If he was a leader he wouldn't have apologized.
He would have said that his remarks were not related to the segregation aspect of Thurmonds canidacy and told anybody who thought otherwise that they were the ones mistaken.
You don't apologize for something you are not guilty of unless you are stupid.
He is either a racist, a stupid racist, or just plain stupid, but whatever he is he cannot be trusted with the GOP Senate majority.
That was his first apology. Thats why he's in trouble. LOL!
Further mentioning: (1) he was seven years old at the time; (2) seven-year-olds are often proud of things they don't totally understand; (3) Senator Thurmond has changed a lot in the past half-century and no longer advocates the views he once did.
To help fill in the gaps, for the clueless: in considering how great Senator Thurmond is now, and remembering how great he seemed them, it was all too easy for Lott to forget that the Thurmond of 1948 may not have been the same as the Thurmond of 2002.
Lott should have hit the Democrats' pitch out of the ballpark. Instead he struck out. Repeatedly.