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.
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.