[QUOTE=wring]
He’s stepping down now to best capitalize on a potential career in lobbying. I see no particular reason to celebrate this event.
[/QUOTE]
And he got 64% of the vote in the last election. Anyone want to bet he’s going to succeeded by a Democrat?
[QUOTE=askeptic]
A few more outed Republicans and the South may just go Democrat on you John.
Those Bible thumpers will only take so much.
[/QUOTE]
It may go Democrat (unlikely, though), but it won’t be “on me”. I’m neither a southerner nor a Republican. I’m a Yankee by birth, and a Westerner by choice. And I’m about as Independent as they come. The only way I vote by party is when I want to purposely divide* the government up so we get as much gridlock as possible. That cuts both ways.
*Take that, HS English teacher who refused to let us split infinitives!
Dem. Govenor of New Jersey, came out as gay after scandall where he appointed his unqualified boy toy to high paying state jobs. Where have you been, under a rock?
Rostenkowski’s real old news – resigned 12 years ago, and for a good old fashioned corruption inditement.
[/QUOTE]
McGreevy was the Democratic governor of New Jersey for a while. He resigned because he was a “gay American”. Although I think it had a lot more to do with the job he gave his boyfriend than anything else.
O.K. The cuckolded wife coulda been part of it too.
McGreevey-former governor of NJ, resigned (in, I think, something of a disgrace) after it came out that he gave his boyfriend jobs that he wasn’t qualified for. I believe his ex-wife wrote a book.
[QUOTE=wring]
He’s stepping down now to best capitalize on a potential career in lobbying. I see no particular reason to celebrate this event.
[/QUOTE]
Ya gotta figure he can do less damage there – it’s all relative.
[QUOTE=John Mace]
And he got 64% of the vote in the last election. Anyone want to bet he’s going to succeeded by a Democrat?
[/QUOTE]
I’m thinking he’ll be succeeded by a younger Republican more in tune with the present age – one whose racism and provincialism are more, well, understated.
[QUOTE=Lemur866]
Well, he’s a bit late to cash in as a Republican lobbyist. The K street project depended on the Republicans keeping control of congress for the forseeable future.
[/QUOTE]
Don’t expect the Pubs to go gentle into that good night. Just because they lost Congress doesn’t mean they can’t hold on to K Street. After all, the lobbying firms’ clients would rather be represented by Pubs anyway – they’re more sympathetic to start with. As for the Dems controlling Congress – they’ll still need campaign contributions, just like always.
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
It’s refreshing to see a conservative Republican figure step down before getting caught soliciting sex from anonymous men.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
I’m thinking he’ll be succeeded by a younger Republican more in tune with the present age – one whose racism and provincialism are more, well, understated.
[/QUOTE]
I’m not fan of Trent Lott (he’s exactly the kind of Republican I wouldn’t vote for), but I don’t buy the “racist” charge. That whole thing was blown out of proportion. Believe what you want, but whoever succeeds him will almost certainly vote exactly as he would.
I could never be sad at the idea of Trent Lott quitting, but for some reason I’m a little surprised at the transparent sleaziness of this move. What’s the rush to get into lobbying all of a sudden?
If the gay thing is true, I may die laughing. But it’ll take a lot for me to believe that.
QUOTE=John Mace]I don’t buy the “racist” charge. That whole thing was blown out of proportion. Believe what you want, but whoever succeeds him will almost certainly vote exactly as he would.
[/QUOTE]
Lott is caught in an interesting little conundrum.
He is resigning now because Congresscritters who leave office after 2007 have to wait two years to cash in as a lobbyist instead of one year like they do now.
The problem is that the state GOP would really like to have the election at the same time as the general election, because screwy things happen in low-turnout special elections. But the law says that they can only schedule the special election along with the general election if the senator resigns in the same year as the national election; otherwise it has to be scheduled within 90 days.
In other words, if Lott could wait until 2008 to resign, they could have an election to replace him in November along with the Presidential election, but it gives him a whole year without that sweet sweet lobbyist cash. If he resigns in 2007, he can be lobbying by the first day of 2009, but the special election to replace him will have to be in March at the latest.