Democratic Groups Form Anti-Ashcroft Coalition

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 9 -- Two hundred Democratic-leaning organizations have formed a coalition against John Ashcroft, promising to fight tooth and nail against the confirmation of President-elect Bush’s nominee for attorney general.

When Bush made Ashcroft, a former senator from Missouri and one of the body’s most conservative members, his choice to head the Justice Department, he touched off a firestorm of protest from “pro-choice,” pro-gun control and other special interest groups. Today, those groups formed an alliance to challenge the nomination.

Ashcroft ‘Too Extreme,’ Opponents Say

“Simply put, John Ashcroft’s views on a range of issues that would be the subject of his work as attorney general are simply too extreme,” Wade Henderson, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said as he announced the coalition at a press conference in Washington.

“John Ashcroft … will roll back decades of legal advances and public policy gains for women and their families,” the National Women’s Law Center said in a statement.

Ashcroft’s opponents are outraged by his fierce opposition to abortion rights, affirmative action and many gun control measures.

The NAACP points to Ashcroft’s effort to block the nomination of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White, an African-American, to the federal bench. That half-million strong, predominantly African-American civil rights group helped mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts for Bush’s opponent, Vice President Al Gore. Now, the NAACP and other organizations in the coalition are mobilizing to get out the vote against Ashcroft’s confirmation in the Senate.

A number of the organizations are conducting opposition research against Ashcroft and preparing to release reports detailing his record and past controversial statements in an effort to pressure Senate Democrats to vote against his confirmation.

The Senate, now comprised of 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats, is traditionally deferential to former members who are appointed to serve in the executive branch. But many leading Democrats are now sharply criticizing their former colleague.