Ashcroft On Track for Confirmation

Thursday, January 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” John Ashcroft appears headed toward becoming the nation's next attorney general, but Democrats are questioning which Ashcroft it will be â€” the fiery conservative who rejects ``pragmatism'' and ``conciliation'' as ``deceptions,'' or the temperate Senate witness eager to shed that image.

``It almost seems like there are two John Ashcrofts,'' Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after President-elect Bush's nominee to head the Justice Department had endured two days of grilling by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Amid the harshest attacks yet, Ashcroft did not budge from his opposition that blocked a federal judgeship for Ronnie White, a black Missouri Supreme Court judge. Ashcroft in 1999 convinced his GOP colleagues that the judge had a history of ruling to overturn death sentences.

``What happened to him was disgraceful, and I don't believe the facts back it up,'' said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who argued that White affirmed the death penalty 70 percent of the time, only slightly less often than other judges appointed by then-Gov. Ashcroft.

White was scheduled to testify Thursday as the key witness opposing Ashcroft's nomination.

Democrats said Wednesday they were struggling with whether to believe Ashcroft's repeated pledge to enforce the law even when a statute conflicts with his deeply held beliefs.

For example, Ashcroft promised not to seek Supreme Court reversal of a woman's right to abortion and pledged to defend the constitutionality of gun controls he had opposed in the Senate.

``Quite frankly, I don't know what to believe,'' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. ``You have in fact been an implacable foe of a woman's right to choose for a quarter of a century.''

Ashcroft, who as Missouri attorney general repeatedly sought to restrict abortion under the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, said he has no intention of trying to get the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling.

``I will enforce the law fairly and aggressively, firmly,'' Ashcroft said. ``I know the difference between the debate over enacting the law and the responsibility of enforcing the law, and that's been clear in my record as a public servant.''

The nominee listened as former colleagues read his own words to him, often conservative rhetoric like this during his exploration of a White House bid in 1998: ``There are voices in the Republican Party today who preach pragmatism, who champion conciliation, who counsel compromise. I stand here today to reject those deceptions.''

Ashcroft said he meant the GOP should state strong conservative views at the outset of any negotiation, expecting ``that by the time you finish, you're going to have ... something people can generally support.''

Ashcroft's Republican supporters said he would have no problem leaving his ideology on the Justice Department steps because he will serve as the lawyer for the American people, a distinctly different role from the Senate seat he held for six years.

``He's in the unfortunate position of having to prove a negative â€” that he won't do something improper,'' Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said.

Despite detailed questions from Democrats who continued to express skepticism, Ashcroft's nomination showed signs of progress. Zell Miller of Georgia became the first Senate Democrat to announce support for Ashcroft, and two others, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Joe Biden of Delaware, predicted his confirmation.

On Wednesday, Ashcroft concluded the question-and-answer session by describing his intention to travel across the nation as the people's lawyer.

``I intend to engage in a conversation with the American people as aggressively as I can,'' he said, about not only his own vision of the Justice Department's mission but about theirs as well.

Still, Ashcroft did not placate Democrats on all their concerns.

Would he return as attorney general to Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian college that until recently banned interracial dating?

``I don't want to rule out that,'' Ashcroft replied, though he added he is more sensitive now and would go only ``where I can unite people.''

Would he denounce Southern Partisan magazine as racist, after learning it has praised the conduct of slave-owners and called blacks temperamentally unfit for democracy?

Ashcroft refused, saying he needed to know more about the magazine's stands. ``I'd rather be falsely accused of being a racist than falsely accuse someone of being racist,'' said Ashcroft. Later, he added, ``I don't ever want to do an interview with a magazine that in any way promotes slavery.''

Biden admonished him the issue is ``a big deal.''

``You've got 20 million black Americans out there that you're going to be representing,'' Biden said. ``They're going to look to you and say, 'Is this guy going to enforce the law?' And then they're going to say, 'Wait a minute, this guy finds out that this outfit is this racist, neo-Confederate outfit that writes things about Jews and blacks and Eastern Europeans and immigration, and he doesn't condemn them.'''

Ashcroft said those who now lack confidence in his dedication to protecting the interests of minorities will change their minds, ``because I will serve, and I will serve well.''