Yeah, but he's NOT pissed at Democrats.
Lott wrote in his book I believe, and in interviews that he felt personally betrayed by a bunch of his fellow GOP senators. You figure alot of them are the 24 who voted for Lamar Alexander. This is not a unity decision here. Good thing the dems are doing the same stupid thing in the house #2 race too. We can't be the only retards on the block.
Just don't give up hope, he not number 1, just number 2. Mitch is an excellent choice for number 1.
Lott wants to redeem himself. He won't get back into majority leadership by screwing over the base and being only 1 or 2 short of a majority puts it within reach. I think it is far more likely that his goal is to be viewed as manuevering the GOP into taking back the Senate than simply being seen as a MinL who effectively working with the Dems to reach compromises. By nature he's not as effective in the majority as he can be in the minority.
I'm not at all thrilled by all this, but it isn't necessarily a big negative. This is kind of a capitalistic move, trying to harness self-interest motives for mutual gain, and I can see how it might work. And I mean, c'mon, what were you expecting? This is the Senate GOP, when have they ever been the torchbearer for conservatism? It has always been the House, so expecting the Senate GOP to swing strongly conservative in leadership was unrealistic. At least we have Mitch, and what was the alternative to Lott, Lamar Alexander? Given that choice I'd probably go with Lott, too. Someone like Sessions would be great, but that just wasn't going to happen. Senators like Cornyn are still too young to have mastered the system, and since the squishy moderate side of the Senate GOP was going to get something thrown their way, at least we get some potential insider procedural expertise as #2 rather than the squishy mod candidate for #1. Not making the best of a bad situation, but perhaps a decent compromise. The real action is going to be in the House leadership elections.
I'm taking a wait and see position.