The real point here, which you've missed altogether, is that you need someone with real SPINE as ML. Lott didn't have it. Frist will be even more of a squish when push comes to shove. Santorum is much more in line with my views, but he's definitely no leader.
McConnell, with whom I have many disagreements, is the man.
And the reason you can tell he's a squish is that he got elected in the GOP primary in 1994 and worked his way up by obscuring his positions, not by taking principled stands.