Drudge - Karl Rove Wants Lott Out of Leadership, Replaced with Frist

Matt Drudge Report/Next Week's Newsweek ^ | Matt Drudge

[ewing]

Nothing but a headline right now..

[finnman69]

"white courtesy phone for Trent Lott....."

[iconoclast]

Lott is too much of a liability to be Majority Leader, but not such a liability we need to sacrifice a majority in the Senate.

I find all the vociferous support for Lott mind boggling. The Saturday before Lott stuck his foot in his mouth halfway down to his lower intestine you couldn't have found 3 pubbies in the entire Michigan Stadium with a good word for him. But suddenly he's become the poster boy for outstanding Republican leadership.

Where is it written that resignation from a leadership post means automatic resignation from Congress?

[NarniaSC]

A Rove leak to Drudge is not executive branch interference. It is party politics.

I'm still waiting for Chester to select one of these two possible explanations (instead of the plasticisms he's uttered so far):

A. "I am profoundly ignorant of political history, have a wax clogged tin ear, and therefore am unqualified to lead the Senate."

B. "I still believe segregation was good for America and therefore am unqualified to lead the Senate."

Byrd and Hollings are examples of why Lott can still be a Senator as long as the people of Mississippi elect him. But as The Leader, Frist, Nickles, heck, Norm Coleman - or Norm McDonald! - would be better qualified to lead at this point than the Plastic Eunuch. Believe me, I say this with my eyes wide open to the rat hype.

[iconoclast]

Then why in the heck did he use his power as the head of the Senatorial Committee in 2002 to back RINOs over Conservatives in contested primaries?

Did you actually think you were asking tough questions?

The answer to ALL of them is.

He followed instructions!

[LibertyGirl77]

Of course Karl Rove wants Bill Frist as Senate Majority Leader. Frist has a weak moral compass and will make whatever ideological concessions necessary to support the Administration. He isn't an ego like Lott is, and will be more than happy to function as Karl Rove's "b!tch." Depending on what you think about Karl Rove and his strategies, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.

[EternalVigilance]

You two are very, very perceptive individuals...

Glad somebody gets it. ;-)

[Vermont Lt]

Lott is dead, he just hasn't lay down yet.

The republican party needs someone the average voter can trust. Lott seemed like a dufus, phoney.

I am glad he is going to go. I just wish he would understand its over and cut a good deal. Go sit in the corner get lots of campaign funding, and then when your term is up, become a consultant.

Just go away. Please.

[EternalVigilance]

My hope right now is that the Republican Senators will elect Nickles or McConnell as their way of proving their independence from Rove.

Perhaps I'm being hopelessly naive in holding on to such a vain hope, but the alternate universes we are headed towards based on this decision are strikingly different places.

Personnel IS policy.

[EternalVigilance]

Just go away. Please.

Say that louder, so Trent can hear ya! ;-)

I totally agree with your remarks.

[ellery]

Good question -- I went back into the archives and found discussions of the issue really heating up on 12/8. My feeling is this: Jesse Jackson has a problem with republicans every single day, and it usually doesn't stick. The reason it's sticking this time (as evidenced by pubbie commentators going against Lott instead of the usual deserved ridicule of Jackson) is because of three intertwined things:
-Lott's comment truly was objectionable, unlike the benign comments the race-baiters usually jump on (e.g., "niggardly"-gate).
-Lott's history on race (like the histories of many on both sides of the aisle) is not squeaky-clean, which makes any comment with a breath of race in it highly scrutinized. Because he's republican, he's under the microscope even more.
-Lott has repeatedly screwed up as the public face of the republican party. Even pubbies who don't think he's racist are coming out against him because his remark and subsequent bumbling apologies constitute a serious failure in one of the most important parts of his job: public opinion management.

[Sideshow Bob]

Someone on another thread posted:
True, Lott may have been a little weak in the past but I think this just may be the wake up call he needed.

Geez, Lott has had like eight or nine wake up calls already!!

A little weak in the past? Trent Lott is the biggest screw-up I've ever seen. His list of "accomplishments" as the GOP Senate Leader includes the shrinking GOP Senate majority following the '96, '98 & '00 elections, hanging the House impeachment managers out to dry, repeated judicial nominations, the power sharing agreement with Daschle, seating Jean Carnahan, Jumping Jim Jeffords, and on and on and on. And that's not even a complete list!

How many more wake up calls does he need?

Here's a clue. Trent ain't sleeping, he's a dead man walking.

[Sabertooth]

How can you possibly want a RACIST RACIST RACIST to remain a United States Senator? You have to make up your mind: either Lott is a RACIST RACIST RACIST or he is not.

Your repetitions within repetitions were not persuasive earlier in compelling me to accept your false dilemma, nor are they now.

[EternalVigilance]

True, Lott may have been a little weak in the past but I think this just may be the wake up call he needed.

Geez, Lott has had like eight or nine wake up calls already!!

He's like that parrot in the Monte Python routine... ;-)

[EternalVigilance]

"Standing out in the middle of the field, Mr. Phlegm thought he would be safe from falling pianos."

[Sideshow Bob]

He's like that parrot in the Monte Python routine... ;-)

So, that's your answer...Trent Lott is pining for the fjords?

[xm177e2]

We don't need Trent Lott. We have 51 Senators, and the Democrats have only 48.

Lott would have to step down and be replaced with a Democrat, AND Jumpin' Jim Jeffords would have to ACTIVELY caucus with them. He just dropped out of the GOP, he never joined the Democrats.

I wouldn't put it past him, but it's not likely.

[ACross]

Lots of conservatives don't give a frog's fat butt about guns one way or another. Almost every other major political issue is more important.

[EternalVigilance]

That would explain alott, wouldn't it?

[Sideshow Bob]

That would explain alott, wouldn't it?

I don't know, maybe.

I just like saying the word "fjord."

[katana]

One of the reasons the democrats (and the media) are pushing this so hard is to try and force Republicans to circle the wagons in support of Sen. Lott. Their fondest wish has to be that Lott is kept as leader. Secondary to that would be for Lott to be put aside AND resign his seat.

The President and his people, and the Republican caucus in the Senate, have to (quietly) manage this so neither wish is granted.