Politics: Vacant Lott.(Trent Lott)

Sen. Thurmond turned 100 on December 5, when Sen. Lott said, "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we [Mississippians] voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Lott's full retraction and apology did not come until a press conference on December 13. In the intervening eight days, Lott made apologies that were wimpy and clueless (including the classic formulation of the moral shoulder-shrugger -- "I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement" -- in other words, I'm not offensive, but if you're touchy, I'm sorry). Eight days may not seem long, but in a news cycle driven by the instantaneous blogosphere, they are an eternity. Lott's lead-footed clumsiness unfits him to be the GOP choice for Senate majority leader.

Not that he was ever well-suited for the job. After the 1998 elections, in which the GOP lost ground, NR called Lott "better suited to the back bench," and urged Oklahoma senator Don Nickles to challenge him. Lott's main principles seem to be pork-barreling and institutional bonhomie (one of his defenders has been GOP renegade Jim Jeffords, who sang with Lott in a senatorial barbershop quartet). Whatever conservative principles he had related to race -- opposition to race preferences, for instance -- and whatever loyalty he felt to his colleagues have been tossed overboard in a grovel-fest during which he has implicitly suggested that the rest of the GOP needs a racial readjustment just like his. First he didn't apologize at all; now he apologizes for the wrong things.

Many of Lott's critics are motivated by opportunism. Democrats want a salve for their historic losses in November. They hope to use the ...