Late this week, major newspapers reported that Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist might oppose President Bush over federal funding of embryonic
stem cell research. Writing in the Raleigh News & Observer earlier
this month, Marc Rotterman noted that Frist has “a mixed record at
best” in moving forward the White House agenda. He cited Frist’s
performance in several high-profile tug-of-war debates including the
nomination of John Bolton for ambassador to the U.N., the restructuring
of Social Security, and the fight over confirmation of judicial
candidates. “Should Frist fail to deliver on the president’s Supreme
Court nominees, then the base of the Republican Party will surely
disqualify him as a possible Republican standard bearer for president,”
Rotterman concluded.