John Ashcroft lost his last election to a dead man — and the ghosts from that campaign still seem to haunt our attorney general. Perhaps more than any other recent chief legal officer of the United States, Ashcroft seems particularly responsive to the political constituencies who helped him secure his position in the Bush administration.
Whether he is seeking to reverse Oregon’s voter-approved system of physician-assisted suicide or investigating members of Congress for intelligence leaks, Ashcroft has carried the water for both social and security conservatives in the Bush camp. In doing so, Ashcroft has demonstrated an ear finely attuned to the politics of constituent service. But the pitch of his politics marks an important, and perhaps troubling, shift in the politics of law enforcement — especially in these post-Sept. 11 times.
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