Bayh concerned about Republican cabinet nominees

Moderate Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is joining in the partisan battle over president-elect George W. Bush's two most controversial cabinet nominations -- former Mo. Sen. John Ashcroft for attorney general and Gale Norton for secretary of the interior. \nSeveral Democrats have said they oppose Ashcroft because of his conservative views on issues such as civil and reproductive rights. They question whether he will uphold laws he disagrees with as the nation's chief law enforcement officer.\nBush has said a "fair and balanced administration of justice" can be expected from the recently unseated Missouri senator, who also served two terms as both the state's governor and attorney general. \n"The senator has very serious concerns about Ashcroft," said Mark Kornblau, a spokesman in Bayh's Washington office. "In particular, he has serious reservations about his record on civil rights."\nBayh cited Ashcroft's opposition to affirmative action, hate crimes legislation and public school desegregation in St. Louis.\n"Hate crimes are tearing at the fabric of our society," Bayh said at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day memorial breakfast in Gary, Ind., according to The Hammond Times. "And we need someone who recognizes affirmative action is the same as equal opportunity."\nBayh also brought up the honorary degree Ashcroft received from Bob Jones University, which dropped a longtime ban on interracial dating last year. Ashcroft has said he wasn't aware of the policy when he delivered a commencement speech after accepting the degree. \n"I read cases my first year of law school that suggested that Bob Jones was not the kind of place you wanted to accept an honorary degree from," Bayh said.\nBut Bayh has not committed to voting against Ashcroft, unlike his colleague Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who has called Ashcroft an "extremist."\n"The point of the hearings is to give a full and fair change to explain your views," Kornblau said. "So his mind won't be absolutely set before that happens."\nBayh has also expressed reservations about Norton, a former Colorado attorney general who Democrats have said favors business at the expense of the environment.\n"The Senator is especially concerned about her support of drilling in the Arctic Wildlife," Kornblau said.\nBut Kornblau said Bayh doesn't want to get bogged down in partisan bickering, noting that he fully intends to back 14 of Bush's 16 nominations. His counterpart, Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said he hopes the process of confirming the Bush appointees goes smoothly.\n"Lugar has supported nominations equally from both parties over the years," said Andy Fisher, Lugar's Washington spokesman. "Of course, he'll look for disqualifiers, but he's never held up the process."\n The Associated Press contributed to this report.