WASHINGTON (AP) — Alone in a cabin in Northern Ontario last month, Sen. Lamar Alexander considered the debt limit deal Congress and President Barack Obama had recently, noisily struck. He thought about the debates still to come in the 2012 election year, the issues he cared about, and his own future in the Senate.
Then the Tennessee Republican, 71, typed out a speech on his laptop and set it aside, to "let it cool."
Alexander served it up Tuesday, announcing from the Senate floor that he is giving up his No. 3 position in the GOP leadership for the freedom to write laws with Democrats, if need be.
"In the leadership, you always give up some of your independence in exchange for a seat at the table," Alexander said in a brief hallway interview. "I am giving up my seat at the table in exchange for some more independence."
