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Tennessean willing to replace Lott (Bill Frist) - Senator emerging as chief challenger
Associated Press ^
| December 20, 2002
| Associated Press Staff
Posted on 12/20/2002 2:32:50 AM PST by MeekOneGOP

Tennessean willing to replace Lott
Senator emerging as chief challenger for GOP leadership fight
12/20/2002
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist stepped forward Thursday as a potential replacement for Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, delivering a new blow to the Mississippian's already precarious hold on his post.
In a written statement, Dr. Frist said several senators had approached him Thursday and asked him to seek the job. He said he agreed to let them gauge support from all 51 GOP senators who will serve in the Congress that convenes next month.
"I indicated to them that if it is clear that a majority of the Republican caucus believes a change in leadership would benefit the institution of the United States Senate, I will likely step forward for that role," Dr. Frist said.
Mr. Lott, 61, has vowed to fight for his job and has said he believes he has enough support from his colleagues to keep it. He has been under fire since Dec. 5, when he expressed regret that segregationist presidential candidate Strom Thurmond was defeated in 1948. Mr. Lott has delivered a series of apologies for his comments.
Mr. Lott, who has led Senate Republicans since 1996, was home in Mississippi telephoning colleagues in search of support. Mr. Lott's office declined to comment on Dr. Frist, as did the White House.
Dr. Frist, 50 and in his second Senate term, had made several noncommittal statements about Mr. Lott.
But earlier Thursday, GOP aides speaking on condition of anonymity said Dr. Frist was sounding out senators by telephone and was considering making the race. GOP senators plan to meet Jan. 6 to decide who will lead them in the new Congress, which convenes the next day.
In a sign that Dr. Frist might be building momentum, an aide close to No. 2 Senate Republican Don Nickles of Oklahoma said Mr. Nickles would probably support the Tennessean.
Mr. Nickles, a longtime rival of Mr. Lott, believes he would have less support than Dr. Frist, a Republican aide said.
Dr. Frist, a heart surgeon before coming to Congress in 1995, helped engineer the GOP takeover of the Senate in last month's elections.
He was among those Mr. Bush considered as a running mate in his 2000 presidential campaign, and he has been a leading voice on prescription drugs and other health issues.
Until now, Republican lawmakers, aides and lobbyists have said Dr. Frist was reluctant to seek the job. Besides being a political lightning rod for attacks by Democrats, the post would be time-consuming, taking away from his pursuit of health issues and, perhaps, preparations for a White House run in 2008.
Leadership elections, conducted by secret ballot, are notoriously unpredictable affairs in which promised votes fail to materialize.
Other possible candidates to replace Mr. Lott are Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/122002dnnatlott.d354f.html
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; US: Mississippi; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: abortionlist; billfrist; gop; leadershipfight; senateleadership; trentlott
To: MeeknMing
Bill Frist should have the votes to be elected Majority Leader. Its a done deal but Lott still doesn't see the writing on the wall. I guess he'll fold at the last moment and allow Frist to be elected in his place as the next GOP leader.
To: MeeknMing
Frist can 'triangulate' better'n Clinton can. He's da man...
To: MeeknMing
Ever since this thing started Lott has been begging anyone (including the Congressional Black Caucus) to say one word in his defense. What has this generated? The administration says they don't know him, and more democratic senators have said that he should stay than republican senators. Lott is out, Frist is in.
To: MeeknMing
YAY!!!!!!!!!
5
posted on
12/20/2002 3:18:16 AM PST
by
MonroeDNA
To: MeeknMing
By Joseph Farah
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON Everyone knows Sen. Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., is the upper house's only physician. But who
is this man who appears likely to become the next
Senate majority leader?
Opponents of abortion on demand are likely to be
deeply disappointed. While Trent Lott, R-Miss., had
promised to bring to the floor for a quick, early vote a
bill restricting partial-birth abortion, Frist championed
the nomination by President Clinton of former Surgeon
General David Satcher, a fervent supporter of
unrestricted abortion and someone who actually
performed abortions.
Satcher continued to serve in the Bush administration
until earlier this year.
While Satcher's nomination was widely presumed to
have originated with Vice President Al Gore, like
Satcher, a Tennessean, his confirmation was actually
championed by Frist.
Frist once told National Public Radio that there are no
absolute right, absolute wrong answers in medicine.
During last year's stem-cell debate, Frist proposed
using leftover embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics
for scientific research. The Weekly Standard also
noted that Frist believes there is a moral imperative to
use one unsalvageable life to save another.
Frist's other pet causes while serving in the Senate
have been fighting AIDS in Africa and fighting obesity
among Americans. He believes the federal government
needs to increase funding of physical education
programs in school. He thinks spending $125 million on
a Centers for Disease Control program encouraging
children to engage in athletics is another top priority.
He sponsored a bill earlier this year that would have
authorized a nationwide ad campaign to promote
better nutrition and exercise and would have
authorized money for bicycle paths, parks and
recreation centers.
According to sources close to the White House, Frist
has been favored by Bush political adviser Karl Rove
to take the helm of the Senate Republicans ever since
Lott got himself embroiled in controversy with his
remarks at Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday
party.
Now Frist reportedly is considering a bid to oust Lott.
According to the Associated Press, GOP aides say
Frist, now in his second term, is gauging support from
his colleagues, having spent time sounding them out by
telephone.
One aide, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Frist would consider
running for the job if colleagues asked him
to do so "for the sake of the Senate as an
institution or the long-term agenda of the
Republican Party.''
In a sign that Frist might be building momentum, a
Republican aide close to No. 2 Senate Republican Don
Nickles of Oklahoma said Nickles would likely support
a race by Frist.
Nickles, a longtime rival of Lott, believes he would
have less support from colleagues than Frist for
majority leader, the aide said.
Meanwhile, Lott sustained a double-barreled setback
this week as Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., broke ranks
to call for a change in party leadership and Secretary
of State Colin Powell forcefully criticized his
controversial remarks on race.
"I believe it's time to make a change," Chafee told
reporters in his home state. "I think the process is
happening," he said, encouraging the White House to
step in to help ease Lott from power.
Powell, the highest-ranking African American in the
Bush administration, made his first comments on a
controversy that flared this month when Lott spoke
favorably of Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist
presidential campaign of a half-century ago.
"If the rest of the country had followed our lead, we
wouldn't have had all these problems over all these
years either," Lott said at Thurmond's 100th birthday.
"I was disappointed in the senator's statement," Powell
said. "I deplored the sentiments behind the statement."
"There was nothing about the 1948 election or the
Dixiecrat agenda that should have been acceptable in
any way to any American at that time or any American
now."
Lott has maintained a defiant pose, insisting he would
fight for his job at a Jan. 6 meeting of GOP rank and
file senators and swiping at suggestions from
anonymous officials with ties to the White House that
he step down.
"There seems to be some things that are seeping out
that have not been helpful," he said in Biloxi, Miss. "I
understand how that happens because you've got a lot
of people who work there that have different points
of view," he told reporters.
"But I believe they do support what I am trying to do
here and the president will continue to do so."
As WorldNetDaily reported earlier, nearly two-thirds
of Americans believe Lott should be replaced as
Republican leader, according to the results of a new
survey.
Sixty-two percent say GOP senators should replace
Lott when they meet Jan. 6, compared to just 18
percent who think he should remain the party's senate
chief.
First winning entry to the Senate in 1994, Frist was
re-elected in 2000 by the largest margin ever received
by a candidate for statewide election in Tennessee
history. He's the first practicing physician elected to
the chamber since 1928.
A native of Nashville, Frist founded and subsequently
directed the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, which
became an internationally renowned center of
multi-organ transplantation. He's performed some 200
heart and lung transplants and has written more than
100 articles, chapters and abstracts on medical
research, as well as three books.
6
posted on
12/20/2002 4:28:52 AM PST
by
joesnuffy
To: joesnuffy
Excellent. Thanks for the info.....
To: MeeknMing
We need Dr. Frist to do some serious surgery in the Senate, and quick before the patient dies.
To: MeeknMing
Mr. Lott, 61, has vowed to fight for his job
That's got to be a first for ole gumby spine.
9
posted on
12/20/2002 8:23:17 AM PST
by
ottersnot
To: MeeknMing
oh the abortion supporter. kiss conservative america goodbyen
10
posted on
12/20/2002 8:27:38 AM PST
by
TLBSHOW
To: goldstategop
Trent Lott has cleared the way for Frist with his resignation as Majority Leader this morning.....
To: MeeknMing
Just as I predicted this morning. Apparently the denounement came faster than I thought. ;-)
To: MeeknMing
To: pray4liberty
CNN is already on the attack on Frist. I hate these people. Jeff Greenfield and Judy Woodroof leading the way.
To: MeeknMing
I heard it on the news today about his resignation. I thought it would be all over FR by now.
To: joesnuffy; *Abortion_list
Opponents of abortion on demand are likely to be deeply disappointed. While Trent Lott, R-Miss., had promised to bring to the floor for a quick, early vote a bill restricting partial-birth abortion, Frist championed the nomination by President Clinton of former Surgeon General David Satcher, a fervent supporter of unrestricted abortion and someone who actually performed abortions.
Totally UNACCEPTABLE as majority leader.
To: goldstategop
Good insight. I figured it would drag out until January 6th, when they held their special meeting....
To: Keith in Iowa
And I'm sure the 'RATS will smear him for not being abortionist enough and as a 'racist' as well.
It's already started.
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