I’ve never been a Trent Lott fan. He and I share almost nothing in common and, like most people, I found his praise for Strom Thurmond late last year as a racist declaration in support of segregation.
That being said, I have to admit that I’m pleased to see Lott showing a bit of a maverick streak.
This week’s issue of Time has an interesting (albeit short) piece on Lott’s “payback time.”
As the article explains, Lott, who once worshiped the principle of party loyalty and wielded it as a club during his tenure as Senate majority leader, no longer cares about toeing the GOP line.
In just the last few months, Lott has voted against the prescription-drug bill backed by the Bush administration and joined with Senate Dems in rejecting the White House-backed effort to relax media-ownership caps. In addition, Lott was one of the first Republican senators to insist that Bush owes the country an explanation to justify the additional $87 billion in war spending, saying, “I don’t like this kind of huge expenditure. [The administration has] to explain it better.”
When Time asked about his new maverick streak, Lott said, “Look, I’m here. And I’m going to try to be helpful. Sometimes that will get me crossed up with the Administration.” Lott added, “I am sending the signal that they’re going to have to deal with me, and they need to keep that in mind, because I can be a problem.”
I can be a problem? Call me crazy, but that sounds like a veiled threat. The White House has to “deal with” Lott or he can “be a problem” for Bush’s agenda. I don’t imagine Karl Rove is going to like that kind of talk at all.
For those watching Lott since his fall from grace in January, his new-found backbone shouldn’t be a big shock. After returning to the Senate following his colleagues’ rebuke, Lott sought out John McCain, the Dems’ favorite GOP maverick. Though McCain’s lack of party loyalty drove Lott nuts when he served as majority leader, once he saw his supposed Republican friends turn on him, Lott told McCain, “I’m going to be just like you.” He even joked with reporters, “I am not an instinctive troublemaker, but I maybe could learn.”
And learn he has. As CNN’s Jon Karl wrote in June, Lott has bucked his party on Bush’s dividend tax cut, pork-barrel spending, and the practice of using secret “holds” to block votes on the Senate floor.
I still don’t like Trent Lott, but if he continues to give the GOP in the Senate and the White House fits, my opinion of him will go up dramatically.