Mrs. Clinton Walks Political Tightrope on Ashcroft Debate
  -- New York Whore Times

 Whore City, Jan. 16 — The furor over Smirk's choice for attorney general is shaping up as the first political
challenge for Hillary, who has been much less outspoken on the issue than many of her Democratic colleagues.

Democratic interest groups in New York said they were counting on her to oppose the selection of Ashcroft.
They cited his record as an outspoken conservative on gay rights, abortion, affirmative action, school
desegregation and other issues dear to them. To date, Mrs. Clinton has managed to sidestep the issue in a way
that is reminiscent of the cautious stances she frequently took during the campaign.

As such, the vote on Mr. Ashcroft is looming as a test of whether Mrs. Clinton will seek to position
herself as a national Democratic leader in her new job, or whether she will seek, at least initially, to act
more the role of the freshman senator. It should also offer an indication of the extent to which Mrs. Clinton
feels obligated to the groups that were critical to her first campaign for public office.

Republicans, too, will be closely watching Mrs. Clinton's response to the Ashcroft choice, waiting to
see if she is in fact the unrepentant partisan they have long suspected her of being.

Through a spokesman, Mrs. Clinton declined to be interviewed today on the issue. But when she was
asked in recent days about the choice of Mr. Ashcroft, Mrs. Clinton said she would withhold judgment
until after his confirmation hearings in the Senate were completed. Mrs. Clinton, however, has
expressed general concerns about Mr. Ashcroft.

People close to Mrs. Clinton say her relative silence on the matter is not entirely unexpected, given the
stakes involved. They say that given her high profile, she realizes that anything she says could taint the
cause of Democrats as they try to pin Mr. Ashcroft down on how he would carry out his duties as the
nation's top law enforcement officer.

Hillary has other reasons to tread carefully. As a junior senator, she does not want to upstage New York's
senior senator, Chuck Schumer, who is on the Judiciary Committee. Nevertheless, several Democratic
organizations say they fully expect her to oppose Mr. Ashcroft, if not campaign publicly against him,
should his nomination reach the floor of the Senate for a vote, as is expected.