Lott Fights For Survival

As Senate Republicans announced a vote on whether he'd remain their leader, Trent Lott made another round of apologies Monday, this time telling a mostly black television audience he regretted suggesting that the country would have been better off with a segregationist president.

In a 30-minute interview broadcast Monday night on Black Entertainment Television, Lott said he had made a terrible mistake and acknowledged being on the wrong side of civil rights at other times in the past. He said he wanted to do things now to help build bridges to the black community.

"The important thing is to recognize the hurt that I've caused and ask for forgiveness and find a way to turn this into a positive thing and try to make amends for what I said," he said.

Under tough questioning from BET's Ed Gordon, Lott tried to clear up what he says are misconceptions about his positions on race and segregation.

Lott denied he was a racist, saying, "In order to be a racist, you have to feel superior. I don't feel superior to you at all. I don't believe that any man or any woman is better than any other."

He said that as majority leader he could act to help African Americans and bring the nation together, and insisted he wasn't just saying that to get out of trouble.

The interview came amid signs of weakening support for Lott from his Republican colleagues and the White House. Senate Republicans set a Jan. 6 meeting on Monday to settle the fate of their longtime leader.

"There needs to be some closure soon," said Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana, who joined a growing list of GOP lawmakers expressing concern about the effect the furor was having on the party.

Lott said he thought he'd be able to withstand the storm and hold onto his leadership position, but acknowledged, "I am going to have to make changes and amends."

Asked what he would do if President Bush asked that he step down as majority leader, Lott said, "I don't believe he would do that. It's more important I stay and show I can make a difference."

On other issues, Lott said, "I am for affirmative action, and I practice it. I have had African Americans on my staff since the 1970's."

Asked why he had not previously supported a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., Lott said: "I'm not sure we in America, certainly not white America and people in the south truly understood who this man was. The impact he was having on the fabric of this country."

Lott said he had "learned a lot more since then. I have a high appreciation for him being a man of peace, a man that was for non-violence, a man that did change this country. I made a mistake."

There were fresh signs of weakness in Lott's position elsewhere, as his comments were attacked anew from the White House podium and the Republican National Committee maintained its silence about the controversy.

The announced Republican meeting sets the stage for a remarkable closed-door session for which there are few, if any precedents. The senator who emerges from the meeting as the GOP leader — Lott or another — will swiftly ascend to the position of majority leader, charged with pushing President Bush's agenda through in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Under Republican rules, any senator may propose new elections once the doors are closed, although no balloting would proceed unless a majority of Republicans wanted to go ahead. With Lott struggling to hold his position, there was no shortage of speculation about potential successors.

Sen. Don Nickles, the outgoing whip, topped the list, although his spokesman said he didn't know what his boss's plans were. Nickles, R-Okla., Lott's longtime rival within the GOP leadership, was the first Republican to break ranks over the weekend and call for new leadership elections.

Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has also gained prominence in recent months, following a successful stint as chairman of the senatorial campaign committee. Several Republicans have said for months that Frist's political goal was capturing the White House in 2008.

Rep. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., chairman of the GOP conference, issued a terse one-sentence statement announcing the meeting, saying the decision had been made "with a number of members, leadership, Sen. Lott and Sen. Nickles."

At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer called Lott's remarks about the 1948 presidential campaign "offensive and repugnant." At the same time, he said, "The president does not think he (Lott) needs to resign."

Lott's predicament stemmed from remarks he made earlier this month at a 100th birthday party for Sen. Strom Thurmond. Lott said Mississippians were proud to have supported Thurmond for president when he ran in 1948 as a segregationist. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either," he said.

Lott has apologized repeatedly for the remarks, declaring them insensitive and worse. But the furor has persisted.

"My Republican colleagues and I are actively engaged in deciding what is in the best interest of the Senate as an institution and the country," Frist said in a statement. "I am confident a consensus will emerge, but no decisions have been made yet."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he, too, supported a closed-door meeting to air the issue and "make clear to the American people that the GOP remains the party of Lincoln both in word and in deed."