Religious Right Made Big Push to Put Ashcroft in Justice Dept. Within days of Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri's narrow re-election defeat by a candidate who died three weeks before Election Day, religious and conservative leaders began promoting him for a major position in a Bush administration. If confirmed by the Senate in hearings expected to begin this month, Mr. Ashcroft would reach the highest office ever attained by a leading figure of the Christian right. The appointment would place him at the head of the Justice Department, a sprawling government legal agency that is often at the front lines of the pitched battles over emotion-laden social issues like abortion, the death penalty, crime, civil rights and the selection of federal judges. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/politics/07ASHC.html?pagewanted=all