Little more than a year after persuading his fellow Republican Senators that he was better qualified than Tennessee's Lamar Alexander to serve as Minority Whip in the Senate for the long haul, Mississippi's Trent Lott has unexpectedly announced his retirement from the Senate, effective at the end of the year.
Re-elected to a full term only last year, Lott leaves his fellow Republicans in the lurch, for the apparent purpose of pursuing "other interests". It might have been more honest of the Senator to have revealed his intentions at the time he was politicking to become the Senate Minority Whip. Certainly, had they known he would leave his leadership post in less than a year, his supporters would not have voted for him them.
Lott's decision leaves his fellow Republicans scrambling to field a candidate for a special election to fill out the balance of his term (which ends in 2012), either in the next 90 days or in November of 2008 (depending on which expert you listen to) putting this 'safe' Republican seat up for grabs at worst, and diverting limited party resources at best.
One can only speculate as to Senator Lott's motives, but the most likely explanation is his desire to cash in on the K Street lobbying gravy train. Lott apparently wants to "get his while the getting is good."
Apparently, Profiles in Greed is a better description of the conduct of certain seasoned Senators these days than Profiles in Courage.
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