Posted on 12/13/2002 8:05:24 AM PST by Kay Soze
December 13, 2002, 10:00 a.m. Lott Should Go A bad Majority Leader gets worse.
By NR Editors
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott "has proven himself better suited to the back bench, where he is at least a generally reliable conservative vote. And there is an alternative in Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles . . . Conservatives should encourage Nickles to make the — admittedly risky — challenge against Lott."
Thus wrote National Review in November 1998 after the GOP midterm disaster that year. We have long considered Lott a clumsy and ineffective Republican leader, and his controversial Strom Thurmond birthday remarks are a spectacular confirmation of that judgment. Is Lott a racist? We don't think so. Are many of the attacks on him dishonest and opportunistic? Yes. But he has been a poor leader of Senate Republicans, and the latest gaffe will only further erode his standing and his ability to lead.
Lott stands to become the most unpopular congressional Republican since Newt Gingrich. That alone shouldn't be disqualifying (and NR defended Gingrich from most of the charges hurled at him). Consider, however, the comparison: Gingrich became a reviled public figure who had won a historic victory in 1994 and possessed an active (sometimes overactive) political imagination. Lott will be a reviled public figure who is a sub-par Majority Leader, period.
NR tries to make its practical political judgments based on what is best for the conservative cause. The advantage of maintaining Lott as Majority Leader as opposed to any number of his colleagues — not just Nickles, but Jon Kyl, Mitch McConnell, Rick Santorum — is nil. He can only be a drag. Conservatives should be able to argue for constitutionalist judges, race-blind governmental policies, tighter immigration laws, welfare reform, and limited government generally without the dead weight of a Senate Majority Leader who has created a cloud over himself and his party through his own thoughtlessness.
It will no doubt be difficult for Lott's colleagues, who are his friends, to force him out of his job. That's why Lott should realize the damage he has done to his party, and step aside. Failing that, the White House, with a broader political perspective than that of the members of the Senate club, should urge him to relinquish his leadership position.
Minority leader Tom Daschle's initial reaction (prior to his mauling by the Congressional Black Caucus) to Lott's remarks was essentially sound — Lott misspoke. But Lott misspoke in a particular way, one freighted with symbolic significance. Many southern whites of a certain generation have a shameful past on civil-rights issues. This doesn't necessarily make them reprehensible people, or mean that they are racists today. But, when they are public figures, it is reasonable to expect from them an honest reckoning with their past, and, of course, an awareness that a reckoning is necessary.
Many conservatives will be tempted to defend Lott because of the nature of some of the attacks on him. It's an understandable impulse. But it is possible for someone simultaneously to suffer unfair attacks, handle himself and his predicament poorly, and be an underwhelming political figure. Trent Lott has managed a trifecta. For NR to rally to his side now would amount to defending him because he is being accused of racism.
We usually pride ourselves on being fair-weather critics of, and foul-weather friends to, conservative politicians. Lott is in for a long bout of foul weather. But we can't be loyal to a Majority Leader who we didn't support in the first place.
"The Congressional Black Caucus urged the Senate to censure Lott. The group called it "astounding" that Bush did not want him to step down.- USA Today 12/13/02
""If Senator Lott can provide a satisfactory explanation for his statement, this entire episode should be forgotten," Bennett said in a statement released Thursday. "If he cannot, he needs to step down as the Senate majority leader." William Bennet
The president's strong statement suggests that Lott has failed to quell the controversy over his comments, which some conservatives complain have opened the GOP to charges of racial bigotry. On Thursday, the Congressional Black Caucus -- comprised of black Democratic lawmakers -- released a statement calling for a "formal censure of Sen. Lott's racist remarks." CNN 12/13/02
"Considering Bush directly addressed the controversy--in strong tones to a multiracial crowd--underscores how serious Republicans are taking the incident. Bush received only 9 percent of the black vote in the 2000 campaign, despite his strong attempts to court African-Americans, and administration officials feared that the flap could set back GOP attempts to woo minority voters."- Chicago tribune 12/13/02
And if you believe Musgrave will appoint a Republican to fill Lott's seat, I've got some DNR-protected wetlands I'd like to sell you.
The sudden appearance of stories about Lott's racist activities as a college frat boy has as much credibility as the sudden appearance of Linda Tripp's shoplifting arrest record. This whole sorry mess is a political hit job, pure and simple, and the fingerprints of Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, and Hillary Clinton are all over this one.
Are you sure? I thought is was 51-48-1 Republican.
Perhaps, but don't forget who started it. Trent Lott himself, with his comments - a clip of which I saw last night, by the way, on MSNBC, and he sure didn't look like he was kidding to me. He said it somberly and seriously. It's damning, is what it is.. I'm surprised the media isn't running that clip a whole lot more. And what's worse, he's said the same thing before. The man is a loose cannon, and he's most likely in denial of how reprehensible the segregationist past really was. Sure, the Democrats may be piling on him now to utterly humiliate him, but none of this would have happened had Lott not given them the material they need to do so.
That's a big, big if. I don't live in Mississippi, so I have no say in who they choose to be their senator, but I imagine Lott would win re-election handily if he chose to run again. But Lott is also the Majority Leader, and therefore a signficant leader in the political party I belong to, and I don't think someone with his repeated poor judgement, both from racial issues and political ones, belongs in this post. He simply causes far too much damage to the conservative movement, something you expect from your enemies, not your leaders.
Yep. As Clarence Thomas once said, don't give your enemies the hammer to hit you with.
He better stay in his seat though!
I think that the GOP will quietly tell the Dems that Byrd and Hollings will be in play if they try to go further than call for Lott to resign as Majority Leader. And the Dems ain't stupid - they know that Byrd is far more vulnerable to the bigot charge, and they don't control the flow of political information any more, so the GOP can inflict some damage with this particular stick as well.
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