Overstatement
The last 2 days, some Democrats have gotten excited about a Robert Novak column in which he suggested; 1) that Trent Lott may retire instead of run for reelection in '06; 2) that is that should happen, Democrats have a better-than-even chance of picking up his Mississippi Senate seat; and 3) Democrats stand a good chance of turning that one development into a reclaiming of the entire Senate next year.

I say fat chance. Frist is gone, and Lott wants his Majority Leader spot back. If he's making noise about going home it's probably just to try and secure the support of his colleagues for a return to his post. If they promise to vote for him, he'll promise to remain in the Senate. It's a pretty good bluff though, really.

Either way, the Novak column hardly deserves the headline given it by the Huffington Post: "Southern Red States Turning Blue." That's just silly.