NYT: Look Who's Talking About Making a Comeback in the Senate (Lott)

[sabra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/politics/27lott.html

Look Who's Talking About Making a Comeback in the Senate

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 - Trent Lott is talking again - and again and again and again.

It has been three years since White House officials and some Senate Republicans orchestrated Mr. Lott's ouster as Senate majority leader amid an uproar over racially insensitive remarks. Now, as he contemplates his future, Mr. Lott is tweaking the Republican elite at every turn and jangling the nerves of official Washington as never before.

As he ponders re-election next year, Mr. Lott, Republican of Mississippi, is also dropping hints about a possible bid for a return to the Senate leadership. Democrats are enjoying the show. Some Republicans are cringing, but others are eyeing Mr. Lott with some appreciation.

....

Some thought Mr. Lott would quietly slink away, but instead he rebuilt his career as sort of a Republican Greek chorus. On any given Tuesday in the Capitol, when Republicans meet for their policy luncheons, Mr. Lott can be found afterward lingering in the corridors, surrounded by reporters eager for sharp sound bites from the former leader.

...

Democrats, for their part, are delighted with Mr. Lott; they say they cannot wait to pick up the morning newspaper to read his latest remarks. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, laughed aloud at the mere mention of the former Republican leader's name.

Mr. Dorgan said, "We ought to have to pay admission to watch this."

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Shrinking polls....

...empower the base, hence less need to look like you believe black people are actually citizens.

Trent's 'comeback' is a symptom, not a cure.

[Greeby]

2. You want to be a leader, Trent?

Will you settle for being MINORITY leader? :evilgrin:

[depakid]

3. McCain loves the guy-

which ought to dispel any notion people have around here of his being anything close to a "moderate"....

"During an appearance last weekend at the University of Mississippi, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, predicted that Lott would become Republican leader again, adding, "I will tell anyone that of all the majority leaders we've had in the United States Senate, I believe that Trent Lott was the finest leader we've had."

[Opusnone]

4. Since his State is taking it up the arse

from Washington and FEMA on the Katrina disaster, his rhetoric feels anti-Republican establishment. Maybe a little disaster on your porch changes attitudes?

[sofa king]

5. I'm telling you, he's angling for the White House, not his old job.

Lott may say he's interested in being majority leader, but as I have ranted time after time on these boards, I'm convinced that Lott has higher aspirations. He actually has two routes he can go. Neither one of them involve anything remotely close to a fair election by the people.

The first way Lott can slither into the White House is by knocking off Dick Cheney and getting himself appointed Vice President. There is some precedent for this: Jerry Ford found his why into the White House in a similar way. He has repeatedly said that the Senate has to have better oversight over the Bush Presidency. What better way than to install a Senator as Vice President? And what better person to be installed than himself? Once in there, it will be but a matter of weeks before a flood of incriminating information emerges which forces little Ethelred back home to Texas permanently.

The second way Lott can do it is by knocking off Ted Stevens as President Pro Tempore. Lott is second in seniority in the Senate on the evil side, so if Stevens goes Lott by rights should have the job. From there he's #4 in line of succession, right behind Dennis Hastert. Considering the overwhelming evidence which incriminates both the President and the Vice President, it's still a fairly easy job to knock off both of them at the same time. Hastert is a pliable fellow who does what he's told, so he may be induced to not accept the job.

Lott's smart enough to know that now is the best and only shot he's going to get at the Presidency. That's what motivates him. And if he gets the job, I have no doubt that he would be a far worse President than even the one we have, for he would quickly grab the criminal reigns and give it a sense of intelligent political control heretofore unseen.

[terrya]

6. The idea of that unapologetic racist in the White House...

REALLY spurs me to want to move to Canada.

I never thought we could sink any lower than Bush...but Trent Lott manages to do it.

[Cocoa]

7. is he still homeless?

when he goes back to his district does he still have to sleep in the park, or did Bush fix his house yet.

[0007]

8. No doubt in my mind that Lott will be Minority leader again.