"While no fan of Trent Lott, had he simply said he was referring to Helms position on states rights"
There is a difference between North Carolina and South Carolina, just ask one of us sometime. There is, likewise, a difference between Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond. Strom Thurmond, for instance, is dead. Jesse Helms is not.
He is a reformed Democrat. He left them when they left him. Left is the proper term! He is anything, but!
Sorry, lost my head for a moment.