On the eve of tomorrow’s confirmation hearing, John Ashcroft – President-elect George W. Bush’s controversial attorney general pick – claims he has the secret support of at least 11 Democratic senators.
The claim, reported in Time magazine, confirms the current consensus that Ashcroft will win confirmation, which takes a Senate majority, after running a gantlet of tough questions at his confirmation hearing.
Bush, in an interview aired yesterday on NBC, said Ashcroft has a record of “inclusiveness” and added: “He’s going to enforce the laws on the books. He will not politicize the attorney general’s office.”
But a coalition of more than 200 civil-rights, women’s-rights, abortion-rights, gay-rights and gun-control groups is seeking to turn Ashcroft’s nomination into a litmus test and paint him as an extremist.
Bush – who got a minuscule share of the African-American vote on Election Day, including just 5 percent in his home state – today marks Martin Luther King Day by speaking at a school in Houston.
He’ll be accompanied by his popular pick for education secretary, Rod Paige, an African-American who now heads Houston schools and was acclaimed by Democrats normally harshly critical of Bush, like Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Bush says education is his No. 1 priority, and aides say one of the prime ways he hopes to reach out to minority voters is to show that he cares about public schools and sees education and opportunity as civil rights.
But many Democrats contend the choice of Ashcroft is racially insensitive because as a U.S. senator, he led the successful opposition to confirming Missouri Judge Ronnie White, who is black, to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Ashcroft contends that White is “pro-criminal,” and aides note that Ashcroft named eight blacks to judgeships while he was Missouri governor and backed 26 of 28 black judges nominated by President Clinton.
Despite the very vocal opposition to Ashcroft, even Democrats privately predict that – barring a surprise at his hearings – he will be confirmed with more than 60 votes and no Republican defections.
Republicans will control the U.S. Senate by a 51-50 margin after Dick Cheney becomes vice president with tie-breaking powers on Jan. 20.
Several moderate Republicans whom liberal interest groups had hoped to turn against Ashcroft have publicly backed him, and yesterday pro-choice Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he’ll back Ashcroft barring “extraordinary” developments at his hearings.
But some Democrats on the Judiciary Committee hope to turn the tide against Ashcroft by charging that the former Missouri attorney general illegally used government workers during his 1984 campaign for governor, The Washington Post reports today.
A former top aide to Ashcroft has admitted that he regularly wooed financial backers and performed other political activities while on government time during the campaign.
Ashcroft has said he was unaware of the activities.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted Ashcroft will pick up a number of votes from the 20 Democratic senators from states that voted for Bush, and liberal Democrats from some states that didn’t – like Russell Feingold of Wisconsin – have hinted they’ll back him.
But many or most Northeast Democrats are expected to oppose Ashcroft – Rep. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who hasn’t taken a formal position, yesterday described Ashcroft’s views as extremist.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said, “I’m going to see if . . . there’s anything to disqualify him. At this stage, I don’t see anything.”
Also facing confirmation bumps are Interior Secretary-designate Gale Norton, who is opposed by many environmental groups, and Environmental Protection Agency chief-designate Christie Todd Whitman, now New Jersey governor, who’s opposed by many minority leaders over her state’s racial-profiling controversy.