Is This Compromise Trent Lott’s Handiwork?

The former majority leader has shown why he is a former majority leader. He has a tin ear for what is good for the party. According to the LA Times, Trent Lott got the judicial compromise talks started with Ben Nelson, and thus was another Republican Senator who probably would have signed the abdication, I mean compromise, document.

An informal dinner conversation in March between two senators — one a Southern Republican, the other a Midwestern Democrat — was the impetus for the deal that averted a Senate showdown over judicial nominees.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) had invited Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to his Capitol Hill home. And as they chatted about the Republican threat to end judicial filibusters by changing Senate rules, the two found they agreed that such a move would cause grave harm to the institution.
But what to do?

Initially, the pair just “talked in the hallways” of the Senate, Nelson said. Then they began quietly feeling out their colleagues to see who else might be interested in finding a way to avoid a confrontation.

Their partnership, however, came to an abrupt end after the Hill, a newspaper that focuses on Congress, reported their efforts early this month. Outraged conservatives jammed Lott’s office switchboard, protesting his involvement.

Lott abandoned his efforts.

So here we have a senator who wanted the document showing weakness, but lacked even the backbone to sign the document he initiated. And he was the majority leader. You wonder why Frist was nervous over the vote, when he knew he had lily livered senators at his back.

What happens to Republican’s when they join the Senate? Nothing good if you ask me. The Democratic Senators talk of civility and fight like Junk Yard Dogs, while Republican talk about fighting hard, and then just roll over.

Hat Tip Patterico’s Pontifications

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