Bad Blood At The SRLC

According to CNN, Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) took a bit of a shot at the current Senate Leader Bill Frist today, the opening day of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. After referring to the Hotline's straw pole as a "rigged deal," Lott reportedly said the following:

"Frist is bussing people in," Lott said, referring to Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), whose political organization is working to ensure he wins this unscientific early test of election viability. "These are not real delegates. These are people being bussed in to produce the results.

Here's more on the tension between the two senators:

Lott's preemptive strike on Frist is not surprising, given that the two Senators have been estranged since December 2002. That is when Frist announced he would run for Majority Leader after Lott came under fire for declaring the U.S. would have avoided "all of these problems" if then-segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. Lott tried to apologize for the remark made at Thurmond's birthday party, but public pressure forced him to step down as GOP leader just as Republicans were weeks away from taking back control of the Senate.

And Lott indicated to the Grind earlier this week that he would support Sen. John McCain for the GOP nomination should the Arizona Senator run for president in 2008.

"Lott is plotting his revenge for four years now," said a Frist confidante. "He is not interested in promoting John McCain. He is more interested in taking pot shots at Bill Frist."

I love intra-party bickering.

h/t: Political Wire