WASHINGTON – The effort to recruit moderate Republicans to oppose Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft received a setback Thursday when he was endorsed by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Conservatives mobilized to counter criticism of three of President-elect Bush’s nominees – Ashcroft, Gale Norton at Interior and Linda Chavez at Labor.

Rough questioning from liberal Democrats awaits the candidates – Ashcroft in part for his anti-abortion stand.

But Collins, a moderate who supports abortion rights, said Thursday after a 20-minute meeting with Ashcroft that she had raised the issue and was satisfied with his response.

“I have the utmost confidence that he is going to enforce all the laws on the books,” Collins said. She said she believes “a lot of misinformation” has been spread about whether Ashcroft, a former Missouri senator, supports the ban on violence against abortion clinics.

“In fact, he has always supported that law,” she said, pointing out Ashcroft had voted for a related measure.

During a news conference in Austin, Texas, Bush said he expects tough questions for all his nominees.

“And I am confident all will be confirmed,” he said. “These are good, solid Americans who will be able to do the jobs to which I’ve appointed them.”

Ashcroft’s toughest queries will come from Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Carl Levin of Michigan and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Those three will be targets of an effort to blunt Democratic criticism of Bush’s nominees. Launched by the Issues Management Center, the Republican group promoting Bush’s agenda, the campaign will start airing radio ads next week in the senators’ home states.

The commercials, mail and phone banking will be positive to start, “but if they decide to use aggressive tactics, as they have in the past, our group will be among the very first to deliver a hard punch,” said Greg Mueller, an organizer of the group and former adviser to Steve Forbes.

Vermont, New York and Michigan also are among the states where rallies are planned by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and civil rights groups.

Senators “must not choose collegiality over civil rights and social justice,” Jackson said during a telephone conference call Thursday. “Mr. Ashcroft represents a very real threat to civil rights.”

Leahy met Thursday with Ashcroft behind closed doors, but neither said what was discussed.

“I wanted more to point out to him there would be a fair and objective hearing,” Leahy said.

Ashcroft’s critics say they will focus on Ashcroft’s role in engineering the defeat of Ronnie White, a black judge on the Missouri Supreme Court who was nominated for the federal bench.

Ashcroft opposed White because he said the judge was soft on the death penalty and “pro-criminal.” As a result of Ashcroft’s opposition in the Senate, Democrats and civil rights groups accused him of being insensitive to minority issues.

Ashcroft and his supporters have defended his record on diversity, pointing out he placed the first woman on Missouri’s highest court and the first black judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Mo.

“There is not a racist bone in Senator Ashcroft’s body,” Collins said.

White could testify if he wanted to, Leahy said. A spokeswoman for White, Tracy Synan, said White would appear if subpoenaed.

Leahy said he expects a hearing on Ashcroft’s nomination to start before the inauguration on Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, Paul O’Neill, Bush’s choice for Treasury secretary, won the support of Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Baucus did express concern that Bush’s proposed $1.3 trillion, 10-year tax cut is too large and that reducing the public debt would be “very powerful” in keeping the economy sound.

Also Thursday, senators gave a warm reception to Commerce Secretary-designate Donald Evans at the first confirmation hearing for Bush’s nominees.

But there were signs that Norton and Chavez also will face sharp questioning, Chavez for her views on minority hiring practices and Norton for her stands on promoting energy development on federal lands.