1.   Dole aides believe they can paint the president as soft on crime by hammering his judicial nominees.

2.   And black lawyers expressed chagrin that Moynihan touted Sundram, a native of India, as the first-ever minority judicial nominee from the Albany region.

3.   And he said that Democrats would insist on maintaining a Senate practice in which senators from the home state of judicial nominees are consulted and can block any candidacy.

4.   And it takes two months longer to confirm or deny judicial nominees who belong to racial minorities.

5.   And the fact is, tellingly, that minority judicial nominees in this Congress have been more than twice as unsuccessful as whites.

6.   As a result, Sessions and Ashcroft and their supporters have turned their sights to another Clinton judicial nominee, Frederica Massiah-Jackson.

7.   As examples, she cites attacks on lesbian and gay rights and the intense lobbying in Washington for judicial nominees with strongly held religious beliefs.

8.   As such, it is properly considered, along with experience, competence and temperament when the Senate weighs giving its advice and consent on judicial nominees.

9.   A dispute between Democratic and Republican lawmakers delayed confirmation of dozens of judicial nominees for months until it was apparently resolved in November.

10.   Aides to Democratic senators say that nearly all judicial nominees have an uphill battle these days because of the ponderous pace the confirmation process is taking.