Publius' Forum

Proof once again, that the GOP has no clue how to wield power ... or even keep it, for that matter.

WASHINGTON - As the Senate struggled recently to resolve an impasse over immigration reform, Sen. John Cornyn needed advice from an expert.

He did not turn to President Bush nor to Majority Leader Bill Frist.

"I said, `Trent, how do we get out of this mess?''' said Cornyn, R-Texas.

This heralds bad news for Conservatives in particular and the GOP in general and it means far more than Lott getting some personal power back after he lost it due to that media fiasco over his supposedly "racist" comments a few years ago.

Here is why...

When Lott was Republican leader from 1996 to 2002, some colleagues grumbled privately that he too often caved in to Democrats because he was eager to reach an agreement, check off an item on his list and get home in time for dinner.

This isn't just a "feeling". Lott gave away power to the Democrats when the GOP had been newly christened the "power Party" after Bush's big wins. Because of Lott's dithering and inattention, the GOP never got a real chance to wield power in the Senate, the power that they won fairly at the ballot box. At every turn Lott gave Democrats an equal say in Senate operations, a sentiment they never have and never would return. So, the wins that the GOP gained at the ballot box after generations of the government being in the hands of the Democratic Party were never realized, squandered by Lott. The GOP was never able to try making the changes that the people voted them into office to attempt and that is all due to Lott's unfaithfulness to his Party.

Here is even worse news about Lott's continued "leadership"...

A turning point for Lott came in August after Hurricane Katrina struck his home state, destroying his stately home in Pascagoula, Miss., a framed photograph of which sits on his office coffee table. In announcing last January that he would seek election to a fourth Senate term, Lott cited the need to help Mississippi recover.

Great. So now he will be an even bigger spender than ever because he feels we should turn to government for even more problems to be "solved" by fistfulls of money -- and a great way to bribe the people so he can get re-elected. That's all we need!

Still, this penchant for members of the Senate to begin looking back to Lott is proof of another thing and that is how facile and useless is Bill Frist. Frist has never been able to build a strong GOP consensus. So, the weaker members of the GOP, like Linc. Chaffee and Susan Collins, have drifted back to the guy they KNOW whom they can twist away from Republican principles to get "something done", they'll go to Lott.

So, if this continues and Senator Trent Lott comes back into power in the Senate, it should not surprise anyone if he bends over backwards for Democrats even more, attempting to seem extra-specially "reasonable", to erase his supposed "racist" past. So, expect further losses for the GOP.

It is beginning to look every day as if it is better time to be a Democrat in Washington.

(Source: The Mercury News, San Jose)

-By Warner Todd Huston