December 19, 2002

THE LONG, SLOW DEATH OF TRENT LOTT:

Frist Considering Challenging Lott for Leadership Post (Jim VandeHei, December 19, 2002, Washington Post)
Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said in a statement today that he is considering challenging Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) for the majority leader's post.

Frist said other members of the Senate had asked him to run. "I indicated to them," he said, "that if it is clear that a majority of the Republican caucus believes a change in leadership would benefit the institution of the United States Seante, I will likely step forward for that role."

Sen. Don Nickles, the second ranking Republican in the Senate who was widely expected to run against Lott, is planning to endorse Frist instead, according to a top aide.


If nothing else he does deserve a chance to try and save his career. Then he's gone. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 19, 2002 7:15 PM
Comments

If 'twere done, 'twere better 'twere done quickly. Or something like that. As much as I think Lott should vacate the Majority Leader's post, it's not fair to him to leave him twisting in the wind until January 6th. I would hope the situation will be resolved well before then.

Posted by: Joe at December 19, 2002 7:01 PM

A month to incinerate a thirty year career hardly seems excessive, except in the world of the 24 hour news cycle.

Posted by: oj at December 19, 2002 7:05 PM

Nickles announced he's backing Frist rather than running himself, so rather than facing opposition, he's facing united opposition. Get your Lott shots in now, last call is coming soon.

Posted by: MarkD at December 19, 2002 8:09 PM

Supposedly Warner is backing him too.

Posted by: oj at December 19, 2002 8:49 PM

Joe - Lott could have resolved this situation last week but its clear he won't go voluntarily.

The story today by the Lott camp that they had 20+ votes was dissapointing. Hopefully it was just spin by Lott to prevent a challenge. A Frist challenge, with support from Nickles and most importantly the White House, would hopefully end this situation by either convincing Lott to step aside or be defeated on 1/6/03

Posted by: AWW at December 19, 2002 8:57 PM

It's still a bit disconcerting that the stories saying Lott has 20+ votes are naming names (i.e. McConnell, Santorum, etc) which makes it harder for these senators to not support Lott.

Ideal would be for Lott to step aside. Next best would be to lost the vote to Frist but not in such a lopsided way that Lott gets p'od and quits the Senate.

Worst case is Lott stays and the GOP can write off the next two years.

Posted by: AWW at December 19, 2002 9:51 PM

I take the Powell statement yesterday as a sign that the administration is trying to build momentum for getting rid of him - and that they're worried they won't get the votes.

Posted by: pj at December 19, 2002 10:05 PM

Just make him President Pro Tem--it actually moves him into the line of succession.

Posted by: oj at December 19, 2002 10:10 PM
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