Trent Lott is running in 2006!

[napi21]

juST ANNOUNCED ON CNN

[bluestateguy]

1. If you took out the white vote, he would lose every single time

Racist.

[coldiggs]

7. If you took out the white vote all of the GOP would lose every time.

[GR]

2. Too Bad This Would Have Been A Dem Pickup...But Now Not Sure...

We'll see...

[napi21]

4. Let's hope the Pub scandals take him out!

I don't necessarily think HE is gulity of any of the scandals, at least so far, but I'm hoping there are enough scandals to take out the Pub majority!

[merh]

41. Actually, it is because of Katrina that he will win again.

No one will want to vote out a senior senator who has an interest in seeing that the survivors interests are protected in D.C.

It is because of Katrina that he will win. He wins not because he is a racist, it is despite the fact he is a racist. Mississippians know that he is a sumofabitch, but he is our sumofabitch and he gets the contracts that keep the Gulf Coast and other regions of the state in business.

Katrina just solidifies his place. Actually, as a survivor, I want the loudest, most obnoxious, greediest bastard in D.C. fighting to make sure the recovery efforts are funded.

Had it not been for Katrina and the scandals that the party is caught up in, he would have retired.

Now he sees he has a shot at majority leader, as he is a senior member of the old GOP and not the neocons, he knows there is a strong rife in the party and he wants to be there to come out on top, to save the party and to get his majority leadership back.

[coldiggs]

5. Realy you think in the deep south? I would of said no way.

[jobycom]

11. There was a chance if he didn't run because of the hatred over Katrina

The Republicans aren't well liked in the Katrina area right now, so there was a chance for a Dem to win in Mississippi. With Lott running, there's not much chance. He's from the Coast, and that's the area that might have swung the race to a Democrat.

[Charlie Brown]

12. I think Kerry got 43% in MS

Which is pretty high for the Bible Belt. There are a "lott" (no pun intended) of African Americans in MS, and the challenger will almost certainly be a conservative.

Maybe we could pull this off.

[MemphisTiger]

15. You are forgetting that this african-american ...

population does not vote in the same numbers as religious right whites. Trent Lott will have no trouble getting re-elected from his state because he brings home the bacon from washington. The people of MS are not as up in arms as the people of LA about their leadership. They seem to be confident in their governor and washington representation.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. Excellent point.

It means we need to get them safely to the polls.

[Caution]

3. wow I'm just so shocked

yep. This one is unreal. Apparently bears do something natural in the woods too.

[woodcutter]

6. Running for what?

The U.S. border, to stay out of prison.

[SteppingRazor]

8. I never thought he wouldn't...

All these retirement rumors had always seemed like just that -- rumors. Lott never gave any sign that he intended to step down. As for this being a possible Dem. pick up... are you serious? Who the heck is Erik Fleming?

[bluestateguy]

13. He's a career politician. He's never done anything else

I suppose he could do the lobbying circuit, but he probably wouldn't be very good at it. He's been a congressional staffer, a congressman and a senator since 1968. Yet another reason for term limits.

[SteppingRazor]

16. I can see both sides of term limits...

After all, strict term limits would destroy institutional knowledge in Congress. There is something to be said for experience, after all.

That said, I also realize that power corrupts, and those left in Congress for decades on end are more likely to be corrupted than politicians who recently arrive.

So, I suppose I'm pretty conflicted on this issue.

How about this -- term limits, but only for the crooked ones :evilgrin:

[MADem]

39. I've said he ain't leaving when this nonsense first surfaced

He is determined to get the LEADER job back. And I will bet he will get it, too--only this time, I am hoping he will be MINORITY leader...

[VirginiaDem]

9. No way we defeat Lott. That's a lost potential pick-up.

Oh well. That was on the outside anyway. We still have PA, Missouri, Ohio, RI, Montana, Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, and Virginia (roughly in that order) as potential pick-ups.














Edited to add Virginia. Then again to add Nevada.

[MidwestTransplant]

14. VA? Not by my calculations!

[MemphisTiger]

17. I say the same thing about TN

I don't think Ford Jr. has a chance. He'll get my vote, but with his family name and the fact that he's from Memphis, no shot. He should still run for his congressional seat as a back up.

[SteppingRazor]

19. I think Ford's chances depend on the GOP primary...

If Van Hilleary or Ed Bryant win, Ford has a reasonably good chance of beating them. If Corker wins, he'll beat Ford.

[quiet.american]

21. Curious about remark about Ford's family name. Could you fill us in? n/t

[SteppingRazor]

24. The Ford name has a long history in Tennessee politics...

But recently, it's become best known for Ford's uncle,State senator John Ford, who was arrested in an FBI corruption sting operation last May just one day after Harold Ford announced his candidacy.

[quiet.american]

25. Thanks... I think... ;)

:yoiks:

[MemphisTiger]

34. His uncle was in the state senate and recently indicted in

a bribery scandal. He has always been know to be shady, but this is now a jailable offense. His father who was in congress lost his leadership postion for bribery charges during his time, which Ford Jr. now occupies. They don't have the best family name in TN.

[quiet.american]

35. Harold Ford, Jr. must really be something to have made it this far --

-- with that kind of political baggage. Interesting.

[MemphisTiger]

42. He hasn't made any waves in his district so he's okay with them

Now that the rest of the state is voting on him with arguably the most conservative democratic voting record in the house. He will be a hard sell to a very red state and I don't think the base here is very excited about him, at least that's the impression I get from people in Memphis.

[VirginiaDem]

29. I've seen polls over at mydd.com that have Ford

within a few points of most (or all?) of his potential challengers.

[VirginiaDem]

28. It's a longshot that would require us to recruit a great candidate

and then run a great campaign. It's barely on my list.

[SteppingRazor]

18. Virginia? Nevada?

Not without good candidates. George Allen will beat Harris Miller like a swaybacked mule, and Jack Carter's name recognition doesn't carry much water in Nevada. I wouldn't even call these two in contention. If Warner ran in VA, maybe -- MAYBE -- we could beat Allen. But not now.

The other seven are all possibilities, and I agree with your order of likeliness.

[Zynx]

23. The polling evidence suggests that Warner not only maybe would have

beaten Allen, but he would have been the favorite. He is also favored to carry VA over Allen in a presidential election.

In Nevada, Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman is considering a run and he would be a much more potent candidate than Jack Carter.

[SteppingRazor]

26. I'm aware of the possibility of Oscar Goodman running, but...

a) he hasn't announced yet and

b) even if he did, he's still very much a dark horse.

Nevada's a Republican win, barring some extreme, unforseen event, like Ensign being caught at the Bunny Ranch or something.

As for Warner, I agree. I think he would've beaten Allen, and that may work out to be the sixth seat we could've had. If we win five senate seats in the 2006 election, but lose Virginia ... man, I don't even want to say how pissed I'll be at Warner.

[VirginiaDem]

31. VA and NV both admittedly longshots requiring help. n/t

[VirginiaDem]

30. We're not that far off--I would consider both VA and NV to

be longshots.

I would group the candidates as follows:
PA--Santorum's in a class by himself.

Missouri and Ohio--I think our chances are significantly worse than in PA but significantly better than anywhere else.

RI, Montana, Tennessee are all very doable but each a little weird. If Chafee somehow doesn't get challenged or even defeats a primary challenge, we lose. In Montana Burns could conceivably quit or lose a primary challenge, depending on circumstances. In Tennessee, Ford is polling relatively well but still losing by a few points.

Arizona is next--I think Kyl is still pretty strong but there's a legitimate chance of knocking him off.

[Charlie Brown]

10. Aw damn, I thought he was running in '08 for a minute.

He's got so many skeletons in his closet. I'd certainly be a lot happier with Lott in the GOP spot than McCain. His Klan ties alone insures we would win.

Go Lott Go!

Oh, wait. He's running for his Senate seat? Damn.

[last_texas_dem]

20. Here's a link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060117/ap_on_el_se/trent_lott

Sucks, as I had read some articles indicating the Dems might have had a real shot at taking the seat if Lott had stepped down. The 'pugs are probably guaranteed another six years with Lott running.

[aquart]

22. Which puts him exactly where he wants to be.

All the other guys are in shit that's deeper than his.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. And now he can say they "owe" him.

[mvd]

33. Do we have anyone with name recognition there?

I'd love to defeat him. It would be another sign that the south is shifting again.

[Sgent]

38. Yea, we could get a few good candidates

Mike Moore being the major one (former AG, was responsible for the nationwide tobacco settlement amongst other things). Also the democrat rep from the Jackson area would have a shot. We could also get a darkhorse (former state rep John Grisham, or Jim Barksdale), also George Dale (long time insurance commissioner).

The politics aren't as bad as the might seem. Democrats currently hold both of the state legislative chambers, and all statewide elective office other than Govenor and Lt. Gov.

All of that being said, no one with a snowball's chance will challenge Lott -- either he or Cochran ran totally unapposed last time. And most likely any D who one would not be very well liked here regardless -- they will be moderate.

[AnneD]

36. Think on these dynamics.....

Lott hates Frist with a passion. The Bush admin were chicken hawks and dumped Lott over the remarks that were taken out of context as rascist (ok, there is a history here but bear with me) to ram Frist in as majority. Lott is a tough old GOP and they took him down a peg (so he hates them). The people in Miss. ARE pissed at GOP but the gov more specifically. They will vote Lott in because of his senority. I think Lott could influence other GOP and be a swing vote. I think Dubya is sucking up to him like he did McCain because they fear what these folks could do to them. Hell I would vote for Lott myself just to wart Frist and Bush.

[spanone]

37. Who cares?

I wished he'd run away.

[MGKrebs]

40. Ironic this comes after the "plantation" comment.

Hillary must be psychic.