Word: ashcrofts
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...Republicans charge that Dems are simply trying to give Ashcroft's adversaries more time to mobilize and protest against his nomination. Democrats defend their decision, and some say they fear Ashcroft's true political nature was carefully masked during his time before the committee...
...Ranking Democratic committee member Patrick Leahy, in conjunction with other committee Democrats, used a perfectly legal but intentionally frustrating stall tactic, asking for an extra week to consider Ashcroft's nomination before calling a committee vote. The stay conveniently provides Dems with a chance to dig up more information on the nominee, which they hope will in turn stoke the flames of support for a filibuster, which some Democrats, notably Edward Kennedy, consider a real possibility once the nomination reaches the Capitol floor...
...method of delay is simple: Ashcroft, says Leahy, is to provide written answers to more than 150 written questions. (Senator Hatch is on the record calling at least some of the questions "too personal" in nature; given the sheer number, one can only imagine the minutiae into which many of the queries must delve...
...Ashcroft supporters are confident he will be confirmed...
...While GOP leaders are confident they've locked up their party's 50 votes in favor of Ashcroft, no one is absolutely sure how many Democrats are considering giving him the green light - although West Virginia's Robert Byrd, Georgia's Zell Miller and North Dakota's Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan have all expressed their intentions to confirm. One Democrat on the committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, doesn't need the extra week to make up her mind about Ashcroft; she has already announced her opposition to the nominee, citing his "ultra-right-wing" record on hot-button...