BAILEY BID IS A REMINDER

Tuesday's Missouri primary saw the defeat of a familiar name in Show Me State politics: Former State Treasurer Wendell Bailey. The colorful Bailey was attempting a comeback in a vacant state senate seat in Southwest Missouri. Bailey, who also served one term in Congress in the early 1980s, was the subject of a two-year long federal criminal investigation. That probe ended in his complete vindication, but only after he was indicted and then un-indicted when the prosecutor withdrew his own faulty indictment. The investigation then wore on for about two years before the prosecutor issued a "clean letter" to Bailey.

Bailey did absolutely nothing wrong. His defeat Tuesday may owe more to flip-flops on issues such as abortion than it does to the federal investigation. The manner in which federal prosecutors treated him, however, couldn't have helped. It is a cautionary tale that brings to mind the awesome power of federal prosecutors, and the awesome responsibilities that go with it.