Posted on 12/23/2002 6:57:59 AM PST by TLBSHOW
Republicans look to new Senate leader to help repair Lott damage
WASHINGTON - Republican senators are gathering by telephone to elect a new leader they hope will help repair the damage that Trent Lott's racially charged remarks have had on the party's efforts to court minority voters.
Sen. Bill Frist (news, bio, voting record) of Tennessee, a White House favorite, emerged last week as the clear choice to replace Lott, who resigned from the leadership under pressure Friday.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska said Frist would be elected — "I suspect unanimously" — by the 51 Republican senators in a conference call Monday afternoon. Frist would become majority leader when Republicans take control in the new Congress that convenes Jan. 7.
Lott's praise on Dec. 5 of Strom Thurmond's 1948 pro-segregation presidential campaign had put the Republicans on the defensive.
In his first public remarks since resigning, Lott told The Associated Press on Sunday that he had fallen into a trap set by his political enemies and had "only myself to blame."
"There are some people in Washington who have been trying to nail me for a long time," Lott said in an interview outside his home in Pascagoula, Mississippi. "When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap and so I have only myself to blame."
Republicans are looking to Frist, a wealthy heart surgeon with relatively little national exposure, to represent a fresh face of the party, particularly in efforts to attract minorities.
"He personifies not just the rhetoric about idealism but as a life that has been lived," Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition." "There are actually hands-on examples of how he will make a difference. And I think it's a very exciting prospect."
Frist, 50, is considered an authority on health issues in the Senate. He still keeps his starched white lab coat in the trunk of his car, makes monthly visits to hospitals and clinics and goes on occasional overseas medical missions. When the anthrax scare surfaced on Capitol Hill last year, he worked to calm his colleagues.
Frist will "be a different face than what we've had," Sen. Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record) of Utah told ABC's "This Week." "I'm not criticizing what we've had, but I think Bill has a kind of a more moderate record and a more moderate approach toward things, and I think that it's going to be very difficult to criticize him."
Hatch, the incoming Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) chairman, praised President George W. Bush (news - web sites) — as the party's top leader — for reaching out to all people and dismissed the attitude "that only Democrats care about minorities."
"I think every Republican is working hard to try and be good to minorities and do what's right. We can't support some of the far-left, you know, extreme approaches toward race, but we certainly do believe in equality," Hatch added.
Republicans played down the damage of Lott's words. "In the long sweep of American history, this is going to be a blip," Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky said on "Fox News Sunday."
Lott will remain in the Senate, but not in a leadership role. Republican sources said it appeared that Lott, a senator since 1989, had waited too long to end the controversy and lost any leverage he might have had to cut a deal to become a committee chairman.
"There is no apparent position of influence to which we can elect him," McConnell said. "He will, in my view, have enormous influence as someone who knows a lot about how the Senate works."
And you can thank your imbecilic, Cheerleader Lott for doing that. If he could either have kept his mouth shut or quickly dealt with his faux paux he would still be leader. As soon as Lott let this thing stew for four or five days because he wouldnt be bothered on this vacation, Pickering was dead and so was heavy Bush support for the University Of Michigan affirmative action case. Put the blame where it belongs. Squarely on Lott.
No, he was victim of his own stupidity and hubris. Those are real crimes if they are part of the personality of a Majority Leader.
I sent Senator Lott an email this morning, stating that it appears to me that the vast majority of republicans find it at the very least, embarrassing that he continues to claim membership in the republican party.
With that in mind, I urged him to do the right thing and withdraw from the party and become an independent.
Oh you can do better than that. Buchanan quit being a conservative years ago. Why would I care what he had to say. He's a populist now, not a conservative. He supports all kinds of stupid trade limitations supported by the labor unions. He's closer to Detroit Democrat than a Republican.
If it dont happen, its solely to kiss ass Lott.
Lott is unwanted by the socialists of both parties. I think it best he become independent. That way he will not be a stain on any party when he votes or speaks against abortion, speaks in support of Christianity etc etc.
I won't admit that that is what it was. Lots of Republicans were chomping at the bit to get rid of Lott, no matter the excuse.
But, we just disagree about this.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Yea...I know. They are to be scorned and ridiculed.
Motivating desired opinion of others, or herd-hate, is a tool for the weak. It was disgusting when the Dem.s painted my neighbor as a starver of children to win my support. The scary characterization your selling is equally reprehensible and absurd, and is done for the same reasons.
Sorry.....I will not be a part of it.
Wrong. Lott promised to pass a PBA ban, early.
If it don't happen, it's because Bush and Frist aren't committed to passing it.
But you see, that is such a wonderful thing to go 'bring more minorities into the party' -
I don't judge people by the color of their skin
You just did!!! You see, until you and everyone treat all people the same - there is more racism, as in looking at a person for the color of his skin, on the 'feel good' or pandering side of the equation than there is on the side that has tried very hard to put segregation behind them and do not think about people in terms of their color. That kind of rhetoric just sounds so wonderful is so full of racism - this is what is so mind boggling about this. How about we go out and bring 'people' like-minded people into this party - regardless of their color, age, sex, etc.
Everyone says that whether we like it or not, race is an issue - it will be as long as statements like yours are being said with pride. It doesn't have to be an issue - but that attitude keeps in alive.
How about rather than the 'President having a outreach to bring more minorities into the party', he goes to work and takes care of the problems in this country, and make it a better place and I believe he would have all the 'people' of all color we can handle.
For heaven's sake! Lighten up!
Libertarians are not taken seriously because of what they espouse, not because of "herd-hate."
And because they walk around with hurt feelings.
How serious the herd considers anything is not a factor in reasonable judgement.
There you go with that again. Are you now embracing the concept of hate crimes? Or just in this case, thereby making you a hypocrite. It's over. He resigned. Quit your foot stomping.
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