More telling than the New York Times. Here’s their conclusion:
Thurmond and Byrd have worked hard to get on the right side of history. Lott still has work to do. He should do it, but not as the Republican leader of the Senate.
It’s not as though the Republicans will suffer from a change in leadership. Lott’s previous tenure as Senate majority leader was uninspiring and ultimately self-defeating. In part because of Lott’s tin ear, Sen. James Jeffords bolted from the GOP and took control of the Senate with him.
Lott may not, as he says, have a racist bone in his body. But he has a strange way of expressing that. As long as Senate Republicans prop him up as their leader in the Senate, it will be difficult for them to say with a straight face that they represent the party of Lincoln.
Amen. So why is the president dithering on this? Doesn’t he realize that Trent Lott has just trashed years of hard work trying to persuade minorities that they are welcome in the GOP’s big tent? The president is strong enough to ask Lott to step aside. Lott’s only Senate Majority Leader because of Bush, after all.
The Dish 