Ensign says he still supports Lott

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he will continue to support embattled Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott but prodded Lott to become a new champion of minority issues.

Meanwhile Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was mum on whether Democrats would push for a rare censure of Lott.

As controversy around Lott continued to swirl this week, Ensign said the Republican leader must seize the opportunity to aggressively reach out to minorities, in action and words.

Ensign spent much of Monday discussing the issue with his own staff, including several black members. He also spoke to Lott by telephone, stressing to the Mississippi Republican that his remarks at Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party had hurt the GOP.

"I told him that I have quite a few minorities and African Americans on my staff," Ensign said. "I relayed to Sen. Lott some of the comments they made to me. I think he has done some pretty severe damage not only to himself personally but to all Republicans, especially those of us who have reached out to minorities."

But Ensign said he believes Lott can still be an effective leader and will support him Jan. 6, when Senate Republicans meet to decide Lott's fate.

Ensign said Lott and other Republicans should do a better job of hiring minorities to their staffs and in seeking out minorities for federal Senate-approved posts, such as judges. Republicans should also communicate better how their proposals, such as faith-based initiatives, benefit minorities, Ensign said.

"(Lott) has a lot of work to do," Ensign said. "We've been damaged. We'll push him to work to try harder to realize this was a major mistake he made, and hopefully move beyond it."

Ensign said about 30 to 40 percent of his staff is minority. Ensign spokeswoman Traci Scott, who is black, said Ensign spent much of Monday talking to his aides, but declined to describe the content of the conversations.

"We can be very open and honest, and that's what we need right now," Scott said. "There needs to be an open dialogue."

Harry Reid has had little to say about Lott and as a Democrat, will not have a vote in whether Lott remains leader.

Reid today said it was best that Democrats stay out of the controversy roiling the Republican Party.

Reid declined to discuss whether Democrats would seek a censure, an official rebuke, of Lott. If they do, it will be after Jan. 6, Reid said. Reid declined to say if he supported a censure.

When asked if he believed Lott had segregationist leanings, Reid said, "I learned a long time ago, you play how you practice.

"I believe what he did was, in his own words, repugnant," Reid said.

Meanwhile Monday, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Lott should voluntarily step aside. Gibbons said Lott's comments were "inappropriate and callous" and that his apologies have not gone far enough.

"I'm not sure it was genuine," Gibbons said.

Gibbons, as a House member, has no vote in Lott's fate. Gibbons is mulling a run for the Senate in 2004.

Gibbons said Lott is an affable leader and noted that he and Lott belonged to the same fraternity. But Lott has become a "lightening rod," and the GOP should understand that the perception of leadership is as important as who leads the party, Gibbons said.

"I don't think Trent Lott is a racist at all," Gibbons said. "But what he said made it very difficult for the Republicans to incorporate and include minorities."