Not that I’m in a position of any authority, but I’d love to see a new rule: If you’re running for president, stop pretending you’re not unless you have a really good reason.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, for example, is just being annoying. He’s retiring from the Senate in ’06 and everyone knows he’s eyes a presidential run. But he continues to pretend otherwise.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, near the top of most lists of possible GOP presidential candidates in 2008, said Sunday he still sees himself as a physician and suggested that medical work rather than politics could be in his future.
The 52-year-old Tennessee Republican, interviewed on “Fox News Sunday,” did not rule out a run for the presidency. But asked if he saw a potential president when he looked in a mirror, he replied: “No, I don’t. The truth, every morning, I get up, I see a physician.”
Sounds nice, but it’s completely false. At the Republican convention over the summer, Frist was practically ready to knock over old ladies in order to talk to delegates from Iowa and New Hampshire. When speaking to the Granite State’s convention luncheon, Frist conspiciously wore a lapel pin that read, “New Hampshire: A Proven Primary Tradition.”
People who plan on practicing medicine in 2008 don’t do this; presidential candidates do. It’d be far less irritating if Frist just admitted something close to the truth, such as saying he’s “thinking about running.” This coy act just isn’t necessary.
I have far more respect for Chuck Hagel’s approach. He’s running and he’s not afraid to admit it.
Okay, now that the election is over, are you ready to talk about 2008? Chuck Hagel is.
The Republican senator from Nebraska has been thinking seriously about 2008 since he won reelection in 2002, and mulling a run for the White House even longer. He has a long history of doing, and getting, what he wants. He’s ready — well, ready to talk.
Hagel’s admission is refreshing; Frist’s hedging is annoying.