The unusual redemption of Sen. Lott.

Byline: Jill Zuckman

Apr. 14--WASHINGTON -- As the Senate struggled recently to resolve an impasse over immigration reform, Sen. John Cornyn needed advice from an expert.

He did not turn to President Bush nor to Majority Leader Bill Frist.

"I said, 'Trent, how do we get out of this mess?'" said Cornyn (R-Texas), meaning Sen. Trent Lott, the former Senate Republican leader from Mississippi whose knack for legislative strategy remains undiminished, if newly appreciated.

Lott was forced from his leadership post in 2002 after he praised then-Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist 1948 presidential campaign.

But a little more than three years later, Lott has re-emerged as the go-to man in the Senate when his GOP colleagues need legislative help, and he may again seek a leadership job next year.

With President Bush and congressional Republicans facing critics' charges of incompetence and lack of accomplishments, Lott's renewed appeal, despite the taint of the event that brought him down, is a measure of the urgency with which Congress and the public want someone with a talent for getting things done.