"You'll see the real Bill Frist, unencumbered by having responsibilities..

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Thursday, 03/30/06
Frist hints strongly at White House run

Leaving 'terrible' post in Senate will help bid

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
Associated Press



WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says his high-profile job is a "terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible" post for seeking the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Making it clear that a White House bid is all but certain, Frist said that remaining in the Senate would make a presidential run impossible. Frist plans to step down when his second term ends this year. "I know the perch not to even consider," he said. "That would be, for me, the United States Senate or being majority leader."

Asked if trying to run a campaign from such a position would be difficult, he replied: "Terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible."

One of possibly a dozen Republicans interested in the GOP nomination, Frist said late Tuesday that once out of the Senate, "you'll see, as you do now, the real Bill Frist, but unencumbered by having responsibilities of leading this body, which results in negotiated positions."

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