Robert Siegel talks with Jo Mannies, political correspondent for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Mannies talks about Sen. Ashcroft's role in defeating, over a year ago, the appointment of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie L. White to the Eastern District of Missouri, the federal district court based in St. Louis. Sen. Ashcroft's campaign against Justice White, who is African-American, was interpreted as racist by civil rights activists. The issue has been raised again by those who oppose Sen. Ashcroft's nomination for U.S. attorney general.
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