|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Republican anti-online gambling politician reaches his personal winter
The man who denied US online gamblers the right of choice in their pastime, wreaked havoc on dozens of online gambling companies and caused hundreds of job losses, US Senator Bill Frist has decided to quit public life and will not be running for President.
The Republican majority leader from Tennessee announced his decision this week, commenting: "In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season, and for me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to a close. I do not intend to run for president in 2008."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frist will long be remembered by the industry as the politician who rammed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act through a largely uninformed Congress in the early hours of the morning as it was about to recess for mid-term electioneering. He did this by attaching an compromise version of the formerly stalled Bill, together with some startling carve-outs to a must-pass ports security bill, effectively stifling opposition and debate.
The announcement comes after Frist spent several years laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. The politician had spent much of the past two years visiting key presidential states, including Iowa, creating a field operation and raising money for national, state and local candidates in these states.
Frist said he and his wife, Karyn, "will take a sabbatical from public life. At this point a return to private life will allow me to return to my professional roots as a healer and to refocus my creative energies on innovative solutions to seemingly insurmountable challenges Americans face," Frist said.
A heart surgeon, Frist entered public office in 1994, becoming the Senate Republican majority leader in 2002. He was President George W. Bush's choice to replace Trent Lott of Mississippi as majority leader.
Media assessments suggest that Frist has struggled to navigate dual roles as leader and presidential aspirant, and his higher ambitions were clouded in September when the SEC began a probe of his decision in June 2005 to sell shares in HCA Inc., a hospital chain founded by his father and brother. The sale, completed by July 1 that year, came weeks before the company issued a second-quarter earnings estimate that failed to meet analysts' expectations, pushing down HCA's stock price.
|
|
|
|
| Back to News Menu... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
