LOTT SAYS NOT TO EXPECT A LOT

Trent Lott has taken the helm of the Senate vowing to carry out the agenda of newly retired Bob Dole but also seeking to lower expectations of how much Congress can accomplish this election year.

The impediment he cited was not partisan politics but time."We have a lot of work to do this year that's very important for our country and not a lot of time to get that accomplished," he told a news conference shortly after Republican senators voted 44-8 to elevate him to majority leader.

There are only two months and two weeks left for legislative work, he estimated. Impinging on the calendar are this summer's political conventions and campaign time needed before the November election.

The overall agenda consists of the GOP mantra since the 1994 election: balance the budget, shrink government and trim taxes and spending.

First up, Lott said, will be overall budget legislation, followed by bills that specify how taxpayers' money will actually be spent in fiscal 1997, which begins Sept. 1.

"Our agenda will be same as the one that Bob Dole laid out for us," Lott said of his predecessor, who left the Senate Tuesday to campaign for the presidency full time.

Pressed for details, Lott pleaded for "a couple of days to get an office to work out of," to meet with his own leadership team and with Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader.

In other Republican posts:

- Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, formerly policy chairman, was approved by acclamation to succeed Lott as majority whip.

- Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho won the only other contested race, succeeding Nickles as policy chairman. On the first ballot, Craig got 26 votes, Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana got 19 and Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah got 8. In the runoff, Craig beat Coats, 30-22.

Bennett said losing the race doesn't bother him. "Frankly, that's how a lot of folks start out: losing an early race, learning from it, and going after another one."

He said the only other race he has ever lost - for a school board seat - also turned out for the best. "It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Had I won, I probably would have been too busy to mount a campaign for the Senate the next year."

The most important thing he learned from this race, he said, was the need to get in early. "Craig got in first, and he had the most votes. Coats got in second, and had the second most votes. I got in last and got the leftovers," he said.