Election Result 2008

Bill Frist has continued to try to gain support through means that most Democrats and some Republicans find tasteless. The latest is his involvement in the debate on crippling the Senate filibuster. Frist has been a force behind this anti-filibuster movement that seeks to remove one of the last few weapons that Democrats have in rejected court appointees.

Such notable Republicans as Bob Dole and John McCain have openly opposed this idea. Bob Dole was subtle in advising the younger Frist that “this will not always be a Republican Senate” - suggesting that the future GOP may desire the filibuster.

McCain was less subtle. He spoke on Hardball about his views on the appropriate measures to take regarding judicial appointees:

…why is it that after 200 years we cannot settle the issue of judges? Well, it’s a symptom of the problems we have with the bitter partisanship here in Washington.

Bill Frist has been seeking a presidential nomination for 2008 by gathering support from the right side of his party. His efforts seem to be working to the effect that there is a growing Christian Right base that is listening closely to his campaigning.

Frist is in no small way indicative of an early Howard Dean primary run. I remember the first time I heard Dean speak was well, well before the 2004 election and even quite before the primary. I immediately liked him because he reflected my far-left leanings and he did it with diction and poise (yes, poise) that most folks at either edge of the political spectrum lack.

There are two articles written about how Frist is beginning to alienate his party by going for the cheap, the easy, and the extreme right. He’s been siding with those who would claim that the U.S. Supreme Court is ‘out to get’ Christian heritage and values. He’s also (sickeningly) spoke up during the Terri Schaivo matter.

Tom Perkins, president of the Family Research Counsil, has spoken at length about the ‘agenda’ of the judicial branch. From a page on the Counsil’s website:

“For years activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups like the A.C.L.U., have been quietly working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the night, to rob us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms.”

This is the Republican equivalent to the Democratic college revolutionary. Frist is marketing himself to the edge of his party’s constituency and it’ll take nothing more than a screen for his fellow republicans to remove him from the picture as an embarrassment to the party.