Challenge Mounts to Lott’s Job

Sen. Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican with close ties to the White House, mounted a bid Thursday to topple Trent Lott as Senate majority leader, the most serious blow yet to Lott’s uphill effort to hold onto the job.

Frist said in a statement that he had been encouraged by GOP colleagues to run for leader, and agreed to sound out others “to determine the viability of such an effort.”

“If it is clear that a majority of the Republican caucus believes a change in leadership would benefit the institution of the United States Senate, I will likely step forward for that role,” said Frist.

Frist’s statement steps up already intense pressure on Lott to relinquish his leadership post. The Mississippian has been under fire for comments he made two weeks ago suggesting sympathy for the 1948 presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond, who advocated segregation.

Some Republican senators have said they believe the continuing controversy has made it impossible for Lott to continue as an effective leader. But Frist is the first senator to openly offer himself as a possible alternative.

He was quickly endorsed by three influential GOP senators -- George Allen of Virginia, incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the incoming chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, and John W. Warner of Virginia, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The announcements were the first in a series of high-level endorsements expected by the Frist camp.

Allen said he called Lott late Wednesday to urge him to give up his leadership post.

A source close to Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), a longtime Lott adversary who had been considered a possible challenger, said Nickles would probably back Frist.

Frist is considered a favorite of President Bush. And his statement follows criticism of Lott’s comments by several Bush allies -- his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and, just Thursday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

But a source close to Frist vehemently denied any White House complicity in Frist’s initiative. “He has studiously avoided talking to the White House because it isn’t the White House’s deal,” this source said.

The Senate’s 51 Republicans are scheduled to meet Jan. 6 to consider the future of the party’s leadership. Lott critics are hoping he will step down before then. But Lott, who spent Thursday in Mississippi calling colleagues, has given no indication that he would relinquish his position voluntarily.

“I don’t expect he’s going to resign,” said a Republican senator who is supporting Lott. “He’s determined to overcome this and he’s confident he can.”

But other Republicans said Frist’s candidacy is just the kind of opening many GOP senators were seeking to give vent to their frustrations with the political furor caused by Lott.

“The dam has broken,” said an aide to a senior Republican senator. “It’s never over till it’s over, but members have been trying to find a place to jump. If Frist opens the door, they will jump.”

Lott spokesman Ron Bonjean Thursday night insisted the senator will survive any challenges. Bonjean said Lott “will be the majority leader in the next Congress.” The firestorm was touched off by Lott’s comments at the 100th birthday party for Thurmond, now a Republican senator from South Carolina but who in 1948 ran for president on the Dixiecrat ticket.

Bush last week termed “offensive” the Lott comments that seemed to endorse segregation. But he has not called on Lott to step down as leader. And White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on Thursday continued the administration’s hands-off approach to the leadership controversy.

“Whoever is chosen, if there is an election, the president will work with whoever that is, including Sen. Lott, to advance the agenda that the American people have elected everyone in Washington to work on,” Fleischer said.

Lott, however, has accused White House aides of fueling sentiment against him through anonymous comments to the media suggesting the administration believes a change is needed.

Frist announced his decision to consider a leadership challenge after keeping a low public profile as the criticism of Lott built. In private, he expressed concern that the controversy would hurt GOP efforts to make inroads among black voters. After discussing the fallout with colleagues, “he began to realize it was pretty bad -- probably so bad we need to change leaders,” a source close to Frist said.

Frist, 50, has been seen as a rising star in the Senate, in part because of his close relationship to Bush. In 2000, he served as the Senate Republican liaison to Bush’s presidential campaign.

His stock has risen even more following his chairmanship of the Senate Republican campaign committee for the 2002 elections, in which the GOP gained two seats and recaptured control of the Senate. In the course of the recent campaign, Frist grew closer to Bush’s chief political advisor Karl Rove.

One Republican senator said that Frist’s ties to the White House could be a liability. Lott’s allies have been fueling resentment among some senators over what they see as White House meddling. “The White House is overplaying its hand,” said an aide to a senior Senate Republican.

But many GOP senators share Allen’s concern that the furor surrounding Lott would dash the GOP’s hopes for quick passage of the party’s legislative agenda. Frist backers see him as a potentially appealing leader because he communicates well on television and projects a moderate image, which could make it easier for him to reach out to Democrats and bridge differences within the GOP.

His voting record is consistently conservative and generally in the mainstream of his party. But he is viewed as less ideological than Lott primarily because his principal legislative interests -- health care legislation and increased funding for combating AIDS in Africa -- are not typical conservative mainstays. Frist is a former surgeon first elected to the Senate in 1994.

As Frist ponders whether to challenge Lott, other Republican senators could also emerge to seek the leadership.

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have been supporting Lott, but are considered possible candidates if Lott steps down. Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee suggested Wednesday he would like to see a woman as majority leader. Frist’s potential candidacy emerged as Lott continued to take a pounding from Republicans across the country.

Inhofe told a radio station that Lott had compromised himself with a series of apologies that have not put out the firestorm.

“So his ability as a leader dissipates on a daily basis,” Inhofe said in an interview reported in the Oklahoman newspaper.

Sen. Craig Thomas of Wyoming also indicated he was ready for a leadership change. “I don’t have a strong feeling about the personality that’s there,” Thomas said. “I don’t condone what [Lott] did and I’m not opposed to change either.”

Perry, who succeeded Bush as governor of Texas, said he believes Lott should step aside as leader. Perry became the first Republican governor to call explicitly for Lott to be replaced. Earlier this week, Jeb Bush said the festering Senate leadership crisis must soon end but stopped short of specifically calling for Lott to step down.

Some senators continued to stand by Lott. Sen. George Voinovich joined his Ohio colleague, Sen. Mike DeWine, in asserting his backing of Lott.

And in a CNN interview, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he still supported Lott. “Trent doesn’t deserve the death penalty,” he said.