Ashcroft Death Watch, Part III

Ashcroft has increasingly found himself in the crosshairs of right-wing pundits and administration officials. Here's the latest installment:

Underlying much of the grumbling over Ashcroft's profile are questions about his motives. His elevated stature has kept alive speculation that Ashcroft, a former senator, governor, state attorney general and presidential hopeful, might be weighing another run for political office.

His aides have repeatedly dismissed speculation that Ashcroft is aiming for the presidency or vice presidency, or that he would like to recapture the Senate seat he lost in 2000 to the widow of Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, who was killed in a plane crash shortly before the election.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is this quote:

In the Bush administration's war on terrorism, Ashcroft has served as the de facto minister of fear, issuing dire warnings of terrorist threats and announcing stringent new security measures with whirlwind frequency.

This is a news story in the Washington Post, not an opinion piece. The fact that Ashcroft is referred to as a "minister of fear" is significant. Not only does it indicate the media has completely turned against him, but that the Bush administration is no longer providing protection. He is on his own, and will flap in the wind until forced to announce his retirement to "spend more time with his family".

Posted June 17, 2002 08:41 AM | Comments (0)