Missouri heavyweights slug it out in heated Senate race

By Patti Davis/CNN

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- During a recent visit to an ice cream parlor in St. Louis, Missouri, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft served up his favorite flavor to patrons -- politics.

Ashcroft is locked in a tough battle to keep his Senate seat from falling into the hands of another popular Missouri politician -- Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan. A recent poll conducted by the St. Louis Post Dispatch revealed a deadlocked race.

Democrats charge GOP Sen. John Ashcroft with trying to aid a communications merger between AT&T and Media One, in which he owns stock

"That gives us every reason to focus on the issues of this race -- issues like better and safer schools for all of our children by sending the resources back to school districts," Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft, a conservative Republican, himself served two terms as governor before winning Missouri's open U.S. Senate seat in 1994. He was succeeded as governor by Carnahan, who won terms in 1992 and 1996 by the widest margin any Democrat had gained since 1968.

"As the race focuses more and more on issues, and I think it will between now and November 7th, I think I have the strong side of that argument, rather considerably so, and I think that's how I win," Carnahan told CNN.

The polls show Carnahan gaining among women voters and Ashcroft with men. With 9 percent of those polled still undecided, negative ads are flooding Missouri's airwaves.

"I certainly think that the Missouri race in terms of dirtiness is about as dirty as any, and probably the dirtiest race, maybe equivalent with the one in New York," said Ken Warren, a political science professor at St. Louis University.

The two candidates have been lashing out at each other on a daily basis. There have been ugly insinuations of racism -- with Ashcroft under attack for blocking black Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White from moving to the federal bench, and Carnahan forced to apologize for appearing in blackface during a comedy skit in the 1960s.

Republicans label Gov. Mel Carnahan as a liberal Democrat with few accomplishments, but close ties to President Clinton

Missouri voters following the Senate contest have also been bombarded with rival claims over whether Ashcroft or Carnahan is the true "education" candidate.

"Now Missouri has the third-highest number of failing schools in America," claims a recent Ashcroft commercial. "Mel Carnahan: failing schools and taxpayers."

An "ad watch" put out by the Carnahan campaign disputes those claims: "Is John Ashcroft telling the truth? The (St. Louis) Post-Dispatch says no, and calls Ashcroft's TV ad misleading and unsubstantiated."

Although both candidates deny involvement in negative campaigning, the state's political parties haven't been afraid to toss political grenades on their behalf. Democrats have charged that Ashcroft tried to aid a recent communications merger between AT&T and Media One, in which he owns stock. Republicans have labeled Carnahan as a liberal Democrat with few accomplishments, but close ties to President Clinton.

Both candidates have denied active involvement in negative campaigning. But with the election a less than six weeks away, neither one is willing to is back off from the bruising campaign tactics.