Lott is politically tone deaf. The first thing out of his mouth after the election was "now we can pass a bill against partial-birth abortion". Excuse me but I thought the election was about the war against terrorism and Iraq.



It was still an incredibly stupid thing to say to the press on the day after the election. Not to belittle the pro-life movement, but abortion was not what most voters were thinking of on November 5.



Lott is a liability to the party and must go.

Lott's been a loser since Election '00, and the ensuing Jeffords switch.

I agree with OJ and the other comments, now is the time for Republicans to attack each other so that our party can use this opportunity to purify and cleanse itself. Especially (per Gideon's remark)

the uppity pro-life group

In addition the new Treasury Secretary is a member of Augusta National, so certainly majority leader

Sen. Frist should attack his appointment pronto.

H-man,



I want to see that abortion package past as much as you (presumably) do, but the way in which it was announced ("Now that we've won, we're going to focus on social issues where Democrats have a 10-point advantage!") does demonstrate a political tin ear. Pursue it, yes, but in due time and not at a point where everyone is wondering if the GOP will be too arrogant.



I also think that there is a pretty strong difference between being a member of Augusta National and saying that the segregationist, racist forces would have taken care of our problems.

It is interesting to note that the blogosphere is virtually unanimous in going after Lott. Allow me to briefly join in the fun, as I think Lott is every bit as much as a congressional asset to the GOP as Gingrich was, which is to say he could do a great job of destroying GOP dreams of building their lead in ’04, and could even hurt Bush’s re-elction. My gripes with Lott go all the way back to the nineties. He is a flat out mediocre majority leader at very best, and now he has “Pelosified” himself, in presenting a great target for Democrats to harp on and rally against for the indefinite future



Begone, fool!



And, as I say, it will be interesting to see what impact the blog world might have in January. We may be surprised.

I hope Lott gets "O'Neilled". I'm so sick of his hair. But more than his coif, I'm sick of his style. He is quickly screwing things up for the Republicans and he needs to go. The best thing he's ever done is get booed at the Paul Wellstone pep rally so that's not saying much for his record.

I think NKR has hit on a brilliant explanation - getting booed was Lott's best moment, and he is trying to re-create it. So far, its working.

As a native of East Tennessee, I am shocked, SHOCKED at the notion that their might be racists in

the Southern wing of the Republican party.



Sheesh. It's like when a Japanese official declares that

nothing bad happened in China. His head must roll, but

nothing else changes.



Here's a suggestion for all you party faithful. At the next convention, introduce an uncompromising integrationist

plank and see how many votes it gets.

"Uncompromisingly integrationist"? It deserves none.

Back to separate public water fountains then?



Just like I thought.

Harry:



Yes, that seems likely, doesn't it?

I didn't spend my teenage years looking down the business end of a shotgun so we could resegregate.

Been on a college campus lately? It's not whites who are the segregationists, but minorities.