Fristfried:
"I was watching Frist on the Senate floor, and he looked like he had been hit by a train," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia professor of government. "Presidential nominees are people who appear to be leaders; they are people who know how to adjust the mirrors and blow the blue smoke. Bill Frist looked utterly powerless."
Frist's Democratic counterpart -- Harry Reid of Nevada -- did nWashington -- For months Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist had been preparing for a showdown over judicial filibusters that would have been the opening act in his expected run for the White House in 2008.
But the script was rewritten Monday night by a group of 14 moderates, mavericks and Senate veterans -- including seven Republicans who bucked their party leader by agreeing to a deal to allow votes on three of President Bush's nominees but preserve the right of Democrats to filibuster some judicial nominees.
"He had the rug pulled out from under him by the centrists," said Manuel Miranda, a former Frist aide who has helped coordinate conservative opposition to judicial filibusters by Democrats.
While social conservatives aimed their fury Tuesday at Republicans who agreed to the deal, many GOP activists expressed disappointment in the Tennessee Republican leader's inability to keep his caucus in line and deliver on his promise of up-or-down votes for all of the president's judicial nominees.
Analysts said Frist's standing as Senate leader and his presidential ambitions were damaged by Monday's events. They said, though, that he could redeem himself somewhat if he is able to keep Senate Republicans unified during the expected battle over a Supreme Court nominee to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is in ill health and expected to step down this summer.
"I was watching Frist on the Senate floor, and he looked like he had been hit by a train," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia professor of government. "Presidential nominees are people who appear to be leaders; they are people who know how to adjust the mirrors and blow the blue smoke. Bill Frist looked utterly powerless."
Frist's Democratic counterpart -- Harry Reid of Nevada -- did not fare much better Monday as seven Democratic senators agreed to allow votes on three appellate court nominees Reid had described as radical, Sabato said.
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