71.   But he declined to criticize a conservative group that is mounting a defense of Ashcroft and running radio spots targeting Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee.

72.   But Chancellor John Montford of Texas Tech, a former Democratic state senator, says it was all a misunderstanding for which he was to blame.

73.   But he had campaigned in several states with Democratic senators and failed to get them to buy into his bigger package.

74.   But it was Bush who failed to reach across the aisle and negotiate a bill that could be acceptable to more than three conservative Democratic senators.

75.   But Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia, has encountered hurdle after hurdle in his push for a Southern Black Belt regional commission.

76.   But moderate Democratic senators from those states said Tuesday that they still planned to vote against it.

77.   But Monday, one day after news of her illegal alien guest broke, one Democratic senator said he sensed a hardening of positions on Capitol Hill.

78.   But it will be two Democratic senators that Bush has in mind when he hits Louisiana later this week.

79.   But seven Democratic senators, led by Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, objected.

80.   But Sasser, a former Democratic senator, could face a lengthy confirmation process in the Republican-controlled Senate.