Hold on there cowboy...just last week during the debates it was CW by all that the had the 51 votes. Now, I can conceive he was duped by some.
But to say he never had the votes would be misleading IMO.
I'm not talking about last week. I'm talking about those who wish he had pushed the button 2 or 3 weeks, maybe a month ago. It would have not been possible. Even then, Frist did not have the votes to make any of this happen in Republicans favor without risking huge political consequences. Instead of 7 defectors to the cause, there were 12 GOP "fencesitters", veritable "unknowns" if you will, seven of those ended up defecting.