When Trent Lott got elected minority whip last week, there was some grumbling that Rick Santorum was the reason he did — that Santorum’s support put him over. Save for a few blog items that got a lot of attention though, I have no sense that was the case. Around D.C. last week I kept asking the question and again and again I got the same answer, which closely tracks with Jonathan Martin’s piece today: The biggest factor in Lott winning was the reality that Lott knows how to whip up votes — and there was a real sense Lamar doesn’t. And so there we are — with Lott as whip. Sorry if that disappoints anyone’s Santorum-as-convenient-enemy framework.