Lott Furor Won't Die

Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, under fire for comments seeming to endorse the segregationist views once held by Sen. Strom Thurmond, made nearly the same remarks at a Mississippi rally with Thurmond more than two decades ago.

The Mississippi senator has since apologized for saying the nation might have been better off if the then pro-segregationist Thurmond had been elected president in 1948, but some black leaders have demanded he give up his leadership position. Even a leading conservative group questioned Lott's qualification to head the party.

Lott is to return to the position of Senate majority leader when the Senate reconvenes in January under GOP control.

The controversial remarks were made last week at a birthday party for 100-year-old Thurmond, R-S.C., who is retiring after a record 48 years in the Senate.

Lott said Mississippians were proud to have voted for Thurmond, the Dixiecrat presidential candidate in 1948, "and if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported Wednesday that his statement echoed Lott's words at a Nov. 2, 1980, rally he attended in Jackson with Thurmond. After Thurmond spoke against federal pre-emption of state laws, Lott said, "you know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today."

Lott also got caught up in a racial issue in 1999 when it was revealed he had addressed a rally sponsored by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group accused of racist views. Lott at the time said he had "made my condemnation of the white supremacist and racist views espoused by this or any other group clear,"

Talking with reporters in Bedford, N.H., Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that both President Bush and Republican Chairman Marc Racicot should publicly denounce Lott's statement.

"They've been too quiet on this issue," McAuliffe said before a speech to a business group.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer on Wednesday, for the second day in a row, declined to directly criticize Lott or his statement. "America is a much richer and better nation as a result of the changes that have been made to our society involving integration and improvement of relations between races," Fleischer said. "The president is grateful for that effort."

On Tuesday, Fleischer made similar comments, adding that "the president has confidence in him as Republican leader, unquestionably."

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus led criticism of Lott on Tuesday. Newly elected caucus chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Lott's comment "sends a chilling message to all people."

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, an officer of the 39-member caucus, said Lott's words were like a "shocking, if you will piercing, voice through the fabric of black America."

Lott originally characterized his remarks as simply lighthearted praise for Thurmond. But he issued an apology Monday night: "A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement."

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume both demanded that Lott step down as Republican leader. "His remarks are dangerously divisive and certainly unbefitting a man who is to hold such a highly esteemed leadership role," Mfume said.

Ken Connor, president of the conservative Family Research Council, also asked if Republicans should "look to a new Senate leader who is not encumbered by this unnecessary baggage.''

Connor said he didn't believe Lott was a racist, but "his thoughtless remarks ... simply reinforce the suspicion that conservatives are closet racists and secret segregationists."

Coming to Lott's defense was the only black Republican in Congress, Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma. Watts, retiring at the end of this session, said he had talked to Lott and was assured that the remarks praising Thurmond were not racially motivated. "We should not trivialize the issue of race for political gain," Watts said.

Black Caucus members demanded that fellow Democrats not play down the seriousness of the issue. "This is a Democratic Party issue," said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. "It is not enough to simply defend or to explain these kinds of statements and then at election time talk about why black Americans should turn out in large numbers."

Several top Democrats issued strong statements against Lott. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who on Monday said he accepted Lott's explanation that he never intended his remarks to be interpreted as they were, said that regardless of the intent, "His words were offensive to those who believe in freedom and equality in America."