Does Frist have any chance of winning the GOP nomination?

[A18]

Hell no. Even if the entire GOP establishment backed him, he'd still lose almost every state.

[A18]

I see opebo voted (R) Yes.

[TomC]

Yes, absolutely. The GOP goes for patriarchical types and Frist fits the bill. He's shown his loyalty to the party and its Christian ideals, he's rich, and he's built up a lot of IOUs. Plus, he's got a higher name recognition than the other conservatives in the race.

[Moooooo]

Of course.  Being boring and uninspiring never stopped Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, or Gerald Ford.

[A18]

George H.W. Bush was VP. Gerald Ford was an incumbent, and even he almost lost.

As for Bob Dole, everyone else in the primary sucked.

[TomC]

Hell no. Even if the entire GOP establishment backed him, he'd still lose almost every state.

I disagree- he'd win in the South and smaller Western states. He'd lose Ohio and Florida, hence the election, but it wouldn't be a landslide.

[A18]

Hell no. Even if the entire GOP establishment backed him, he'd still lose almost every state.

I disagree- he'd win in the South and smaller Western states. He'd lose Ohio and Florida, hence the election, but it wouldn't be a landslide.

I'm talking about the primary, obviously.

[AkSaber]

With names like McCain and Giuliani being tossed around, nope.

[TheresNoMoney]

He'll likely be the VP to help satisfy the wingnut base.

[Smash255]

Yes

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

He clearly has the best chance of any of the names mentioned so far.

[skybridge]

I say he's the most likely in the GOP right now.

[MissCatholic]

i think frist has a great chance of getting the nomination. I`ve already seen churches suttlily promote him by using houses across the church with signs such as frist chrsitians etc.

[No more McShame]

I wish he didn't but he does.

[Joe Republic]

I'll be shocked if Frist gets as far the first primaries after New Hampshire.  Let's look at a few things about him:

1. He's a senator.  I know that doesn't stop him winning the nomination, but people should learn that governors win elections, not senators.

2. He's the Senate Majority Leader.  Like I said somewhere else, that doesn't win you many friends from across the aisle, which is crucial to winning over the swing voters.

3. He's boring.  People won't want to vote for that, and history has usually shown that to be true.

4. He has a questionable past.  For what the kitty killing incident is worth, at least.

5. He'll be out of a job by 2008.  He's not running for re-election in 2006, which means he'll be known as "Former Senator" Bill Frist, which immediately puts "has-been" in people's minds.

[No more McShame]

What is this whole kitty killing deal with Frist anyway?  I've heard it mentioned several times here and other sources but never seen nor heard any specifics.  Someone please fill me in.

[AuH2O]

George H.W. Bush was VP. Gerald Ford was an incumbent, and even he almost lost.

As for Bob Dole, everyone else in the primary sucked.

Heck George HW Bush faced a pretty serious challenge himself, and from someone with no experience in elected office.

Dole was a sacrificial lamb.

The 2008 GOP nominee is not going to be a pushover, I think it's safe to say. Frist is not overly likely due to his lack of charm and natural speaking ability.

[J. J.]

Frist has a shot of winning the nomination; it's not a good one, but it's there.

He has virtually no shot at winning the election.

J. J. Third Rule of Politics might end up being: "To be elected president, you must have been Vice President or a Governor." 

That has described every presidential victor since 1964.  :-)

Frist is neither.

[Joe Republic]

What is this whole kitty killing deal with Frist anyway?  I've heard it mentioned several times here and other sources but never seen nor heard any specifics.  Someone please fill me in.

From Wikipedia:

While in medical school, Frist adopted cats from Boston animal shelters, telling shelter staff he intended to keep them as pets. He would then experiment on and kill the animals as part of his medical studies. Later, in his 1989 book "Transplant," he commented: "It was a heinous and dishonest thing to do. I was going a little crazy."

[MODU]

He appologized then.  So it's a non-issue . . . unless he did it again after apologizing.

[Joe Republic]

He appologized then.  So it's a non-issue . . . unless he did it again after apologizing.

You'd think it was a non-issue.  It is to me (and I find his actions and lack of ethics were truly disgusting).  But we've all seen how these things just linger for years after they apologize.  See Robert Byrd.

[MODU]

He appologized then.  So it's a non-issue . . . unless he did it again after apologizing.

You'd think it was a non-issue.  It is to me (and I find his actions and lack of ethics were truly disgusting).  But we've all seen how these things just linger for years after they apologize.  See Robert Byrd.

There's a bit of a difference though.  Byrd still slips back into his old ways some times when you hear him talk.  True, Frist can't suddenly whip a cat out of his coat while addressing Congress, but that would be the closest comparisson.

[Joe Republic]

I guess the issue is also whether they're truly sorry for their past misdeeds.  I very much doubt Bob Byrd is, and you have to wonder if Bill Frist really regrets lying, experimenting on and then killing cats for his research.  He didn't care about them then, so I doubt he'd care about them now.

Obviously how a guy feels about cats doesn't really affect how they'll run the White House, but its more a matter of questionable ethics.

[No more McShame]

I knew there was something about the guy I found creepy, until now, I couldn't put my finger on it.  To be honest, I've always had that same feeling about DeLay.  Still can't put my finger on that one.

[Smash255]

I will be very happy if Frist gets the GOP nod