Speculation surrounds whetherSen. Frist will announce candidacy
|
Frist, a Republican from Nashville, is currently the Senate Majority Leader. He won’t seek reelection to the Senate when his term expires in 2006, fueling widespread speculation he plans a run at the White House.
But Frist wouldn’t firmly commit to a presidential campaign Wednesday.
“For the next year and a half, I’m going to travel around and address issues like I’ve just addressed tonight,” said Frist after talking to eight area county executives about health care, stem cell research, and keeping jobs in America. “Then I’m going to come back to Nashville, my home, and I’m going to decide what I’m going to do.
“I know I’m going to do something that’s related to healing,” continued Frist, who is a heart transplant surgeon. “Whether that’s on a one-on-one basis, or working to heal the nation, I don’t know yet.”
While Frist refused to officially announce his candidacy, he certainly appears on the campaign trail. He has conducted town-hall style meetings in Tennessee and made prominent visits to New Hampshire and South Carolina, states with crucial early primaries. Frist has also met with delegates from pivotal swing states such as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Political scientist Norm Ornstein with the American Enterprise Institute said Frist is certainly acting like a presidential candidate. “There’s no doubt he’s acting methodically,” Ornstein said. “He’s been everywhere.”
Recent history doesn’t side with Frist stepping from Congress to the White House. Governors are natural front-runners as four of the last five presidents once led their states – Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Ronald Reagan of California, Bill Clinton of Arkansas and George W. Bush of Texas.
Fifteen senators eventually went on to become president, but only one Senate Majority Leader — Lyndon Johnson — has become president since the leadership post was created nearly a century ago.
Most recently, Republican Bob Dole tried unsuccessfully to defeat former President Bill Clinton in 1996. Dole was majority leader at the time, but stepped down after realizing he couldn’t run the Senate and a presidential campaign simultaneously.
Frist’s ascension to majority leader happened unexpectedly two years ago after then-Majority Leader Trent Lott made an insensitive racial remark and was quickly removed.