Lott steps down...Lott at "home in a futile search for support from colleagues" -- traitors every one of em, hang em high Cyberken!
nytimes.com
Sen. Trent Lott will step down as Senate Republican leader, a senior GOP aide close to the Mississippian said Friday, two weeks after Lott's endorsement of Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid touched off a national uproar.
Lott, who has spent recent days in his Pascagoula, Miss., home in a futile search for support from colleagues, was to issue a statement in late morning, said the aide, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
With Lott's departure, the only declared candidate for his post so far has been Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, a close ally of President Bush. Frist, who made his candidacy known Thursday evening, has so far garnered public support from at least seven senators.
But Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania were considered possible rivals for the job.
The 51 GOP senators who will serve in the next Congress plan to meet Jan. 6 to decide who their next leader will be. |
