From Chris Cillizza:
Senate majority leader Bill Frist will not run for president in 2008, according to sources close to the politician.
Frist will put out a statement at 1 p.m. ET today confirming his decision, according to the source. His decision was first reported in Hotline’s On Call Blog . He will not immediately endorse any of the other candidates pursuing the race, the source said.
Frist’s departure frees up a number of money men who had signed on with him as well as key campaign talent, people like Alex Vogel, a longtime Frist adviser and former general counsel at the NRSC. Watch to see where these folks jump in the coming weeks for a sign of Frist’s endorsement intentions.
Update: Here is Sen. Frist’s statment, which according to AP will be his only comment on the decision:
“In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season, and for me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to a close. I do not intend to run for president in 2008.”
Thanks to R4’08 reader JayCee for the tip!
November 29th, 2006 at 11:25 am
Frist was actually in 3rd place in terms of signing up Bush Rangers/Pioneers. Per Cillizza, here are the money people who are now free agents:
Zachariah Zachariah, cardiologist (Fla.) RANGER
Ken Eldred, Living Stones Foundation (Calif.)
Michael Lebovitz, CBL & Associates Partners (Tenn.) RANGER
Jim Haslam, Pilot Oil Co. (Tenn.) RANGER
Chip Saltsman, former Tennnessee state party chairman (Tenn.) RANGER
Ted Welch, Ted Welch Investments (Tenn.) RANGER
Jeff McWaters, Amerigroup Corp. (Va.) PIONEER
November 29th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Smart move by Frist. His tenure as Senate Majority Leader was not exactly stellar. He now has time to better prepare for a Presidential run maybe in six or ten years.
November 29th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
On paper, Frist looked dynamic with a perfect portfolio of being a Senate Leader, but at Iowa GOP events
he put people to sleep at the dinner table with his rambling monotone. He also tried to take credit
for fighting for federal judges, but as an avid CPAN watcher, he was not really trying to help the
President on getting them passed. He might have been a good doctor but his mannerisms in running
for president were lame and weak.
Also, in national polls, Frist was hardle EVER over 3%. About the same level as Hagel.
These guys need to remember that most voters do not support Senators for president.
Can any of them today stand next to JFK? Even as a Republican, I have to admit he was dynamic and
with his image as a strong leader, he won voters support. But it has been over 40 years since
our nation elected a Senator directly to the Oval Office.
Cillizza stated that Frist fell out of the top tier in the past 6 months. What a joke!!!
The guy was never ever rated in the top tier of national polls.
The only time he ranked top was at the Southern Leadership Conference in Memphis in early 2006
and that was held in his home state. He also spent over $100,000 to sign up his delegates and ship
them in by the busloads. Out of 1311 votes cast, Frist got 526. Big surprise said the media, and
that was as a joke.
With Frist out of the running, and George Allen out (according to Ed Henry and others at CNN)
THE LINE UP OF REPUBLICANS FOR 2008 IS GETTING SMALLER. Still plenty of time to get things ready for
a real race in 2008. Who will be next to drop off the list?
November 29th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Frist is done, he won’t be running for president in 2012 or 2016. The next to drop out will probably be Pataki, Hagel won’t run, and Gingrich might decide not to run, though that decision is a ways off.
November 29th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Debbie – got a link to the CNN article saying Allen’s not running? Not that I think he is going to, but I didn’t think there was anything official yet.
Thanks!
November 29th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Aw, and just less than a day after you update your power rankings. You’d better hope your webmaster is in good spirits today.
November 29th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
First off, welcome HeavyM to Race 4 2008!
Re: Frist. I know!!! I wish I would have waited just one more day!
November 29th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Ted Welch would be an enormous get for any GOP presidential fundraising team. He has been raising money at the highest levels of Republican political campaigns for many years.
I agree with Debbie that Senator Frist was simply and unfortunately a horrible public speaker. It may have been his biggest hurdle in running for President.
November 29th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
And a horrible organizer, leader, administrator, uniter, fundraiser, and, well, vote-getter in general…