I may be wrong, but I have employed dozens of Trent Lott's in radio. They make great air personalities. They need to be appreciated and loved. The audience senses they are trying to please them. That personality type tends to do well in the ratings.
But if they don't beat the competition and are moved from morning drive time to the lower stature of an afternoon slot, they will quit to work for half the money at another station. They may even take an evening slot on another station. But get out to seek approval, is what they tend to do.
Bush and Rove are making a mistake. And don't think Rove and Bush are not behind this. They are betting that what motivates them motivates Lott. I am not sure it does. They want him out of leadership. They don't want him out of the Senate. They think Lott craves some power that he wants to be a player. I think he only craves approval. <
He will have to take himself out as majority leader candidate or resign from the senate. Can you imagine the smirks and jokes he will endure from the Democrats if he stays in the Senate? Can you imagine the animosity behind the scenes from the Republicans?
It is much to the Democrats advantage to drive him out. Smirks and derisive laughter from the Democrats, and rejection and contempt from the Republicans argues for him to resign. Jesse Helms sees it even if Rove and Bush do not.
I hope I am wrong. But a man who craves approval more than power will leave. How do you see Lott? Is he in it for the power or the approval? There is only disapproval in staying and not much power. It will be mostly scorn.
Do you know how Old Trent Lott was when Strom Thurman ran for president? He was 6 years old. He didn't vote for Thurman... but his Daddy and Mommy did.By the time Lott graduated from college, Strom was breaking ground by being the first Southern senator to hire a black as a senate staffer.
No one is defending Lott. He needs approval. I think he will leave.
I do not think that Lott is bad at getting legislation through. As you have pointed out, he has a fair amount of skill at that. He just demonstrated that on Homeland Security.
What he does NOT have is the ability to think on his feet when confronted with a dicey situation, such as the Impeachment, the power-sharing agreement, etc. He also tends to open his mouth too often when silence would be the best alternative.
I do not think that Bush and Rove have not weighed the risk of him resigning. However, I do think there are ways to get him to stay in the Senate and save face for him, and they are probably working on it.
As I said, solving this problem is WAY beyond my pay grade, so mostly I am just watching. Lott SHOULD have had enough sense to know that his comment would be taken out of context and exaggerated. It was unnecessary to remark about Strom's presidential run at all. He could have spoken about his service in WWII, his dedication to the party, his national defense and tax cutting votes, etc.
What really amplifies my opinion about this is that he made no apology, then a weak one, then a stronger one, but in all cases he was not understanding how serious the situation was. That is where he is lacking. He fails to understand how things appear on the national scene, not just in the Senate and Mississippi.
Well, as I said, I am just watching. What I think isn't going to affect this one way or the other, anyway.