Dick Lugar: “I join my Senate colleagues in expressing our confidence that many wonderful adventures lie before our friend, Trent…”

“I join my Senate colleagues in expressing our confidence that many wonderful adventures lie before our friend, Trent Lott, and his family, even as we are saddened by his plans to leave the Senate. Tributes to Trent will include praise of his extraordinary leadership abilities, his thoughtfulness for others, his physical strength and endurance during long sessions of work, his even temper and good humor, and even his vocal performance talents. But Senate "insiders" will usually turn to the concept of "Trent the Vote-Counter" in an attempt to identify how and why our friend succeeded on so many occasions while many colleagues did not fare so well. I would not suggest for a moment that Trent lacked any counting ability, but I would suggest that a search for his crystal ball misses a major point. Trent was successful because he convinced people that they should support him and demonstrate that support by voting for him. Long before he announced his interest in elective office or commenced "herding cats" on the House or Senate floors, Trent studied the Congress with the benefit of his able mentors, and he learned the fundamentals of how they had gained election in his home State of Mississippi.”