GOP whip Nickles wants new Senate leadership

WASHINGTON -- Breaking ranks, a veteran Senate Republican called Sunday for new leadership elections, saying Sen. Trent Lott has been so weakened by a race-based controversy that "his ability to enact our agenda" is in doubt.\n"There are several outstanding senators who are more than capable of effective leadership. And I hope we have an opportunity to choose," said Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the outgoing GOP whip.\nRepublican leader Lott, R-Miss., had no immediate reaction to the comments, which instantly added a new dimension to his struggle to survive the fallout from remarks that touched on racial segregation.\nA White House spokesman also declined comment.\nWhile Nickles has served with Lott in the GOP leadership for several years, they have been rivals as well as colleagues. Nickles' statement appeared timed to blunt a Sunday broadcast offensive by Lott's allies seeking to lay the controversy to rest.\n"I have a lot of confidence in him as the leader and as a senator. And I think we should not lynch him, we should give him an opportunity," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said on CNN's "Late Edition."\n"I think he's going to continue to lead us, and I think he can be very effective as our leader in the Senate," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told ABC's "This Week."\nMcConnell, elected to succeed Nickles as the No. 2 Republican leader, added that he had confidence in Lott's ability to "move forward with the president's agenda in the new Congress."\nLott, 61 and in line to become Senate majority leader in January, triggered an uproar this month when he said that Mississippians were proud to have voted for Sen. Strom Thurmond in 1948 on the pro-segregationist Dixiecrat ticket.\n"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 added in remarks at the 100th birthday for the retiring South Carolina senator.\nLott's most recent apology came Friday, when he strongly denounced racism and segregation at a news conference in his home state, and asked for forgiveness and forbearance.\nLott also arranged a 30-minute appearance on Black Entertainment Television for Monday, part of an effort to demonstrate his concern about issues of importance to African-Americans.\nBut Nickles' comments seemed likely to propel the Republican leadership drama into a new phase. A closed-door meeting of the 51 GOP senators in the new Congress must be called if five make a written request.\nSen. John Warner, R-Va., also suggested a meeting of the rank and file. "I feel we should come together as a group and make that decision and put to rest, once and for all, this controversy," he said on CNN.\nAlternatively, GOP senators are scheduled to meet privately on Jan. 8, the day after the new Congress is sworn in, and Nickles could raise the subject of leadership elections then.\nNickles' spokesman, Brook Simmons, said he did not know whether Nickles would run for leader if there were an election.\nSimmons said Nickles told the White House on Saturday night of his plans to speak out, and informed Lott early Sunday.