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Mon 26 Nov, 2007 11:30 am
By resigning before the end of this year, Lott will also be able to cash out with a lobbying job before new lobbying laws kick in and require a two-year wait before he can become a lobbyist.
Lott to resign; Kyl eyes whip role
By: Martin Kady II and Josh Kraushaar
Political
Nov 26, 2007
Trent Lott would become the sixth GOP senator to announce plans to step down this election cycle.
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) plans to resign his seat by the end of the year, a senior Republican official told Politico.
The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job.
He had regained a post in leadership after he resigned following racially insensitive remarks at a birthday party for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).
A Lott friend said part of the reason, and a factor in the timing, is a new lobbying regulation, signed by President Bush in September, extending the existing lobbying ban for former members of Congress from one to two years. The lobbying ban takes effect at the end of this year.
Lott's departure opens up a position within Republican leadership, and there could be a fight to replace him.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) will run for whip, seeking a promotion from his current place in the Republican leadership, a source close to the senator said. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), another member of the leadership team, could also be looking for a promotion to the No. 2 spot in the hierarchy.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who ran for the position last year, would be another natural candidate.
Alexander may run for either whip or chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, a spokesman said Monday morning. Alexander lost by just one vote in an internal GOP ballot for the whip race against Lott last year, but if Kyl has the votes lined up to assume the No. 2 position, Alexander may shoot for the Republican Conference chairmanship.
"Senator Alexander has not ruled out running for whip or conference, but he's not committed yet to either," Alexander spokesman Lee Pitts said. "He's looking at all the options."
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has already started making calls to seek support for a campaign to take over Kyl's position as conference chair.
Lott would become the sixth Republican senator to announce plans to step down this election cycle. His term expires in 2012, and a resignation would prompt a special election to fill the remainder of his term.
In 2006, he was reelected with 64 percent of the vote. This will be a tough one for Democrats to pick up.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) will name a successor to serve through the general election of 2008. Among the likely candidates to fill out Lott's term are Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and businessman Jim Barksdale.
Barbour will have to name a successor within 10 days of Lott's official resignation.
A Republican adviser close to Lott said, "He's ready to move on. It's that simple. He only stayed to help through the Hurricane Katrina recovery, and Mississippi is doing well." Lott lost a beloved house in the hurricane.
Lott, 67, has been in Congress for 34 years, beginning in the House.
He was elected to the Senate in 1988 and became the 16th majority leader in 1996 after former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) gave up that position to run for president.
He quit that post in December 2002, following a two-week outcry over remarks that were interpreted as praise for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist bid for president.
Lott has shown resiliency in a political atmosphere that would have permanently harmed most political careers, which is why his plans to leave the Senate came as such a surprise.
He rose quickly to the Senate leadership in his first 10 years on Capitol Hill, then last year regained a leadership position among Republicans following his reelection.
Lott spent two decades in the Senate, building a reputation as a conservative senator who used his southern charm to cut deals in a divided chamber. A former Ole Miss cheerleader, Lott was elected to the House in 1974.
Lott has a reputation among reporters for offering slick quotes and funny quips about his opponents, but that's often what got him into trouble.
He will always be remembered ?- and he admits as much in his biography "Herding Cats" ?- for an offhand comment in 2002 at Thurmond's 100th birthday when he suggested that the country would not "have had all these problems" if the segregationist Thurmond had become president.
The incident caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill and across the nation, and Lott was forced to resign as Senate majority leader.
The White House failed to publicly back Lott, and Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee (R) quickly worked to replace Lott.
Lott blasted Frist in his biography, believing that Frist had gone behind his back to take advantage of the controversy and achieve the leadership post.
Last December, with Republicans thrust into the minority, Lott was elected by his colleagues to be minority whip, beating out Alexander, who initially believed he had more endorsements from his GOP colleagues for the whip position.
In his new position as whip this year, Lott has held Republicans together on a variety of tough votes on Iraq, budget issues and immigration, making life difficult for Democrats.
Lott announced his intentions at a noon press conference in his home town of Pascagoula, which will be followed by a 4 p.m. EST announcement in the state capital of Jackson.
While Lott's office has reserved comment until the public statement, GOP Senate aides say that Lott's decision was simply based on an instinct that told him it was time to go.
By resigning before the end of this year, Lott will also be able to cash out with a lobbying job before new lobbying laws kick in and require a two-year wait before he can become a lobbyist.
----------------------------------------
Mike Allen contributed to this story.
Word on the street is that the 'lobbying job' is a cover for..
Quote:larry-flint.JPG
Larry Flynt, editor and publisher of Hustler magazine, just told FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto that he's "hoping to expose a bombshell" that will stand "Washington and the country on its head." Within the next week or two, he says his magazine will expose a sex scandal of huge proportions involving a prominent United States Senator. Flynt refused to comment on the Senator's political affiliation, but alluded that he or she is a Republican.
http://bigheaddc.com/2007/10/26/larry-flynt-teases-new-huge-gop-senate-sex-scandal/
Only rumours, but...
Cycloptichorn
Cycloptichorn
Cycloptichorn, why am I not surprised that rascal Larry Flint has got the goods on another out of control dick on such a sweetie as Trent Lott?
BBB
Cycloptichorn
With all of the problems this nation faces. Why worry about the sexual indiscretions of our senators. IMO they can eat drink and have sex [elicit and otherwise} as long as they do the job they were elected too.
au1929 wrote:Cycloptichorn
With all of the problems this nation faces. Why worry about the sexual indiscretions of our senators. IMO they can eat drink and have sex [elicit and otherwise} as long as they do the job they were elected too.
I, personally, don't worry about it. I didn't ask the guy to resign and I wouldn't ask him to resign.
Then again, I'm not a 'values voter.'
You're speaking to the wrong person here.... tell the Republicans not to worry about it.
Cycloptichorn
Following up on this morning's item, there are a variety of official and unofficial reasons for Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), just one year after asking voters in Mississippi to give him another six-year term, giving up his seat before the end of the calendar year. Some are more plausible than others.
* Explanation #1: "Spend more time with the family." Roll Call reports that Lott's "shocking move sources said was precipitated by a desire to spend more time with his family." The article added that Lott "wants to spend more time with his grandchildren." Plausibility rating: On a scale of one to 10, I'd give this one a two. His family hasn't changed much this year, and yet, he just sought re-election and just maneuvered his way into a leadership post.
* Explanation #2: He's "fed up" with Washington." The WaPo reports that Lott "grew tired of the political infighting in the Senate as Republicans have been forced into a position of merely blocking a Democratic agenda." Plausibility rating: Maybe a three. In April, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail
and so far it's working for us."
* Explanation #3: He's cashing in. MSNBC reports, "While the exactly reason Lott is stepping down before he finishes his term is unknown, the general speculation is that a quick departure immunizes Lott against tougher restrictions in a new lobbying law that takes effect at the end of the year. That law would require Senators to wait two-years before entering the lucrative world of lobbying Congress." Plausibility rating: An easy 10.
As Republican senators go, Lott isn't exactly independently wealthy. It was only a matter of time before he cashed in and went from being a politician on corporate interests' payroll to being a lobbyist on corporate interests' payroll. A Lott confidant conceded to the Politico that the lobbying law, passed earlier this year, was "a factor in the timing" of Lott's departure.
In fact, it appears Lott has been laying the groundwork for this for quite a while.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/
Actually, I see this one as a negative. Old TR is a segregationist loving good ole boy, but his replacement will be as well. His one plus is that he really doesn't like GWB. After Bush stabbed him in the back over Thurmond-Gate and left Mississippi to rot after Katrina, Lot was not in sync with the White House and could have been a force for change on the Republican side of the Senate. In his place, we'll probably get another Bush follower who can be expected to toe the line.
engineer
engineer wrote:Actually, I see this one as a negative. Old TR is a segregationist loving good ole boy, but his replacement will be as well. His one plus is that he really doesn't like GWB. After Bush stabbed him in the back over Thurmond-Gate and left Mississippi to rot after Katrina, Lot was not in sync with the White House and could have been a force for change on the Republican side of the Senate. In his place, we'll probably get another Bush follower who can be expected to toe the line.
Unfortunately, you are right in your prediction.
BBB
Escort Throws Cold Water On Lott Rumor
Escort Throws Cold Water On Lott Rumor
by Max Follmer - The Huffington Post
November 26, 2007
A San Antonio-based gay male escort categorically denied Monday that outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott had ever procured his services, putting to bed one of the more stunning rumors to emerge following Lott's announcement earlier in the day that he was leaving Congress.
The charge was first published by the Washington DC blog Big Head DC, which claimed to have emails where the escort, Benjamin Nicholas, allegedly playing coy, declined to go on the record because "Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don't want to add to it."
But in an email message, Nicholas himself said the item was false.
"There's nothing to be said, as Lott and I have no connection whatsoever," Nicholas wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "How these 'quotes' have been fabricated are beyond me. The Senator is someone I have had no personal dealings with, ever."
In a subsequent posting on his own Web site, Nicholas wrote, "I have not, nor have I ever seen or had contact with Senator Trent Lott. It's as simple as that. It never happened."
Big Head DC's founder, Rob Capriccioso, is no stranger to allegations of sloppy sleuthing.
Earlier this month, Radar Magazine dropped Capriccioso as a freelancer after he reported that veteran newsman Sam Donaldson's phone number was in the records of infamous DC Madam Deborah Jean Palfrey.
What Capriccioso failed to note, Radar wrote in an online post, was that Palfrey insisted that the single telephone call to Donaldson had nothing to do with prostitution, and was simply a wrong number.
Capriccioso defended the Lott piece, telling The Huffington Post "Big Head DC stands by our quotes and item 100 per cent," but he declined to share any of the emails Nicholas allegedly sent to the blog.
The item, peppered with links to YouTube videos of Nicholas flexing for the camera, quickly made the rounds of email inboxes inside the Beltway and beyond. It was even picked up by the wildly popular celebrity gossip site PerezHilton.com.
"The boy happens to be real, and his "stage name" is Benjamin Nicholas. One of the politicos Big Head DC has learned he's alleged to have been involved with is the married Sen. Trent Lott," read the original post on Big Head DC.
Nicholas later said the quotes attributed to him in the Big Head DC item were "falsely pieced-together" to "sensationalize a completely fabricated scoop."
an interesting side-note, reported last night that if TL resigns pre 01-01-08 election for a replacement must occur rather than a governor appointment for remainder of term. Probably not that much of an issue as Mississippi is solid red however, as is reported, the republican party has zero funds to run a campaign and is seeking a candidate that can self-finance.
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