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"Soft-landing scenario"...That's the buzz phrase I'm picking up today to explain what GOP senators in Washington are hoping for in the Lott situation...This soft landing scenario would "encourage Lott to step down under face-saving conditions, which could include another prestigious Senate office." I'll remember that when I have to dismiss my first underling: "Buddy, don't think of it as a getting fired, think of it as a soft landing scenario"...Geez, you gotta love the obfuscation of language... Here's a hot little development you need to be aware of....Just how involved behind the scenes The White House is on the Lott situation is a big angle to track today....Ari's on the hot seat in his briefing now over the matter... "The signal is being sent from the White House: 'Get us a new guy,'" said a top GOP congressional source....A Bush source said the President has indicated his choice for a replacement would be the moderate Frist. (NY Daily News) http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/44491p-41916c.html Lott Reax.... "There seems to be some things that are seeping out that have not been helpful," Lott told reporters after a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Biloxi, Miss. "I understand how that happens because you've got a lot of people who work there that have different points of view," "I'm telling you here this morning, I'm hanging in there," Lott told the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce. "I'm going to find a way for myself, my family, my friends, you the people of Mississippi and America to benefit from this experience." http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott The other angle is the jockeying for a post-Lott regime... Top Four Contenders for Lott's Leadership Post Tennessee Senator and The White House's pick, Bill Frist http://frist.senate.gov/ Oklahoma Whip Don Nickles (Lott's #2 and the first GOP Senator to publicly call for Lott's ouster) http://nickles.senate.gov/ Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum (GOP Conference Chairman and 3rd in command...Said last night he supports Lott) http://santorum.senate.gov/ Incoming Majority Whip and the "Darth Vader" of Campaign Finance...Kentucky's Mitch McConnell (Lott backer) http://mcconnell.senate.gov/ Pat just hand delivered this to me...He's back in the game: Trent Lott: Victim of a hate crime http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30051 Meanwhile: Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee said Wednesday that Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott should not continue as Senate Republican leader. "It's time for a change." (AP) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott Chafee's office disputes the story...developing hot.... Btw, tonight we'll air an encore presentation of the College Tour at the Air Force Academy http://www.msnbc.com/news/831599.asp?0cb=-e1i105844 And yes guys, Norah will be there too... A housekeeping note...Are you an Iraq junkie? Want the latest news on Iraq delivered to your mailbox?? Dig our new newsletter... Learn more about the Showdown with Saddam: sign up for the Countdown: Iraq newsletter, premiering today... your on-air and online guide to the unfolding conflict. http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=31 Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC... Food item: Brownies for Everyone...No gift is more universally appreciated than this fudgy, moist, dark treat. (Wash Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1233-2002Dec17.html The official media swooning has begun over Frist: Frist Suggested for Leadership Post....The stock of Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) soared in his party after he helped engineer last month's midterm victories as chairman of the Senate Republicans' campaign committee. Now some Republicans think he should replace Trent Lott (R-Miss.) as Senate Republican leader (The Washington Post) http://msnbc.com/news/848995.asp?0sl=-13 Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of President Bush and a Republican who has actively campaigned for black votes, said Tuesday that the uproar over Sen. Trent Lott's remarks supporting a 1948 presidential candidacy based on a segregationist platform is politically damaging the GOP. (Miami Herald) http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4762398.htm Grove: Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles -- a longtime Trent Lott rival who has called on fellow Republicans to consider ousting the embattled Mississippian as the Senate's GOP leader -- might have some explaining of his own to do about his membership in the men-only Burning Tree Club. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3882-2002Dec17.html Lott vows to fight for leadership job...Senator says he has the votes; MSNBC finds video where Lott praises Thurmond's presidential bid http://www.msnbc.com/news/845511.asp Santorum 'confident' Lott will survive...A key member of the Senate leadership insisted yesterday that incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott will keep his job. (The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20021218-32792676.htm MA Dem Senator John Kerry on Iraq: ``The Iraqi army is in such bad shape, even the Italians could kick their butts.'' Kerry on Weld: ``A guy who takes more vacations than people on welfare.'' http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/fitz12182002.htm GOP Likens Byrd's Comment to Lott's... Republicans urge censure of Democratic colleague for his use of an epithet last year. Liberals say there is no valid comparison (LA Times) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-byrd18dec18011425,0,1843112.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Da%5Fsection Byrd silent over Lott comments...West Virginia senator is former KKK member (World Net Daily) http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30046 While no one has openly declared his candidacy, there's a list of eager potential successors if Trent Lott, the most powerful Republican in the Senate, does not survive the fallout from endorsing a 54-year old segregationist run for the presidency. (AP) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott_successors For Lott, Some Key Endorsements...Stevens, Santorum Among Republican Senators Who Offer Backing (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4112-2002Dec17.html Black lawmaker defends Lott...A black Democratic congressman has emerged as an unlikely defender of embattled Sen. Trent Lott in the lawmaker's effort to remain Republican leader (AP) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20021218-39660244.htm Projection on Fall Of Hussein Disputed...With war possible soon in Iraq, the chiefs of the two U.S. ground forces are challenging the belief of some senior Pentagon civilians that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will fall almost immediately if attacked, Defense Department officials said. (The Washington Post) http://msnbc.com/news/848757.asp U.S. set to declare Iraq in violation...President Bush is likely this week to declare Iraq in violation of a U.N. disarmament order, but is not expected to cite the indictment as an immediate trigger for war, U.S. officials said early Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/842500.asp The document, which one official involved in the talks called "an incredible joke," was required under the U.S.-backed United Nations resolution. (AP) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/12/17/national0029EST0405.DTL WashPost: Americans support nuke retaliation...Most Americans favor using nuclear weapons against Iraq if Saddam Hussein attacks U.S. military forces with chemical or biological weapons in a war that the public believes is virtually inevitable, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/848755.asp Missile Defense to Start in 2004...Bush Commits U.S. to Initial System (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4129-2002Dec17.html?referer=email Milbank: Bush Aides Split on Bias Case At U-Mich....Administration Weighs Taking Stand on Issue http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4137-2002Dec17.html U.S. Sen. John Edwards today will pointedly accuse the Bush administration of doing too little to protect the country against future terrorist attacks and outline a series of initiatives that he says would reduce the risk. (Raleigh News & Observer) http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/2029545p-1959988c.html Over the past few years, without much fanfare, Senator John F. Kerry has shifted his stance on one of the most radioactive issues in politics: the death penalty. (The Boston Globe) http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/352/nation/Kerry_traces_his_shift_on_the_death_penalty-.shtml Nine months after coaching American to the brink of the NCAA tournament, Jeff Jones was rewarded with a seven-year contract extension. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64458-2002Dec16.html If Ventura could meet Bin Laden . . .(AP) http://www.startribune.com/stories/1384/3539202.html Page Six: Bill Clinton took pity on his former vice president Monday night. At a private Christmas party at Man Ray for his White House staffers, Clinton urged the faithful http://pagesix.com/pagesix/27296.htm Shocking: Clooney's a Liberal: GQ describes the star as "a liberal's liberal who believes Mario Cuomo should be our president, and he keeps a photo of Jimmy Carter's 'ER' set visit on display in his bathroom." Clooney also likens Newt Gingrich to a "dinosaur," laughing, "The man has no arms." (Page Six) http://pagesix.com/pagesix/pagesix.htm Kurtz: The Thurmond Exemption...No Reason for Press to Play Along With Unspoken Pact to Overlook Racist Past http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5938-2002Dec18.html Opinion/Editorial Saletan: Nothing but Contrition...Trent Lott's failure to explain himself. http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=2075482 Steele: Of Race and Imagination...How far will Trent Lott set back conservative principles? http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002787 Missing in action...Where's Otto Reich, the official who once set the Bush administration's course in Latin America? Not only is Reich's future in limbo, so is Washington's foreign policy in that region. By Richard Wolffe in Newsweek. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/848787.asp Fresh Face John Edwards: Wrong Job For the FBI http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4377-2002Dec17.html Ilana Mercer: Saddam's sibling rivalry...Publicly available CIA reports offer no fresh incriminating evidence against Iraq, but a lot of innovative variations on the Bush Bafflegab http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30054 Chicago Sun Times: Clinging Lott is taking his party down http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits18.html Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/ Mallard http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp ========================================= This email is never sent unsolicited. You have received The Hardball Briefing Newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you. 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