Posted on 12/14/2002 4:24:05 PM PST by ambrose
Some Republicans Say Senator Trent Lott's Apology Should End ControversyBy RON KAMPEAS
Trent Lott realizes he offended people with his remarks on segregation, but still can ably lead Senate Republicans, his incoming deputy said Saturday.
Other GOP colleagues said Lott's apology should end the matter.
"This is a forgiving country," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who becomes GOP whip in the new Congress in January. "He knows he made a big mistake. It's time to forgive him and to move on. And I think he can still be a very effective majority leader in the Senate."
Several other Republican senators, including John Warner of Virginia and Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, joined the "enough is enough" chorus.
GOP gains in the midterm elections in November will put Republicans in control of the Senate, where Lott is to replace Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., as majority leader. But Lott's ability to lead his party has come into question since his remarks that Strom Thurmond's election as president in 1948 would have made a better United States.
Thurmond ran a third-party campaign that focused almost entirely on the segregation of blacks from whites, banning multiracial marriage, and protecting the South from "anti-lynching" proposals.
Speaking at Thurmond's 100th birthday party on Dec. 6, Lott said, "We wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years" had Thurmond been elected.
On Friday, Lott delivered an extended apology. "My choice of words were totally unacceptable and insensitive," he said in Pascagoula, Miss., his hometown. He said had been "winging it" at the party for the retiring South Carolina Republican, and wanted only to help "an elderly gentleman to feel good."
"Segregation is a stain on our nation's soul. There is no other way to describe it," he said.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said Lott's apology was necessary. "He let his party down," Hagel said. He added, "I know of no one in our party calling for him to step down."
Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican, told The Providence Journal that Lott's remarks smacked of "stupidity." He did not call for Lott to step aside, saying he worries that potential successors might be even more conservative than the Mississippian.
President Bush last week rebuked Lott, but his spokesman said the president did not believe Lott should step down.
Some Republicans have kept silent, including Lott's current deputy, Don Nickles of Oklahoma.
Republicans are worried about the long-term effect of the race-based controversy on the GOP legislative agenda, on Bush and on the election prospects of Senate Republicans in 2004.
Liberal and civil rights groups have said the remarks were not an aberration, but emblematic of Lott's political career.
One Democrat, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, said the GOP must decide whether Lott "represents the views of the majority of Republicans in the Senate and in our country."
Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report from Louisville, Ky.
Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
Senator Lott! Step down!
There.
Dan (registered GOP)
Lott's resignation could bring about a number of scenarios, none of which looks good.
For the Democrats:
There is the possibility that his replacement as Majority Leader will be someone they can't push around as much.
For the Republicans:
There is the threat that he could quit the Senate altogether, giving up his seat to a Democratic governor's replacement, making their hold on power even more precarious.
For Senator Chafee:
If Lott resigned altogether, it would be "decision" time for Chafee. He would have to stop "pretending" to be a Republican or jump ship.
I can see why the Senate wants to keep the status quo.
It reminds me of the effort to show that Newt was a good leader. We spent a lot of time doing that too. The President should demand Lott step down as leader. It is not enough to simply demand another apology. It would be a hard thing to do, but doing the hard things is what leadership is about.
Go ahead and lynch him. Don't make a lot difference to me.
Never ever allow Marxine Waters to dictate to the republican party. If Daschle doesn't mind being her sock puppet, that's fine with me.
For once in my life I agree with Pat Buchanan. He said Lott needn't even have apologyzed since it was clear the man had no intention at all of embracing segregation, it was nothing more than an attempt to flatter Thurmond!
Jews might want to ask the same of Hillary.
If Americans think that Lott's comments and record are acceptable to our party and that we still want him on as Majority Leader, we are sunk. Bush is sunk. The worst stereotype of our party, that we are latent racists, will be seen as true everywhere. We will be seen as a party who needs to cower behind a moron to hold onto power.
The first thing they would do is shift the focus away from Lott, and put the other party on the defensive - every time a Republican appeared on television, radio, or in print, they would bring up the fact that the other guys have a former(?) Klansman among their ranks, and remind everyone how, just last year, he used the "N" word in a nationally televised interview.
They would constantly point out how Bill Clinton recently honored segregationist J. William Fullbright, dedicating a statue in his honor just weeks ago. They would also bring up the fact that Clinton has publicly praised this man on numerous occaisions, and presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.
They would point out how then-Democratic Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse doorway in Alabama, shouting "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever".
They would remind everyone of Democrat Lester Maddox, who, as Governor of Georgia, gave out autographed ax handles, with the implication being that they would be used as weapons against civil rights marchers.
They would be denouncing the other party for their constant practice of "Racial McCarthyism" against anyone who dares to disagree with them.
That's what the Republicans should be doing right now. Unfortunately, they still haven't learned that "taking the high road" get's you absolutely nowhere when dealing with the Democrats.
Apparently, the decisions been made that Lott stays. That will be confirmed or denied tomorrow on Meet the Press when Mitch McConnell lays it all out.
Not if your a Northeast Liberal. Its Chafees way of saying, if Lott goes and you elect a more conservative leader, then I'm packing a bag and meeting Ronnie Musgroves hand picked successor over at the DNC.
It's impossible to make up stuff this funny.
Maybe somebody should ask Bubbette! if it's still ok to scream at "bleeping Jew Bastards"?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.