Democrats Facing Difficult Choices in New Congress In a sign of the tugs and pulls within their party, Democratic senators who initially signaled that they were likely to support Mr. Ashcroft have since tempered their remarks, caught by surprise by the intensity of the opposition from liberal interest groups. Strategists note that Southern Democrats, who are usually considered centrists, rely heavily on black votes to win elections, creating pressures on them to oppose Mr. Ashcroft. Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat, has been warning senators that they ignore the strong feelings of the party's base at their own peril. Noting that Mr. Ashcroft once said, "There are two things you find in the middle of the road, a moderate and a dead skunk, and I don't want to be either of those," Mr. Jackson said, "I'm in agreement with him on that quote � the only thing I'm in agreement with him on." He lambasted the Senate as "the only group in town talking of bipartisanship." http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/15/politics/15DEMS.html?pagewanted=all