Many Republicans fear Lott could harm attempts to grab swing voters.

Byline: Dick Polman

Many Republicans want Trent Lott summarily ousted as Senate leader, because they fear he's giving the GOP a bad image in the Northern U.S. suburbs where President Bush is hoping to make big gains in 2004.

Here's the dilemma: Bush wants to win some of the big states that he lost last time, notably Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois. To do that, he will need to win the suburban counties _ which means convincing swing voters, particularly women, that the GOP is tolerant and inclusive.

But Lott's presence in the party leadership might complicate that mission. Many Republicans fear that it might be hard to invoke the party of Lincoln if suburbanites see Lott as personifying the party of Thurmond.

Democrats, meanwhile, would be happy to make Lott their poster boy for GOP excesses, and remind suburbanites that since the 1960s, Republicans have gained power in the South by tapping into the racial apprehensions of white voters _ and that Lott, a Mississippian, was a prime beneficiary.

Rich Galen, a longtime national Republican strategist and a Bush ally, said Wednesday: "Ground Zero is a place like Montgomery County, near Philadelphia. That's the target audience for both parties. Lots of independents who are always in play. We can't have these voters thinking about Trent and cringing. We can't give them any reason to walk away."

Harold Doley, a big Republican donor based in New Orleans, said Wednesday on Philadelphia's WHYY-FM: "To have Lott still whistling Dixie, it serves no purpose. If we want a stronger party, we have to build. We can't take constituencies off the table (such as) the swing vote in America, the white suburban female."