A Trial for Lott Too

Is Trent Lott up to it? The impeachment trial of President Clinton is set to begin on Thursday, but that is about all that has been set. Would any other Senate majority leader, say a Bob Dole or a George Mitchell or a Robert Byrd, have entered into such treacherous territory without first having scripted a viable scenario with his colleagues?

"It's difficult to say," says TIME Washington correspondent Karen Tumulty. "In a chamber of 100 equals, the Senate majority leader doesn't have that much power." And on a subject as difficult and uncharted as impeachment, it is not clear how much of a stick the majority leader really has to cajole other senators. "Still, other leaders might have done one thing differently," says Tumulty. "They might not have announced a shortened trial proposal, as Lott did last week, without first having vetted it with most colleagues." Floating the idea without full consultation virtually assured that it would come under attack from conservative quarters. "The truth is, nobody knows what Lott is up to," says Tumulty. "But one theory is that he is angling to get the trial started because trial procedures require only a simple majority vote." That's the sort of head count that makes it much easier to reach a quick resolution.