A Longtime Courtesy Loses in the Closely Held Senate

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, April 23 — As leaders of the Senate, Bill Frist, a Republican, and Tom Daschle, a Democrat, already spend a lot of time together. Now, Dr. Frist is even planning to visit South Dakota, the home state of his opposite number.

Mr. Daschle is not exactly rolling out the welcome mat.

In a sharp break with political nicety and past practice, Dr. Frist, the majority leader from Tennessee, is planning to venture into the backyard of Mr. Daschle, the minority leader, in May on behalf of John Thune, a Republican hoping to unseat Mr. Daschle in what is expected to be a highly competitive race.

It is an unusual move, especially given the extent to which the leaders must consult each other in a closely divided Senate. Experts in the Senate historical office could find no recent comparable example of one leader trying so aggressively to oust the other.

Dismissing any concern about unspoken rules, Dr. Frist said his motive was quite basic: he is determined to retain his job title rather than acquire Mr. Daschle's. "With a one-vote majority, it is the Republican leadership's position to pick up as many seats as we can," he said in an interview this week.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/national/24MEMO.html

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Oh I'm sure South Dakotans will respond well to this...

NOT. Frist, I'm sure, has now guaranteed Daschle's win.

[w4rma]

2. Darn straight Daschle isn't rolling out any welcome mat.

That sentence was unneeded, and imho, was only there to shirk some blame only Daschle. Conservatives are right, the NY Times is nothing but propaganda. But, their wrong in thinking it's pro-liberal propaganda. It's pro-wealthy elite propaganda.

[DAGDA56]

3. Watch and learn, Democrats...

...the Repubs follow no rules or traditions unless they favor themselves.

[Nevernose]

8. I actaully view the Repubs in a more favorable light

They FIGHT, goddamnit!

[Democat]

9. No shit, our officials are such cowards - especially Daschle himself

Why would anyone be afraid of Tom Daschle after what we've seen for the last few years? He's lucky if Frist doesn't dress up like a chicken and chase Daschle around the state.

I hope Daschle wins for our majority, but I'd love to see someone else in the Democratic Senate leadership roll.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

4. Rules? Courtesies? Hell, those are for pinko commie liberals...

Rules don't apply to our Repuke Reich, so shut up and take it up the a$$.

These guys play dirty, folks. And, it about time that we liberals/progressives...and other sane persons, prepare for hand-to-hand combat. I'm ready to kick some fundie conservative dumbass butt.

Bring it on, Freepers.

JB

[SharonAnn]

5. Interesting for me on so many levels. Born in South Dakota,

raised in Iowa, and now I live in Tennessee.

I can see I'm going to have to get some specific information on Senator Frist to my South Dakota relatives. Like the $1.2 BILLION fine against HCA (Frist's family business) from Medicare for defrauding Medicare.

[TacticalPeek]

6. Frist has no principles.

He should have his mouth washed out with soap for calling Richard Clarke a perjurer, which in itself was lying like a lapdog on orders from the scalawags in the executive branch. Another blow to the institution he disgraces.

He deserves to lose his title before the election.

[The Zanti Regent]

7. Folks, Remember that it's $enator Fri$t

The Fri$t Family $tole Million$ from Medicare!!!!!!!!

[tweekinnow]

10. Frist is despicable

He used to shop animal shelters to find cats for surgery experiments.This is the kind thing that should be pointed out when addressing Mr.Thune's choices for backers and friends.link goes to upi.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021231-071056-3546r

What a creep!