"I'm gonna give to candidates," Lott told The Hill. "I have found that is the best way to do it, rather than route it through some other entity."
It is always a pleasure to see Republicans behaving like Democrats. Nothing like a little Republican infighting to go with my morning coffee:
Lott also expressed a lack of confidence in Allen's NRSC, indicating that he thought it hadn't done enough to expand the GOP's narrow 51-49 Senate majority. "I gave 'em $1.5 million last year," Lott said. "What good did it do them?"
It gets better still:
It is unclear whether Lott's primary frustration is with Allen's strategic approach or with Allen himself. Lott has frosty relations with a handful of Republican senators who were instrumental in his downfall after Lott made controversial comments in December 2002 about the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).
{snip}
Lott's grudge appears to apply to other party organizations as well. His PAC, the New Republican Majority Fund, made only a single contribution to a party committee this cycle -- $1,000 to the Republican National Committee. President Bush did not intervene on Lott's behalf during the controversy, and many Republicans believe that presidential adviser Karl Rove helped engineer Lott's replacement by Frist. But Lott also likes to make many contributions late in the election cycle.
But here is the interesting tidbit I picked up: Is it possible that Lott is planning a Southern Republican Party, or a Theocratic Party? Or at the very least a base of Southern Repubicans who are indebted to him. It is one of the oldest stories in politics:
Lott declined to disclose which other candidates he would support -- or if there were any he would refrain from helping. But Irby said Lott was pursuing a "southern strategy." Many of the key Senate battles are in the South this year, including open-seat races in South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana and Oklahoma, in addition to the Georgia race.
I know, I know... it is a leap. But he is cutting his ties with the National Republican Congressional Committee and has several bitter fueds with the Republican leadership over the Thurmond controversey in 2002. Moreover he is independently giving his own money to new candidates. Collecting favors. I just thought it was interesting.
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