Would-be 2008 contender Bill Frist has changed his position
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed government-funded research on human embryonic stem cells Friday, breaking with President Bush and the religious conservatives he’s been courting for a 2008 presidential bid. He drew praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan.
“It isn’t just a matter of faith, it’s a matter of science,” Frist, a heart-lung transplant surgeon, said in a Senate speech. “The president’s policy should be modified.”
Predictably, he was not invited to an important evangelical rally .
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist spoke by video to the first “Justice Sunday” evangelical rally in April, but he wasn’t invited to address “Justice Sunday II,” even though it’s in his home state of Tennessee.
Since the first rally, the potential 2008 presidential candidate has angered the events’ organizers by stating his support for expanded human embryonic stem cell research.
Was the majority leader, who diagnosed Terri Schiavo using a videotape, finally persuaded by scientific necessity to abandon his principled stand against stem cells? Is he just waffling? Perhaps he is already moving towards the center for his bid in 2008.
Isn’t it a bit soon to alienate his evangelical base, especially when his boss is having difficulties in the legislature?
Maeglin:
Was the majority leader, who diagnosed Terri Schiavo using a videotape, finally persuaded by scientific necessity to abandon his principled stand against stem cells? Is he just waffling? Perhaps he is already moving towards the center for his bid in 2008.
Ding ding ding!
Anyways, if he drops the bomb now he’ll have plenty of time for the furor to fade away long before the election.
-Joe
FYI, the topic was just debated a few days ago.
Bill Frist embraces science, rejects Bush.
It has fallen off the first page, but it’s only a few days old.