Kevin Raybould hilights Dubya's leadership on the Lott matter:

White House takes no stance on Lott Once again, Bush was handed a chance to take a real lead, to fully repudiate the "Southern Strategy", or, at least, its racist components. Instead of taking a forceful stance, Bush weaseled out again, forcing the Senate Republicans to take the lead, hanging to the rear, hoping to reap the benefits of appearing tough, without losing too many of the votes of racists.

Remember Kevin that Bush was the candidate who, when Buchanan was talking about leaving the party, didn't say, "see ya later you bigot". Nor did he fall back on the "big tent" excuse for not showing him the door. No, Bush's only comment on the matter was to say that he needed the votes that Buchanan represented.