They're Bringing Back Mint Julips And "Darkies" Too

Trent Lott returns to Senate leadership

Mitch McConnell unanimously chosen to be Senate minority leader



BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:23 a.m. PT Nov 15, 2006
WASHINGTON - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, ousted from the top Senate Republican leadership job four years ago because of remarks considered racially insensitive, won election to the No. 2 post Wednesday for the minority GOP in the next Congress.

Lott returned to the center of power by getting the position of vote-counting GOP whip, nosing out Sen. Lamar Alexander. Sen. Rick Santorum told reporters that Lott beat Alexander by a 25-24 vote.

After an intense evening in which both men lobbied colleagues during floor votes, the Republican caucus elected Lott, a one-time whip and majority leader, by secret ballot. Lott will be the GOP's second-in-command to Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was elected unanimously to be the Senate minority leader in the new Congress.

The campaign

With the midterm elections finished and Santorum, another candidate for the post, failing to win re-election, Lott cast himself as the more experienced candidate and the better choice for a job.

Alexander, of Tennessee, was not new to the art of counting votes among finicky colleagues, any one of whom can use Senate procedural rules to hold up business or kill legislation. A former Cabinet secretary and governor and now a deputy Republican whip, Alexander cast himself as a morale-booster for a demoralized Republican caucus.

Remaining neutral was McConnell, who was uncontested to be the Republican minority leader. He'll replace Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who is retiring from the Senate under a self-imposed term limit and is a potential contender for the GOP presidential nomination in two years.

Dealmaker returns

Lott's victory over Alexander showcases his lobbying and vote-counting skills. Alexander had campaigned for the position for 18 months and the night before was predicting that he would win by as many as 30 votes. But Lott's last-minute lobbying -- by telephone, on the Senate floor, in the hallways -- turned the secret balloting into a comeback.

The win reinstates one of the Senate's best dealmakers, a skill certain to come in handy in a chamber split by one vote - at a time when both parties want legislative accomplishments to tout on the campaign trail in 2008.

Lott relished his duties as majority leader but stepped down in 2002 under pressure over remarks that were interpreted as racially insensitive. He has long hinted at making a comeback bid.

More to come

The GOP whip's race was but one source of suspense in the wake of the midterm balloting, in which war-weary voters stripped President Bush's party of its majority. Congress returned to a lame-duck session to pass a budget, and the Senate was considering Bush's nomination of a new defense secretary.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats elected their leadership roster.

Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois will ascend to majority leader and majority whip, respectively.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will continue as the chairman of the party's campaign fundraising committee. Schumer also will add vice chairman to his title, making him No. 3 in the leadership and a chief strategist.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington will serve as conference secretary; Debbie Stabenow of Michigan will chair the steering committee; and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota will serve as chairman of the research-focused policy committee.

House Democrats choose their leaders on Thursday; House Republicans elect theirs on Friday.

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Well, I don't know about you, but I am totally disgusted. The Republican Party has somehow managed to NOT learn a lesson from their dreadful defeat in the elections. They seem intent upon a course of political disaster. The Trent Lotts in the party will bring about the demise of what little is left now. This is a slap in the face to good, decent Americans everywhere.

And You Thought Trent Lott Was Gone For Good

Lott running for whip post






After keeping his plans close to the vest since Election Day, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) formally declared his bid for minority whip on Monday evening.

Lott had refrained from openly discussing his intentions for the whip race even after GOP Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who was next in line based on seniority, lost his reelection bid last week. Few on Capitol Hill would second-guess Lott’s prowess at backroom maneuvering, and his silence had given way to questions about whether a new feint was in the works.

But Lott spokeswoman Susan Irby confirmed his bid in a statement. "Senator Lott is running for Republican whip. His name will be on the ballot. We are closing in on victory," she said.

Lott was forced to step down as Senate majority leader in 2002 after comments he made at former Sen. Strom Thurmond’s (R-S.C.) birthday party touched off a racially charged controversy and the White House threw its backing to now-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

Frist’s fellow Tennessean, Lamar Alexander (R), has already declared his whip bid and continues to make calls lining up support before Wednesday’s leadership elections.

"We feel really good about where we are," Alexander chief of staff Tom Ingram said on Monday, projecting that the conference majority Alexander claimed late last week had grown to "majority-plus."

Ingram acknowledged that the secret ballot of Wednesday’s election means victory will rely on trusting that senators will stick to their public commitments. Still, he expressed confidence in Alexander’s whipping for the whip job, which has seen about 10 senators making calls on his behalf.

One source close to that whip operation said the Alexander camp has Lott’s support in the conference pegged at about a dozen senators.

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Why Is This Man Smiling?


You know, this says much about the Republican party nowdays. Trent Lott is as corrupt and vile a man as ever sat in the Senate, yet the Republican party is actually considering him as Senate Minority Whip. THIS is why the Republicans lost so many voters in this country. It is why they will continue to lose voters until the bitter end. It is why the party must repudiate Trent Lott once and for all.