Regional Party

Ooh, this is going to be great. With their heavy losses in the rest of the country, the power within the GOP is shifting further southward, dooming it to irrelevance as weirdo-values conservatives trump libertarians and pragmatists. Case in point: Trent Lott will return to the leadership as Senate minority whip.

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who was ousted as Senate majority leader four years ago because of racially insensitive remarks about America's segregationist past, was elected to his party's No. 2 spot in the chamber today by a single vote.

Anybody know whether it's the incoming Senators who vote? I'd guess that a GOP caucus with DeWine or Chaffee wouldn't have gone for a discredited racist.