Lott Wins No. 2 GOP Senate Post

Comeback For Ex-Majority Leader Ousted in '02; McConnell Gets Top GOP Spot

(CBS/AP)  Senate Republicans on Wednesday elected Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as minority leader in the new Congress, but the real surprise came in the election of Trent Lott of Mississippi as minority whip.

Lott was for a long time the Republican leader in the Senate, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss, but he was forced to step down four years ago after some racially insensitive remarks. Lott decided to launch a comeback and won election for the number two leadership job by just a single vote, beating out Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Asked whether he feels vindicated by the 25-24 secret ballot, Lott deferred to McConnell. "The spotlight belongs on him," Lott said of his Kentucky colleague, unanimously chosen to succeed Sen. Bill Frist as the Senate GOP leader.

But Lott's comeback-kid victory was generating the most buzz in the Capitol hallways, nevertheless.

"I'm honored to be a part of this leadership team, to support Mitch McConnell and all of my colleagues and to do a job that I've really loved the most: count the votes," Lott said. "I'll do my very best in that effort."

His victory over Alexander showcases Lott's lobbying and vote-counting skills. Both men spent the night before intensely lobbying colleagues on the Senate floor — with Lott, also a former whip, casting himself as the candidate more adept at deal-making and Alexander pledging to be a morale-booster to a caucus still smarting over the midterm elections.

As recently as Tuesday night, Alexander's office predicted he had the support of as many as 30 Republicans senators. But Lott peeled off Alexander's supporters in part by arguing that in a Senate split by one vote, deal-making expertise could mean the difference between Republicans passing legislation to tout in the next campaign in 2008 or risk being branded as do-nothing lawmakers.

Remaining neutral was McConnell, who was uncontested to be the Republican minority leader. He'll replace Frist, R-Tenn., who is retiring from the Senate under a self-imposed term limit and is a potential contender for the GOP presidential nomination in two years.

Lott relished his duties as majority leader but stepped down in 2002 under pressure over remarks that were interpreted as racially insensitive. He has long hinted at making a comeback bid.

The GOP whip's race was but one source of suspense in the wake of the midterm balloting, in which war-weary voters stripped President Bush's party of its majority. Congress returned to a lame-duck session to pass a budget, and the Senate was considering Mr. Bush's nomination of a new defense secretary.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats elected their leadership roster.

Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois will ascend to majority leader and majority whip, respectively.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will continue as the chairman of the party's campaign fundraising committee. Schumer also will add vice chairman to his title, making him No. 3 in the leadership and a chief strategist.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington will serve as conference secretary; Debbie Stabenow of Michigan will chair the steering committee; and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota will serve as chairman of the research-focused policy committee.

House Democrats choose their leaders on Thursday; House Republicans elect theirs on Friday.

[duffyshort]

I don't believe the adage that underneath every Rotarian leisure suit there is a KKK hood, anymore than I think that everyone that disagrees with Cheney, Bush & Company is a liberal or a commie. But I have been within the realm of Trent Lott and he makes George Allen seem like a saint. He thinks that people that use words like Macaca are wussies. The truth is he represents the sentiments of his constituents in an old south kind of way.

[grumpas]

I never could understand why blacks and *** voted Republican???? That just never made much sense to me! It seemed to me they are voting against their own interests! They were putting the kind of people in office that would do them the most damage!!! They could care less about them as an individual or anything they believed in. But, I guess that's me! When the Republican's became pro-life I started looking for someone else to vote for! If they wouldn't trust me to do right thing with my own body they weren't going to get my vote! I wasn't going to overlook government interferrence in my personal life! I haven't regretted the move to the Democratic side since!

[jro38mm]

Yes, I agree that MS, as well as many many other states and countries, does have a serious issue with gerrymandering, but I can't see what that has to do with a Senate race, in which the entire state, not individual districts, votes. I apologize for using the term most, I should have said many.

[huskerarmy]

jro38mm,

"...most of whom voted for Senator Lott."

That's a lie. Mississippi has a serious issue of gerrymandering. The way that the black vote has been diluted in that state is a national discrace. Regardless, many Blacks in Mississippi dispise Trent Lott. In fact, in Lott's 2000 race, he only garnered a meager 11 percent of the black vote. That's far cry from "most."

[jro38mm]

Kinda funny that he is from Mississippi, the state that has the highest percentage of African Americans than any other state, most of whom voted for Senator Lott. And if you want to talk about Republicans being racist, who do you think is going to be President pro tempore, and chairman of the Appropriations Committee when Congress resumes in January? Thats right none other than Robert Byrd, who was once the Exalted Cyclops of his chapter of the KKK. Also what about this quote from Senator Byrd that he made during WWII when he vowed never to fight "with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds." If I were you I would take a look at my own party's racist members before pointing fingers at the Republicans.

[pakaal]

Yep, good old Trent Lott. As a Congressman, he voted against renewal of the Voting Rights Act and opposed the Martin Luther King Holiday. Lott also maintained an affiliation with the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC, renamed from KKK).

OK, I'll give the guy SOME credit - he has been calling for Rumsfeld's resignation for a while. He has that going for him anyway.

[pakaal]

Funny how when asked to stand up for the issues they're arguing about - for example staying silent on Trent Lott's racism instead of condemning it, or responding to facts from sources they themselves cite, Right-leaning commentors seem to disappear.

[webdepot]

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Looking through your Trusted Source", Wikipedia,
under the link for Steele:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S._Steele
scroll down to "Controversies"... here's what YOUR INFO SOURCE says on the matter:
first off, it supposedly happened in 2002, during the gubernatorial debate, not Steele's debate... Steele was in the audience... 5 days later Steele claimed he saw AN oreo cookie roll to his feet..
The article attributes this quote to Steele, "If it happened, shame on them...."
At the time of the debate, Schurick (the Republican's communications manager)had not mentioned any such incident, but in November 2005 (THREE YEARS LATER) he claimed "It was raining Oreos... They were thick in the air like locusts..." Soon after, on the Hannity show (Fox news, totally unbiased... LOL) Steele agreed with Hannity that oreos were thrown at him.. (yea, right)
The article also quotes Neal Duke, (of the Baltimore NAACP) who moderated the debate:
"I have no reason to doubt those sources; I just didn't see it."

Nice try.... but you did not make your point at all..

[webdepot]

perception5 -
Thanks for the link... obviously you trust Wikipedia as a reliable, unbiased, source of information, or you wouldn't use them to prove a point...
About the Schumer allegation and Steele's SS number: you picked a pretty **** poor article to make your point... did you bother to read the article to its conclusion... like the last paragraph where it states that:
"upon learning of the underlings indescretion, Schumer reported them to the U.S. attorney's office and kicked them out of the organization. Schumer has not been implicated in the incident.
That's my man... find something that is not right and meet it headon... fix the problem... not like Republicans since Nixon... that choose to cover things up..

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[pakaal]

Yah, didn't think anyone would. Hippocrites.