Frist speaks at Lincoln Day dinner, supports McConnell for leader

LEXINGTON, Ky. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Tennessee Republican Bill Frist will leave the Senate soon, presumably to run for president, and he made no secret Saturday night about whom he thinks should succeed him as the chamber’s leader.

Frist twice referred to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as “the next majority leader of the U.S. Senate,” during his keynote address at the Lincoln Day dinner, an annual gathering of hundreds of Kentucky GOP dignitaries.

“We’re locked at the hip,” Frist said of McConnell, whom he credited with leading the charge on the passing of the energy bill, bankruptcy reform, and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

McConnell, who introduced Frist at the evening dinner, didn’t say whether he was interested in the job, but he gushed about Frist’s leadership.

“I have never met anyone in my political career for whom I have greater admiration,” McConnell said.

Frist and McConnell rose to the top two positions in the U.S. Senate in December of 2002. Frist has said he will not run for re-election after he finishes his second term at the end of this year.

Although McConnell has long been expected to go for the Senate’s top job, it’s unclear whether he’ll run uncontested.

Former Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who left the leadership post under pressure after remarks he made at a birthday party for former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond, told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last month that he hasn’t ruled out challenging McConnell.

“I’m not inclined to challenge him but, you know, who knows what the situation will be a year from now or three years from now,” Lott said.

McConnell certainly has a cheering section among Kentucky Republicans. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., also referred to him Saturday as the next majority leader, and Kentucky Senate colleague Jim Bunning has predicted McConnell will get the job.

Though most major Kentucky Republicans attended the dinner, the highest-ranking one did not. Gov. Ernie Fletcher has been hospitalized for two weeks after gallbladder surgery.

First lady Glenna Fletcher spoke on her husband’s behalf and read a lighthearted note from her husband.

“Working with partisan Democrats has been bitter,” Fletcher wrote, “But I didn’t realize it was having such an effect on my gallbladder. Thankfully, that’s been removed now.”