"You know, I had actually given Lott and the Senate Repubs a begrudged pass on the impeachment fiasco."
This begrudged pass has come to haunt the RP.
The way I saw it, booting Clinton when the majority of the nation saw him as a victim of political persecution (which they did), would have rallied the left behind Gore, running as an incumbent, and "getting the vote out" with the war cry of "remember what they did to Bill!"
President Al, 2½ terms.