The Washington Wire reports that Bill Frist “has put aside plans to run for President in 08. Instead of running for President, Frist will “return to medicine and the health-care field”.
More:
That leaves a Republican void in the South, and underscores the absence of any major center-to-right Southern figure in the Republican Party’s presidential field thus far. Virginia Sen. George Allen was primed to fill this void, but lost his seat in November’s elections. Among the remaining contenders, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, all are outsiders to the region and each could face problems reaching out to the Christian conservative voters who have been such a force behind President Bush.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee could try to fill this void. Within the Senate, the man who could most gain from Mr. Frist’s departure is his colleague, Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican with strong ties to social conservatives and will soon make an announcement about his presidential intentions. But Mr. Brownback lacks the fundraising appeal of Mr. Frist and risks being more easily typecast as a product of the far right.
Will the Republicans have a problem in the South in 08?
More importantly though, it seems that the best candidates for the Republican party will be the more moderate types.
I’m putting my money on Giuliani.
UPDATE
Please accept my apologies: I did not see Joe’s post on this.
Please read Joe’s post as well: it’s much longer, more thoughtful and more informative than mine.
