News Analysis: A Balancing Act of Sorts And even as Mr. Bush was hailing Mr. Ashcroft as a man of rectitude "guided by principle, not by politics," his opponents were already turning to issues like Mr. Ashcroft's role in persuading the Senate to vote last year against Ronnie White, a nominee for a federal judgeship, to question Mr. Bush. Mr. Ashcroft described Mr. White, the first black judge on Missouri's State Supreme Court as "pro-criminal" and as an "activist" jurist. President Clinton at the time called the Senate vote as a "disgraceful act" tinged by racial considerations. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/23/politics/23ASSE.html?pagewanted=all