a liberal, 24X7, and didn’t seem to ever compromise on his convictions. He proposed some pretty far-out stuff sometimes (45 miles per gallon average for cars sold in the US may have been one of them) but he earned the respect of his colleagues and could never be accused of using a wind sock.
After his first election, he promised to limit himself to two terms but changed his mind and was in the midst of a whirlwind campaign today in a tight race for his third term when the small jet he was aboard crashed, killing all eight aboard including his wife and daughter.
Reminds me of the Carnahan death - another liberal senator killed in a plane crash a few weeks before cruising to victory in an election vital to control of the Senate. Hell of a coincidence to have such a thing happen in consecutive election years.
Even dead, the Missouri voters still found Carnahan a better candidate than his opponent John Ashcroft. Hopefully the voters of Minnesota will not allow the GOP to ultimately profit from this recent tragedy, and continue to assert Democratic control of that seat.