You heard it here at Basie! over a month ago: Trent Lott (R-MS) wants his spot back as Senate Majority Leader. The Washington Post's Shailagh Murray takes a closer look at Lott's campaign to reassume power.

Trent Lott is reminiscing with supporters at the Rocky Creek Catfish Cottage, recalling the goat barbecues and Jaycee meetings that marked his first House campaign 33 years ago. But the senator draws the biggest whoops when he mentions the "little bump in the road" he hit in December 2002, when his return to the position of Senate majority leader was scuttled by what some saw as nostalgic words about segregation.

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Lott does little to discourage speculation that he might make another run at a leadership job. "If the right circumstances came along, I might do it again," he said. Lott said he finds Senate whip the most appealing post, because the whip is in the thick of everything but "doesn't have to make every damn decision," as Lott puts it.

It all depends on how the next year or two shake out. Lott has to decide for certain that he will run for a fourth term in 2006, though he says that is his intention. Frist plans to retire from the Senate next year, and his successor is all but certain to be Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the current majority whip. Sen. Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican, is slotted to move into McConnell's current post. But Santorum is expected to face a reelection fight in Pennsylvania next year. If he loses, that could be Lott's opening.

Lott was a relatively acceptable Majority Leader in terms of ensuring comity between the two parties. He's a conservative, but he is not an arch conservative like Frist.

The problem for the Democrats now is that Lott must shift right in the short term to draw the support of the Republican caucus in the Senate. For instance, Lott has taken quite a strong position in favor of the nuclear option (something he didn't overtly support while serving as Majority Leader). If the Democrats can weather this period in the short term before Lott (possibly) resumes leadership of his caucus, they will at least be able to begin to restore some good will between the two parties and make the Senate a more effective body.