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Daschle Demands 'Fuller' Lott Explanation (Pit Yorky Alert)
Yahoo (Reuters) ^ | 12/11/02 | Thomas Ferraro

Posted on 12/11/2002 12:36:18 PM PST by The_Victor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle demanded "a fuller explanation and apology" from Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott on Wednesday for saying the nation would have been better off if segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948.

Daschle, who had earlier dismissed Lott's comments as misstatements, pushed for the action as a flap over Lott's remark last week escalated with reports the Mississippi Republican made a similar comment two decades ago.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) reiterated President Bush (news - web sites) maintains confidence in Lott, who planned to address the controversy in an appearance later on Wednesday on Fox News.

"Trent has to find a way to end this (controversy)," said one Republican senator who asked not to be identified by name.

The flap has caused an embarrassment for Lott as well as the White House and fellow Republicans as they try to attract into their ranks more minorities, who traditionally vote Democratic, and as they prepare to push their conservative agenda in the new 108th Congress, which will convene on Jan. 7.

For the most part, Republican congressional leaders have remained publicly mum over the matter, which has seen the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (news - web sites) (NAACP) call for Lott to step aside as a Senate leader.

The Family Research Council, a conservative group, suggested Republicans determine if they really want Lott to still be their leader, while People for the American Way, a liberal group, said Bush should ask him to step down from the post.

"If President Bush's claim to be a 'uniter not a divider' has any credibility whatsoever, he will ask Trent Lott to step down as the Republican leader in the Senate," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. "If Lott doesn't resign his leadership post, senators should elect a new majority Leader."

While congressional Republican lawmakers and aides said they expect Lott to survive politically, they also said he must make amends.

Lott set off the controversy during a tribute on Capitol Hill last Thursday to mark the 100th birthday of Thurmond, the oldest member ever of Congress, who is retiring on Jan. 3. Thurmond is a South Carolina Republican.

Lott noted his home state of Mississippi voted for Thurmond who ran for president as the nominee of the States' Rights, or Dixiecrat, Party, as a segregationist. Thurmond was then South Carolina's governor.

"We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years," Lott said.

Lott, in a written apology on Monday, said, "A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embrace the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement."

The New York Times and The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Lott made a similar comment in 1980 during a rally for then Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) in Jackson, Mississippi, at which Thurmond was a keynote speaker.

Said Daschle of South Dakota, "In light of today's news and the growing controversy, Senator Lott should come forward with a fuller explanation and apology."

It was Daschle's third statement on the matter in as many days. On Monday, he said he accepted Lott's explanation. But after some black U.S. lawmakers complained, he issued a statement on Tuesday saying, "Regardless of how he intended his statement to be interpreted, it was wrong to say it."

Rep. J.C. Watts, the only black congressional Republican and a member of the House of Representatives Republican leadership, said in a statement on Wednesday, "We should accept his apology."

"As the incoming majority leader already said about himself, Senator Lott went too far," Watts of Oklahoma said. "He told me he would like to have his words back."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: dashole; lott; nothin
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Tiny Tom doesn't want Lott to resign, he might have to deal with a Senate Majority Leader with real testicles.
1 posted on 12/11/2002 12:36:18 PM PST by The_Victor
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To: The_Victor
Looks like Mad Max Waters got to Daschle.
2 posted on 12/11/2002 12:37:17 PM PST by Phantom Lord
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To: The_Victor
Looks like the Beast went personally to Dash-hole's office to get him to speak up louder on the matter.

She loves this kind of stuff.

Too bad it can't get out that Thurmond was not a Republican at the time. He was splintered from the Dems then went right back to them when his campaign was over.

It was the DEMS who were the big racists back then.

3 posted on 12/11/2002 12:40:26 PM PST by what's up
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To: The_Victor

Daschle, who had earlier dismissed Lott's comments as misstatements...

Why isn't this the story?
4 posted on 12/11/2002 12:41:05 PM PST by Timesink
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To: The_Victor
Little tommy has short mans diesease, he is jelous of anyone over 4 feet tall because he knows they would have a bigger wiener the he.
5 posted on 12/11/2002 12:41:08 PM PST by Joe Boucher
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To: The_Victor
Lott should resign, but NOT for this. He will have to stay now for a while so as not to empower the socialists calling for his head.

And who the f*ck is Ralph Neas to be offering commentary? This guy has led the most gutter level smear campaigns against political opponents. This guy is a grade A bastard who doesn't deserve to be quoted in the cow manure and fertilizer monthly.

6 posted on 12/11/2002 12:44:10 PM PST by Hacksaw
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To: The_Victor
Daschle Demands "Fuller" Explanation

Lott Should "Brush" Daschle Aside
7 posted on 12/11/2002 12:44:48 PM PST by polemikos
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To: The_Victor
Yap, yap, yap, yap.
8 posted on 12/11/2002 12:45:04 PM PST by Bikers4Bush
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: The_Victor

10 posted on 12/11/2002 12:52:42 PM PST by South40
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To: polemikos
A 15 minute story that has lasted about 12 mins. already. This will be a bitter pill for the rat media when it finds itself unable to keep the legs under this story.
11 posted on 12/11/2002 12:55:54 PM PST by jmaroneps37
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To: The_Victor
Lott ought to accommodate Puff D, and tell him he meant that if Strom were elected, we wouldn't have had a welfare state for blacks and that they would be better off now. Also, will someone paleeeese tell those liberal talking heads that while all this was going on in '48, they were members of the democratic party. I don't think the non-dixiecrat democrats opposed Strom and voted for a Republican. Strom didn't become a Republican until 1964.
12 posted on 12/11/2002 1:01:15 PM PST by ampat
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To: The_Victor
How about a "better" explanation or a "more complete" explanation? "Fuller" just sounds ignernt (it may be gramatically correct, but it is semantically odd).
13 posted on 12/11/2002 1:03:51 PM PST by Lil'freeper
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To: Timesink
Simple.........not a story because Dash man is a gimmie/lib
14 posted on 12/11/2002 1:06:40 PM PST by PISANO
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To: Bikers4Bush

The Daschle Show

Said Daschle of South Dakota, "In light of today's news and the growing controversy, Senator Lott should come forward with a fuller explanation and apology."

It was Daschle's third statement on the matter in as many days. On Monday, he said he accepted Lott's explanation. But after some black U.S. lawmakers complained, he issued a statement on Tuesday saying, "Regardless of how he intended his statement to be interpreted, it was wrong to say it."

Leftists...

  1. Remember 9/11?
  2. Aware of Iraq...?
  3. Think about the economy?
  4. Keeping up with the environment?
  5. What happened to the Landrieu return from the dead?

Better not piss off Lott, committee numbers... haven't been decided.

15 posted on 12/11/2002 1:06:56 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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To: The_Victor
Did Tommy mention Robert Byrd, by any chance?
16 posted on 12/11/2002 1:24:36 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: The_Victor
Little Tommy better be careful what he asks for....he might get more than he bargained for....as has been the history of the Dems since President Bush was inaugurated.
17 posted on 12/11/2002 1:28:39 PM PST by goodnesswins
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To: The_Victor
This is the non-existent Democrat "destruction machine" in action.

-PJ

18 posted on 12/11/2002 1:29:46 PM PST by Political Junkie Too
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To: The_Victor
Harold Ford (d Tenn.) just made a really good impression on FNC. Just the right take on it. Lott needs to go and soon.
19 posted on 12/11/2002 2:14:52 PM PST by BillCompton
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To: Political Junkie Too
This is the non-existent Democrat "destruction machine" in action.

They sure work fast, don't they?

20 posted on 12/11/2002 2:17:23 PM PST by CFC__VRWC
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