I believe most are concerned that if he steps down as Majority Leader he will then feel it necessary to quit the senate altogether.
How many of you want to get rid of Lott so bad that you're willing to give up control of the Senate to do so?
What needs to happen:
Lott needs to say that he can understand how what he said could be misinterpreted as a racists comment, but it was only meant as a complement to the accomplishments of Sen. Strom.
He needs to denounce racism and segregation and confirm that they have no place in his heart or the Republican party.
He then should conceed to a vote of confidence/no confidence to be held in January by his fellow Republican Senators.
That would get the emotion out of it. If the pubbies really want him out, they can do it then and have it be the party keeping its own house.
How many of you want to get rid of Lott so bad that you're willing to give up control of the Senate to do so? I don't think it will go that far.
He then should conceed to a vote of confidence/no confidence to be held in January by his fellow Republican Senators.
The problem is, this forces 49 Republic Senators to become part of this debate and possibly get singed by something that so far is mostly limited to Trent Lott. I think it would be better for Lott to do what you said as far as apologizing and in no uncertain terms denounce racism and segregation - but then say, in the interests of all concerned, he is stepping down as Majority Leader so the country can put this all behind them. That would keep the rest of the GOP senators from getting sucked into this mess. That would get the emotion out of it. If the pubbies really want him out, they can do it then and have it be the party keeping its own house.