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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Political Jockeying Begins In Earnest To Succeed Dole As Senate Leader Smart Money Is On Mississippi’s Trent Lott, Now 2nd In Command

Elaine S. Povich Newsday

Bob Dole’s senatorial life wasn’t even quite over before the race began Thursday to succeed him as majority leader.

“All they are talking about is the leadership race now,” said Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo. “There’s no time to mourn; this is politics.”

Dole, who stunned Capitol Hill on Wednesday by announcing he would resign from the Senate to concentrate on his campaign for president, arrived for work Thursday morning to open the Senate, received praise from the Senate chaplain, the Rev. Lloyd Ogilvie, for his 27-year career, then left to campaign in Chicago. Barely waiting for the swinging door to close behind him, the Senate buzzed with political activity as senators jockeyed to succeed Dole.

There was some sentimentality for Dole in the Senate, but it was eclipsed by the political maneuvering.

“There’s sort of a nostalgic feeling because people genuinely like Bob Dole,” said Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark. “There was a degree of certainty that comes with being the leader for so long. People were comfortable with him.”

The internal race for majority leader, majority whip and some of the lesser leadership posts now open in the Senate because of Dole’s departure turns largely on personalities and promises.

All the votes will be by secret ballot, and senators have been known to pledge their votes to more than one competitor and extract multiple promises in return.

“Everyone’s running for something and making pledges all over the place,” said Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt. “Then they are trying to figure out who is telling the truth.”

The timing of the vote is up in the air. Dole has promised to leave the Senate by June 11, but the thinking in the Senate is that the leadership elections will come before Memorial Day.

“It’s beneficial to get it resolved sooner rather than later,” said Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., who decided Thursday to bow out of the race for majority leader and to concentrate on attaining the No. 2 slot, majority whip, instead.

The smart money to succeed Dole as majority leader is on current Senate Majority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., who all but said Thursday that he has the race locked up.

But in an interesting intraparty rivalry, his leading competitor for the job is Sen. Thad Cochran, also of Mississippi. Lott, 54, and Cochran, 58, have been rivals for most of their time together in the Senate.

There is a degree of uncertainty surrounding the potential leadership of the Senate under Lott, largely because of his ties to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

Lott served in the House with Gingrich, and when Lott ousted Simpson last year for the No. 2 Senate leadership job, his ties to Gingrich were seen as a way to cement the two bodies. But that was when Gingrich was riding high. Now, Gingrich is seen as a liability.

“Gingrich and I are close friends,” Lott said Thursday. “But I am in no way tethered to him.”