SHORT TAKES : Politicians Strike Patriotic Note

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. John Ashcroft and Missouri legislators struck up the band for an impromptu patriotic Capitol corridor concert.

The Republican governor doffed his suit coat for the piano performance Wednesday outside the Capitol offices of GOP lawmakers. He was accompanied on fiddle by Reps. Dale Whiteside and Todd Akin on guitar.

Ashcroft played half a dozen songs during his 15-minute turn at the keyboard, including “God Bless America,” “When The Saints Go Marching In,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home.”

The governor’s finale was “The Missouri Waltz,” the state song.

Ashcroft has played piano for decades and once sang on the Grand Ole Opry but was modest about the corridor concert: “You can say I’ve been trying to play piano for 40 years.”