Early signs point to Frist retirement

Hmmm.... Lots of speculation that Sen. Frist won't stick around in 2006. There are several Tennessee Republicans gearing up for the race, raising money and all that jazz.

And, then there's Rep. Harold Ford's machinations as he gears up for that '06 Senate as well. There's lots of talk that Ford wouldn't risk a race against the high-profile Frist when he could take on the less impressive Alexander.

So, assuming Frist is retiring, the question would be "why", and if I had to guess, I would put my money on a 2008 White House bid.

Kevin Raybould over at the Political State Report has another theory.

[P]layers in both the state Republican and Democratic parties believe that Frist will retire at the end of his current term, Senate leader or not. Which, in turn, hints that Frist is having a harder time being the Majority Leader than he may have expected. After all, if he were regarded as an effective leader, there would probably be a lot of pressure on him to stay in 2006. The fact that state political operatives from both sides do not believe that will happen implies that no such pressure is being applied to Frist.

Posted June 04, 2003 09:22 AM | Comments (43)