Battle lines in Senate GOP caucus forming

Well, here is the latest tally:

Pro-Lott:

Allard*
Nighthorse Campbell
Lott
McConnel
Santorum
Specter
Stevens

Anti-Lott:

Nickles
Frist
Talent (as a rookie, he better hope Lott doesn't prevail)
Warner

It's still hard to guess at Lott's future without more "on the record" comments by the rest of the GOP caucus. If these votes were to hold, the anti-Lott forces would need 22 of the remaining 40 senators to succeed.

So perhaps it is significant that many GOP commentators and senators are starting to suspect partisanship is behind the relentless assault on Lott. This is causing a "rally 'round the flag" effect -- which will undoubtedly help Lott's survival chances.

Not to mention that if Lott is deposed, he would probably quit the Senate. So, GOP senators have to decide what is most important -- a clear majority or making a principled stand against everything Lott symbolizes. For many, this could be a deciding factor.

I'm glad I'm not a GOPer senator these days.

And, what can one say about Senate/White House relationships when anonymous sources connected to the White House are floating comments like this:

Several Republicans with close ties to the Bush White House said that the White House would prefer Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee over Mr. Nickles.

"Nickles is a traditional Southern conservative who is against everything," an influential Republican said. "The problem with Nickles is that he's not Frist. He's not urbane, he's not sophisticated."

One thing we have all learned during this mess is that southerners have a persecution complex. This slur against "traditional Southern conservatives", who are not "urbane" or "sophisticated" cannot play well with the GOP's southern wing (or voters).

(*) While Allard hasn't made any on-the-record comments on the situation, Campbell hinted they were both on the same page in this article (helpfully pointed out by Luis in the comments).

Posted December 18, 2002 08:51 AM | Comments (62)