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• Video • Full Text
• President Decries Lott's Comments (The Washington Post, Dec 13, 2002) • Lott Has Moved Little On Civil Rights Issues (The Washington Post, Dec 13, 2002) • Bush Says Lott Was Right to Apologize (The Washington Post, Dec 12, 2002) • Lott Apologizes Anew For 'Terrible' Remark (The Washington Post, Dec 12, 2002) • Lott's Rhetoric Comes Back to Haunt Him (washingtonpost.com, Dec 11, 2002) • Lott Remarks on Thurmond Echoed 1980 Words (The Washington Post, Dec 11, 2002) • 'Poor Choice of Words,' Lott Says (The Washington Post, Dec 10, 2002) • Lott Decried For Part Of Salute to Thurmond (The Washington Post, Dec 7, 2002) • 3 Consonants And a Disavowal (The Washington Post, Mar 29, 1999)
• A Hundred- Candle Story And How To Blow It (The Washington Post, Dec 16, 2002) • Not a Whole Lotta Love (The Washington Post, Dec 13, 2002) • Lott's 'Sorry' Doesn't Cut It (The Washington Post, Dec 11, 2002) • Why So Late on Lott? (The Washington Post, Dec 10, 2002)
• Four Singled Out As Being Potential Successors to Lott (The Washington Post, Dec 16, 2002) • Bid to Oust Lott From Leadership Considered (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2002) • For GOP, South's Past Rises in Tangle of Pride, Shame (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2002) • In Miss. Home, Reaction Mimics Racial Divide (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2002) • Officials See Bush Insulated From Hill Probes (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2002) • More on Congress
• Today's Political News • Daily E-mail Updates
By Jim VandeHei and Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, December 16, 2002; Page A01
Sen. Don Nickles (Okla.), the second-ranking Senate Republican, yesterday said his party should consider ousting "weakened" Sen. Trent Lott as its leader or risk a backlash from voters.
"Trent has been weakened to the point that may jeopardize his ability to enact our agenda and speak to all Americans," Nickles said in a taped interview aired yesterday on ABC's "This Week." "There are several outstanding senators who are more than capable of effective leadership, and I hope we can have an opportunity to choose."
Although several Republican senators have voiced similar concerns about Lott privately, Nickles is the first GOP senator to publicly suggest the incoming majority leader should be ousted for racially divisive comments he made at a party for 100-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond (S.C.) 11 days ago. Nickles, Lott's deputy for the past six years, will likely run for his job, Republicans said, although several other senators also could seek the post.
Nickles's comments significantly undermined Lott's aggressive campaign to remain party leader and increased the likelihood he will be ousted, Republicans said. Lott and his allies worked the phones yesterday to shore up support for the Mississippian and plotted an aggressive campaign to save his leadership job.
But Lott's fate could be sealed soon. Sens. John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and others want to hold a meeting immediately to discuss Lott's future.
"Every day we don't decide, we leave Lott hanging out there and blood flowing from the wounds," Warner said.
Because Lott has already been elected majority leader, Nickles would need to get five Republican senators to sign a letter to force a meeting -- possibly not until Jan. 8, the day after the Senate reconvenes -- to discuss a new leadership election. Alternatively, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), as chairman of the Republican Conference, could simply call a meeting, which could be free-wheeling and unpredictable because there are no concrete rules guiding the overthrow of a party leader.
Lott will not go down without a fight, though. His allies were examining Nickles's voting record to try to show that it smacks of intolerance on issues important to African Americans.
Lott also is scheduled to appear at 8 tonight on BET, which has a largely African American audience, and roll out new initiatives intended to benefit African Americans.
But it might be too little, too late for Lott, Republicans said. With Nickles pressing for a new leadership election, Lott's comments could remain front-page news well into January. That would make it difficult for Lott to convince fellow Republicans that his comments will not undermine the party's outreach to minorities, a top priority for the Bush administration, and hinder their legislative agenda.
Few Republicans have said they think Lott is a racist, but many believe his comments have erupted into a much bigger political problem for the party.
Several warned that Lott has become a liability for members seeking support not only in black precincts but also from Hispanics and suburban women. The solution may be to dump Lott, several Republicans said, even if the punishment is not commensurate with the offense.
Lott still maintains wide support among Republicans who have spoken publicly, but the support is tenuous.
Several Republican senators defended Lott on yesterday's talk shows.
"I think we should not lynch him," Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I believe right now that Lott would have the confidence of the caucus."
Lott might benefit from the perception that Nickles made his comments to exploit the situation for his own political gain.
Indeed, Nickles has considered challenging Lott for the top leadership job for years. Although Lott has never been universally liked inside the GOP, Nickles never had enough support to knock him off, Republicans said.
Sensitive to the charge that he was proposing a new election for majority leader for personal reasons, Nickles has not announced his candidacy for majority leader and pointedly said several Republicans are qualified for the job, an aide said.
"This is bigger than any single senator now," Nickles said on ABC. Nickles called White House senior adviser Karl C. Rove on Saturday night to tell him of his plans. He also called Lott yesterday morning in what was described as a testy conversation.
Lott brushed passed reporters yesterday morning as they sought to question him on his way into church services. Asked about Nickles's call for a new election, Lott said, "You let him explain that," and quickly turned to enter the church.
Senate sources said Nickles should have little difficulty finding four other senators to support calling a meeting of the Republican caucus to discuss Lott's ability to remain leader. The crucial test would come on a procedural motion within the caucus to hold a new election. If a majority backed a new election, it would be a powerful signal that Lott faced almost certain rejection, the sources said.
If Nickles were speaking for himself, Lott could probably survive. But Nickles was saying publicly what many GOP senators and White House officials are expressing privately.
Nickles talked numerous times with outgoing National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Bill Frist (Tenn.), who shares many of Nickles's concerns about the political ramifications of Lott's remarks, Republicans said.
Frist, a close ally of Bush and a possible candidate for Lott's post himself, has not said Lott should step down. In fact, when pressed by Senator-elect Lindsey Graham (S.C.) in a phone call Friday night on whether Lott should resign, he told fellow Republicans "no," participants said.
Some White House officials would like to see Frist elected leader, but the Tennessee Republican is not eager to run, his friends said.
Several administration officials said they believe Nickles is a "stalking horse" clearing the way for Frist, who became close to Rove during this fall's elections. "Frist totally played ball," a Republican official said. "He was in constant communication with the White House and meshed his operation seamlessly with theirs."
Senior White House officials said Bush would not defend Lott from a challenge. And in a clear sign of Lott's weak support in the White House, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, both African Americans, have rebuffed Lott's request for statements defending him.
The White House and the Republican National Committee pointedly refused to defend Lott yesterday. A key party source even voiced a willingness to accept the consequence that if Lott loses the majority leader post, he might quit the Senate and allow a Democratic appointee to replace him. "If he chooses to do that, that's his choice, so be it," the source said.
Republicans, including Rove, felt Lott's performance at a news conference Friday in Mississippi was a failure, a top party strategist said. "You watched it and could see by his demeanor and the words he uses, he just doesn't get it. He's trapped in a time and place."
The strategist said he was particularly struck by Lott's boast that he has spoken before "mixed crowds." "Lott is still talking about 'mixing' blacks and whites?" the strategist asked incredulously. "He just kept smiling, 'I'll take some questions.' He didn't seem to be losing a ton of sleep over it."
Speaking on the record, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The president does not think Lott needs to resign."
If he does, other potential majority leader candidates include two men who defended Lott on the Sunday talk shows: Santorum and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the incoming majority whip.
"Senator Lott knows that he's weakened," McConnell said on "This Week." "He knows he made a bad mistake. But he's apologized, as I said, on four different occasions. I think we ought to accept the apology and move on."
Staff writers Mike Allen, Dan Balz and Helen Dewar contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
