Frist splits with W on stem cell researchWASHINGTON - In a stunning defection, Senate GOP leader Bill Frist broke with President Bush yesterday, urging more federal cash for stem-cell research and igniting a political showdown with the White House and social conservatives.
"It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," the Tennessee cardiologist said in a Senate speech. "I believe the President's position needs to be modified."
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) shot back, "Sen. Frist is a good man; he's simply advocating a bad policy."
Nancy Reagan, an outspoken backer of stem-cell research, said she was "heartened by Sen. Frist's support" for research with "potential to alleviate so much suffering."
White House officials complained that Frist, who plans to run for President in 2008, put Bush on the spot on a hot-button issue for his most ardent boosters, who will demand he keep his pledge to veto stem-cell legislation that Frist opposed until yesterday.
Frist also tripped up Bush's plan to take a bow for perhaps his best week of the second term, with victories on free trade, energy and transportation bills.
"This was quite a turnaround," a GOP strategist and close White House ally fumed. "He stepped on our message."
Though it's usually not wise to cross a President, a prominent Capitol Hill Bush ally called Frist's 180-degree turn a savvy political move.
"It's an attempt to identify himself as something other than a party functionary. It takes courage to go against a President, so that will help him," the ally said.
I wonder if the aforementioned research helped push Frist over to the "other" side.
