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Unless Trent Lott is an unmitigated and unprincipled scoundrel, having him step down as Majority Leader does not affect the balance in the Senate. He remains a Senator.

It has nothing to do with him being a scoundrel or not. If he is forced to step down he has as much as admitted guilt 'as charged'. Why would he want to continue on in the Senate as a self branded racist and bigot and put his family through that? He would be worse than a scoundrel he would be an idiot to do that.

But that is just the short of it. Why has the left made an issue of this in the first place? To have him replaced as ML by a more conservative Republican? Bwa! They only really benefit if he relinquishes his Senate seat and that is their goal.

Since Nov. 6th they have been wracking their brains and licking their lips for the opportunity to regain their senate majority. They have no reason to be appeased by his stepping down, falling short of their goal. The dem's have never been appeased about anything before, why now?

They have played the race-guilt card masterfully. They have gotten all the Republican pundits to feel so squeamish about being branded Racist Republicans that they are doing the dem's dirty work.

We seem to have short memories here. What did Torricelli say it was about? What did Lautenberg say it was all about? What did the dem's scream it was about at Wellstone's funeral?

THE PARTY!!!

If Lott steps down as leader he will hand them the lever they need to pry him out of his seat. If Lott goes that way that will be the enduring memory of his whole career which the dem's will use as a stamp to brand the Republican party with for a long time.

To Republicans, values matter, competence matters, and there are no irreplaceable office holders.

Baloney! If that were the criteria being used Lott would have been gone a long time ago. It's a little late and a lot stupid to get religion about Lott now.

Trent, is that you?

"If he is forced to step down he has as much as admitted guilt 'as charged'."

He is guilty as charged. He is guilty of being a moron -- not a racist.

"Why would he want to continue on in the Senate as a self branded racist and bigot and put his family through that?"

Again, as I have stated in other posts, this may be how Trent Lott wants to frame the issue, but it is not the issue. The issue is Lott's propensity for gaffes, and his genius for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Lott bent the rules to get himself named Majority Leader in the first place. Rather than holding the election after the start of the new session, he schedules it during the Lame Duck session, counting on getting 25 votes from the get-along gang that remains. The newly-elected Senators got almost no input on the decision.

Why do you suppose that was? Maybe because Lott *knew* he was a fumble-mouth, and feared that something would happen between Election Day and Inaugeration Day.

He did, too. He sold out Bush on the Lame Duck session immediately after the election. Then he attempted to sell out the Republicans on the Homeland Defence Bill. Like I said earlier, the straw that breaks isn't usually the heaviest one.

"Why has the left made an issue of this in the first place?"

The left did not make an issue of this until after the right erupted. Initially Daschle and the other dwarves were all for giving Lott a pass. Only after they smelled blood in the water, did they decide the issue was worth raising -- lind of like seeing the mob, and deciding that you better get ahead of it so you can be seen as a leader.

No Democrat has called for Lott's resignation from his seat. None are going to because they have several Senators with racist pasts, who would also be put on the spot.

If you wish to defend Lott, fine. Like I said, they call the GOP the Stupid Party for a reason.