That the Republicans in the Senate want a whip who is more conservative than Alan Simpson is a stunning thought. You probably didn't know there was anybody right of him. The National Journal ranks him just slightly left of Sen. Jesse Helms and Sen. Trent Lott.
Senator Lott is the Mississippian elected to replace Wyoming's Senator Simpson, who has been whip for a decade. Senator Simpson may have lost in part because of his close association with Sen. Bob Dole, soon to be majority leader. Senator Lott is a Phil Gramm man, and Texan Gramm is, in the Senate at least, Senator Dole's main (and more conservative) opponent for the 1996 presidential nomination. In a sense this was the first presidential primary vote of 1996.