Lott reclaims Senate leadership position

WASHINGTON — Even in a city known for career comebacks, it was a remarkable rebound.

Four years after racially insensitive remarks toppled him from one of Capitol Hill's preeminent posts, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., on Wednesday reclaimed a position of power, winning election as Senate minority whip.

Lott's narrow victory in a vote among his Republican colleagues to be their No. 2 leader was a testament to his undiminished legislative skills — as well as a sign of President Bush's diminished clout after the GOP lost its majorities in the Senate and House in last week's midterm election.

"I feel exhilarated," Lott said, adding that he was looking forward to doing "a job that I've always really loved the most: count the votes" as the Senate considers legislation.

As expected, GOP senators elected Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as minority leader for the new Congress that convenes in January.

Lott has had chilly relations with the White House since he was forced out as the Senate's Republican leader in 2002 after a remark he made praising Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist 1948 presidential campaign.

The strained feelings that persist between Lott and the administration took a back seat to other considerations among the 49 Republican senators who cast ballots Wednesday.

Several said they voted to return Lott to a leadership position because of his legislative and political skills.

Those talents were in evidence as Lott defeated Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee in the secret ballot for the whip's job, 25-24.

Alexander had campaigned for the job for more than a year and thought he had it locked up. Lott just recently decided to seek the position and quietly rounded up support.

"Senators, like most Americans, like a comeback," Alexander said. He added that Lott "proved to be a better vote counter," a major task for the whip.

Lott's political acumen also was on display when, after the vote, he limited his comments and sought not to steal the spotlight from McConnell.

"I'm honored to be a part of this leadership team to support Mitch McConnell and all of my colleagues," Lott said.

Lott's re-emergence could hurt the efforts by Bush and his political team to woo black voters, an outreach that has paid few dividends.

Some black leaders criticized Lott's selection; an official with the NAACP said the senator scored an "F" on the group's report card on 2005 votes in Congress on civil-rights issues.

"We're deeply concerned," said Hilary Shelton, head of the Washington office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Lott's colleagues extolled his ability to move bills through Congress — a knack that some have said they found lacking in retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

"He's a proven leader," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said of Lott, calling him "the most adept at getting legislation passed of anybody I've ever known."

Thomas Mann, an expert on the workings of Congress at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, termed Lott's return to leadership "another reminder to the White House how different Congress will be during the next two years."