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Sen. Nickles Calls for New Majority Leader Election Sunday, December 15, 2002

WASHINGTON — The Senate's No. 2 Republican leader called Sunday for a new election for the majority leader's job that Sen. Trent Lott is set to hold in the new Congress. Sen. Don Nickles, Lott's deputy for six years as the GOP whip, urged other Republican senators to consider picking a new leader because of the controversy about Lott's comments at a birthday party for South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond. Nickles, who had kept silent on Lott's remarks that conveyed nostalgia for the policies of racial segregation, said he accepts Lott's multiple apologies over the last week. "I am concerned that Senator Lott has been weakened to the point that may jeopardize his ability to enact our agenda and speak to all Americans," Nickles told ABC's "This Week." "There are several outstanding senators who are more than capable of effective leadership, and I hope we have an opportunity to choose."

He added: "Can he be effective? Can he campaign in places like Chicago? I don't want to squander our ability to get things done. We only have a short window this year." Nickles has served the maximum six years as No. 2 Senate GOP leader and is in line to be the Budget Committee chairman in the new Congress that convenes in January. Nickles' successor as whip, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Lott has apologized several times and should be allowed to serve the term to which GOP senators voted him after the party's gain in midterm elections in November. "Senator Lott knows that he's weakened," said McConnell. "He knows he made a bad mistake. But he's apologized, as I said, on four different occasions. I think we ought to accept the apology and move on." Lott, R-Miss., triggered an uproar this month when he made comments at a 100th birthday party for the retiring Thurmond.

Under pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike, Lott has offered a series of increasingly expansive apologies for his remarks. McConnell acknowledged he's concerned about the effects on Republican efforts to expand their appeal among minorities and their agenda on civil rights. "We're all concerned about it. And Senator Lott is concerned about it," McConnell said. "And he is working very hard to regain the confidence of the African-American community."

In October, Nickles had told Lott he would not challenge him for the job in the next Congress, apparently after realizing he would probably lack the votes to topple Lott. There long have been rumblings that Nickles, spearheading some of the more conservative Republican senators, might someday mount a challenge to Lott. Lawmakers have described the two men as having a cool relationship, and Lott has sometimes been seen by conservatives as too willing to cut deals with Democrats.