It looks like Trent Lott has the votes to remain as Senate Majority Leader, in which case the coup attempt by Blumenthal, Marshall, the ardently pro-Israel neocons, clueless blogoholics, et. al. will have failed. So Lott’s future is his to decide, and he’s probably ornery enough to remain where he is, at least long enough to rub the noses of his critics in his victory for a while. But supposing he wants to be gracious and let Bill Frist try his hand at the rudder, I’m guessing he would land as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. The current ranking Reep member is Ted Stevens of Alaska, which may explain his support for Lott remaing Leader.
Appropriations would be a good gig – it’s the most powerful committee, and would enable him to reward his friends and punish his enemies. And since pork-barrel Klansman Bobby Byrd will be the Ranking Member and Fritz Hollings is also a member, whatever racism one wants to attribute to Lott won’t be remarkable in the company he’d be keeping. A further bonus is that Mississippi is a small and poor state, which won’t require a lot of pork to satisfy its appetites, leaving some for the rest of the country.
Given Lott’s nervousness with the media, it would probably be a much more fun gig that his current one. But he needs to time the switch to save face, like anybody would.