One reason the White House, the Republican leadership and most neo-conservatives were upset with Trent Lott is that they thought hisremarks about 1948 Dixiecrats would jeopardize the party's alternatives to liberal civil rights policies and President Bush's efforts to "reach out" to black voters. The problem is that finding Republican "alternatives" to what liberals want... Read More

One obvious purpose of the attack on Trent Lott has been to advance the ambition of his critics and rivals within his own party to push him out and put themselves in his place. That's ordinary politics. But another purpose has been to exploit the transparent cowardiceand incoherence of the Republican Party on racial issues... Read More

"Nickles Seeks Lott's Ouster," blared the Washington Post's lead headline Monday morning. "GOP Agenda at Risk, Senator Says." The good news is not that Senate Republicans have decided that their Majority Leader must go - but that there is a GOP agenda at all. From the way in which the Republicans and their neo-conservative allies... Read More

For one brief shining moment, it was beginning to look like Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was taking hormone shots. First heendorsed sending troops to the border to resist invasion by illegal aliens. Then, last week, at a birthday party for 100-year-old Sen.Strom Thurmond, he virtually endorsed the South Carolina senator's presidential campaign 54 years... Read More