Sen. Trent Lott (R.-Miss.) said last week he will seek re-election to a fourth term. That means he is virtually certain to have a seat in the next Congress, while retiring Sen. Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) will not. Frist, of course, was encouraged by the White House to elbow Lott aside as majority leader, when Lott became the target of a character assassination campaign because of inapt - but not racist - remarks he made at Sen. Strom Thurmond’s (R.-S.C.) 100th birthday party.
Will Lott seek vindication by running for his old leadership post again? "I don’t have any plans to take on anybody," Lott said at a press conference. "Who knows what the future holds? … I'm not going to be an empty suit or a back-bencher. I don't want to come back just to be an older member or chairman of the Rules Committee."
