Conservative groups, meanwhile, have mounted an equally aggressive ad campaign on Ashcroft's behalf. His answers during two days of testimony and to more than 360 written questions the committee's Democrats threw at him "are thorough and forthright," insists Jeanne Lopatto, an aide to the panel's GOP chairman, Orrin Hatch.
Ashcroft: A Battle to the Finish
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John Ashcroft still has the votes to be confirmed as attorney
general — perhaps this week — but his Senate opponents are fighting to the
end. Liberal groups used the weekend to gin up anti-Ashcroft ads in the
states of undecided senators. Democratic staffers on the Judiciary
Committee also are sending out memos citing instances when they say the former
Missouri senator didn't tell the truth — or at least the whole truth — during
his confirmation hearing. Ashcroft, for example, claimed he fought Ronnie
White's judicial nomination because "a substantial number of law
enforcement organizations" in his state opposed the black Missouri justice.
But Democrats say only two police groups opposed White, and only after
Ashcroft prodded them.