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Lott returns after neocons defeated { November 15 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111500533.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111500533.html
Lott Elected Minority Whip
By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 15, 2006; 12:36 PM
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who was ousted as Senate majority leader four years ago because of racially insensitive remarks about America's segregationist past, made a surprise comeback today by being elected to his party's No. 2 spot in the chamber by a single vote after lobbying hard for the job.
Lott returned to the GOP leadership by beating Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee by a 25-24 vote to become the Republicans' vote-counting whip in the Senate, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) told reporters, according to news agency reports.
The Republican caucus elected Lott on a secret ballot after a night that saw both candidates lobby their GOP colleagues heavily for the job.
Lott will be the GOP's second-in-command to Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was unanimously elected to be the minority leader in the new Democratic-led Senate that will be seated in January. McConnell, who will replace Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, ran unopposed. Frist is retiring from Congress as he contemplates a potential run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
"I'm going to shock you by starting off with the right frame of mind," Lott, 65, told reporters after the vote. He said he wished to "defer" to McConnell, because the "spotlight belongs on him."
Lott's comeback came as a surprise. Alexander had campaigned for the position for about a year-and-a-half and recently was predicting he could win by as many as 30 votes, according to wire service reports. Reports said Lott worked the phones, the hallways and the Senate floor in his effort to come out of the political wilderness and back into a leadership role in his party.
Lott resigned as GOP leader on Dec. 20, 2002, after a two-week furor following his suggestion that the country would have been better off if it had elected Strom Thurmond president in 1948, when he ran on a segregationist platform. Lott made the comments at Thurmond's 100th birthday party.
After his 2002 resignation, he served as chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, but had long hinted at a comeback.
Yesterday, the Democrats elected their new Senate leadership, approving Harry M. Reid of Nevada for majority leader and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois for majority whip. Charles Schumer of New York will continue as chairman of the party's campaign fundraising committee.
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