[per loin]

Lott hasn't grown. He's an unreconstructed bigot. Now he's also holding my party hostage.

Why did your party elect an unreconstructed bigot to lead them?

[GraniteStateConservative]

Because he has been able to collect chits from them. They owe him. It was between Lott and Cochran in 1996 and Lott got his conservative base in the Senate behind him and won. Lott has a lot of power and he's used that power. Other senators respect that power and respond to it by deferring to him.