Horrible. Unbelievable. // Waaay too too much of this lately. // Gareth, I'm not ready to believe your hypothesis -- yet. ("It's not dark yet; but it's gettin' there." - Dylan) // May he and the other victims now rest in a true Peace that passeth all understanding.

Coldly: as indicated in article above, there are 2 separate vacancies now, separately handled (like Missouri last time): one vacancy in the *office* of US Senator for the term expiring Jan. 3 2002; and the other in the party's (is it still DFL --Democrat-Farmer-Labor?) *nomination* of a *candidate* for Nov. 5 election to the successor term beginning that same day. // The immediate question for my sister & brother state election officials in MN (& God be with them too; these situations ain't easy, believe me) is, may the party still replace the deceased candidate on the ballot? The article suggests Yes. / Here in CT it would be definitely Yes, even at this late point in the election calendar. But it varies by state. Of course. Remember there is no such thing, ever, as a "national election" here.