Frist May Challenge Lott for Senate Majority Leader
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73501,00.html
Thursday, December 19, 2002
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott's political survival remained imperiled Thursday as aides to Sen. Bill Frist announced that the Tennessee Republican is weighing support for a challenge to Lott's post.
Frist, 50, would consider running for the job if colleagues asked him to do so "for the sake of the Senate as an institution or the long-term agenda of the Republican Party," said an aide who asked not to be identified.
Fox News has also learned that Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Lott's longtime rival and former potential candidate for the leadership, will throw his support behind Frist.
Further underlining the gravity of Lott's situation, Frist quickly won public support from Virginia GOP Sens. John Warner and George Allen and Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe. Warner, a 24-year Senate veteran, will be the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Allen is a fast-rising freshman who will head the Senate GOP's campaign effort for the 2004 elections; and Inhofe will chair the Environment and Public Works panel.
Warner said Frist, a close ally of President Bush, "will definitely seek the nomination of our caucus" to challenge Lott. Allen agreed and said he believed Frist already had the support of about 10 GOP senators, including James Talent of Missouri and Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
"This is ... a country at war, this is a president who is making very difficult decisions each day and he needs the support of his Republican colleagues united and led by strong leaders in both houses," Warner told reporters.
"It may be unfair to Trent," Allen said in an interview. "It may be tortuous for him. .... We have to move forward in a very positive way for our agenda, principles and issues."
Coy Knobel, a spokesman for Enzi, said his boss has made no public comment and "will communicate directly with his colleagues rather than through the media."
In a statement, Frist said several senators had approached him Thursday and asked him to seek the job. He said he agreed to let them gauge support from all 51 GOP senators who will serve in the Congress that convenes next month.
"I indicated to them that if it is clear that a majority of the Republican caucus believes a change in leadership would benefit the institution of the United States Senate, I will likely step forward for that role," Frist said.
Lott, 61, has said he believes he has enough support from his colleagues to retain his job and has vowed to fight for it. The Mississippian has been under fire since Dec. 5, when he expressed regret that segregationist presidential candidate Strom Thurmond was defeated in 1948. Lott has delivered a series of apologies for his comments.
"Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott will be the majority leader in the next Congress," said Lott spokesman Ron Bonjean. "He has a track record of loyalty, dedication and experience in shepherding President Bush's agenda for all Americans through the Senate."
In another sign that Frist might be building momentum, a Republican aide close to No. 2 Senate Republican Don Nickles of Oklahoma said Nickles would likely support a race by Frist.
Nickles, a longtime rival of Lott, believes he would have less support from colleagues than Frist for majority leader, a Republican aide said.
Other Senate sources said there is heightened interest among GOP senators to find a resolution because Lott is refusing to give up his leader's seat.
The White House declined to comment on Frist's moves. Following Bush's criticism last week of Lott's Dec. 5 remarks, administration officials have sought to distance themselves from the leadership struggle.
"The White House does not get involved if there are any leadership races," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Lott, who has led Senate Republicans since 1996, was home in Mississippi telephoning colleagues in search of support.
Frist, 50 and in his second Senate term, had spent the last several days making noncommittal statements about Lott.
But earlier Thursday, GOP aides said Frist was sounding out senators by telephone and was considering entering the race. GOP senators plan to meet Jan. 6 to decide who will lead them in the new Congress, which convenes the next day.
Frist, a wealthy heart surgeon before coming to Congress in 1995, helped engineer the GOP takeover of the Senate in last month's elections.
He was among those Bush considered as a running mate in his 2000 presidential campaign, and has been a leading GOP voice on prescription drugs and other health care issues.
Until now, Republican lawmakers, aides and lobbyists have said Frist was reluctant to seek the job. Besides being a political lightning rod for attacks by Democrats, the post would be extremely time-consuming, taking away from his pursuit of health issues and, perhaps, preparations for a White House run in 2008.
Aides said it remained unclear whether Frist could win enough support to supplant Lott should it come to a vote.
Leadership elections, conducted by secret ballot, are notoriously unpredictable affairs in which promised votes fail to materialize and lawmakers' decisions are based on personal relationships, past conflicts and any number of unpredictable factors.
Also mentioned as possible candidates to replace Lott are GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Both currently support Lott.
A senator who has spoken to Frist cautioned, however, that Frist's candidacy could be hurt by a perception that he may be too close to the White House.
"They don't want a senator who's a yes-man for the president and Rove over here," said the senator, referring to top White House political adviser Karl Rove.
Amid the maneuvering, more of Lott's colleagues expressed an openness to replacing him.
Asked where the votes were, Allen said "Trent has said he has 26 votes that are committed to him. I am not one of those who was counted in the 26."
The Mississippian's "ability as a leader dissipates on a daily basis," Inhofe said in one of the sharpest barbs a Republican has aimed at Lott.
Other GOP senators leaving the door open for replacing Lott include Sens. Craig Thomas of Wyoming, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Maine's two moderate Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he would support Lott in January because retaining him as leader would hold the GOP's "feet to the fire" on the issue of race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report |
