Word: lotte
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Hello, Mr. President. This is Lazarus speaking." That is how Trent Lott answered a phone call last week from George W. Bush, the man who helped force him out of the Senate's top job in 2002 after Lott praised Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential campaign. Maybe Lott is selling himself short. After all, Lazarus was in the tomb for only four days, but it took Lott, 65, four years to mount the improbable comeback that culminated in his election last Wednesday as minority whip, the second most powerful G.O.P. position in the Senate. But if Bush, who called...
...that level of savvy could come in especially handy now that Repubicans must adjust to their minority status. Along with newly elected Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lott could spell problems for incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who stands nine votes short of what he needs to get anything controversial passed. Lott is more conservative and partisan than his opponent, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, which could signal more polarization and less cooperation in the Senate; in other words, the post-election talk of putting partisanship aside and getting the people's business done may be short-lived...
...Lott captured the minority whip post by the slimmest of margins, winning 25-24 in the secret ballot over Tennessee Senator and former G.O.P. presidential hopeful Alexander. "I feel exhilarated I have an opportunity to come back," he told reporters. That comeback may have surprised people outside of the Beltway, but it has been carefully plotted for quite a while. After he was replaced by his colleagues as the Senate leader with Frist, it was expected Lott might simply remain in the shadows or even retire. Instead, he got himself a plum post as the Senate Rules Committee, helped...
...fact, Lott is still angry at the White House - and especially Karl Rove - for the way he was so unceremoniously dumped, so he may not be as willing as other Republicans to do the Administration's bidding. That's only one of the risks the choice of Lott for such a prominent position carries. Republicans replaced him as their leader because they worried that his remarks about Thurmond didn't reflect well for a party trying to win minority voters and even moderate white voters by diversifying its ranks and avoiding race-baiting tactics it has used in the past...
...move is also surprising since Lott has ascended to the Senate post in the same week that Republicans appointed Mel Martinez, a Senator from Florida, to head the National Republican Committee. Martinez, who is Cuban-American, is expected to help Republicans woo Latin voters. Republicans, however, say they're not worried about Lott's past remarks. ""People understand he has been deeply apologetic," said Maine's Olympia Snowe, a close friend of Lott's. Lott's colleagues have been willing to forgive him for his comments. Now, if he helps them win back the Senate, maybe they'll even forget...