2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

I Believe Fred Thompson Should Run For President.

I believe Fred Thompson should run for President.

I've not talked with Fred personally about a potential run, so I am basing my thoughts simply on knowing him well, having worked with him in policy and politics everyday for 8 years, and knowing the people across America want a genuine leader who represents them.

Fred understands real people and they understand him. He understands the legislative process and has a strong bipartisan appeal, though he is a real conservative.

He has the experience of government service with a real appreciation for all three branches of government. He is a commonsense leader.

Bill Frist, M.D.

Senator Bill Frist Looks Ahead

Senator Bill Frist announced that he would not seek the Presidency with this statement.

"I wanted you to hear from me directly, before you heard it on the news.

Twelve years ago, I pledged to the people of Tennessee that I would serve two terms in the Senate - to serve as a true citizen legislator - and then return home. I said I’d come to the Senate with 20 years experience in healing, spend 12 years serving in Washington, then go right back to Tennessee to live where I grew up. And I will do just that.

That decision to self-limit my term was grounded then, and rests now, on a firm belief that change in public service and politics is healthy. That it fundamentally forces a perspective of purpose and a sharp focus on service and results. It reminds all participants that they just occupy a position for a period of time. And it liberates one to concentrate every day on serving those who are represented, not to preserve one’s own station.

I’ve known everyday for the last 12 years that I would spend two terms and no more in the legislative branch. The time for Karyn and me to leave Washington has arrived and we do so with great respect for the institution of the Senate and my colleagues, for our government, for our President, for our democracy, and for the principles of freedom and liberty upon which our country was founded.

People ask about the future for Karyn and me. What is next?

We are ready to return to Nashville and private life. We will seek the best opportunity to serve mankind. We will stay actively involved in formulating innovative solutions to the seemingly insurmountable problems that face Americans every day -- high cost of health care, energy dependence, the threat of radical Islam.

I may return to what I’ve done for most of my adult life: heal through medicine (the way I saw my dad serve since I was a little boy riding around with him, his black doctor’s bag tucked between us, as he’d travel the neighborhood making house calls).

I, of course, will immediately resume my regular medical mission trips as a doctor around the world to serve those in poverty, in famine, and in civil war. That is where my centeredness is fueled.

Politics is a noble occupation. Healing is a noble profession. Service to others underlies both. Karyn and I, and our three boys, now three young men, thank you for our opportunity to serve.

I look forward to continue working with you through VOLPAC. At the beginning of next year, we'll launch a revamped website and internet operation that refocuses our efforts in support of Republican candidates and centers our ongoing discussion on the challenges facing our country.

To keep the discussion going, I will also launch a national summit or series of summits focusing on important issues such as America’s dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy and the high cost of health care.

More details to follow on these ideas and the exciting changes VOLPAC will make in the days ahead..."

Bill Frist, M.D.

Senator Bill Frist Launches MedicalMatters Website

Senator Bill Frist M.D. issued this statement about his new health care website.

"I wanted to update you on a new Volpac website we are launching today, MedicalMatters.org.

We built this website to provide an interactive forum for the discussion of the medical challenges facing America in the twenty-first century. We hope you use this forum to discuss and debate solutions to these moral, ethical, political and scientific issues.

I started blogging in October of last year because blogging provides a unique way to reach out to Americans and solicit their feedback.

The mainstream media (MSM) can only devote so much attention and print space to a particular issue. Reading a newspaper, you rarely get the chance to challenge editorials or biased news. And, if you're watching television, the only feedback you can provide is through your remote control.

Of course, the MSM now provides its news online. But, in my case, it never seems to satisfy.

Bloggers, however, can devote a considerable amount of time to a particular issue that they're passionate about. They can reexamine topics with ease and issue corrections and clarifications with the click of a mouse. And many blogs involve readers by encouraging feedback. In fact, my blog at www.volpac.org has had over one hundred thousand visitors and generated over 24,000 comments. Blogs help connect people to the news and blogs give them a chance to speak out in ways MSM cannot.

MedicalMatters.org is a blog about health care and the politics of health care. In the coming days and weeks we will discuss stem cells, avian flu, electronic medical records, Health Savings Accounts, and much more. We will take a long term look at some of the health care challenges facing the country and start an online discussion encouraging different points of view. I will blog regularly as will 10-12 regular bloggers from a variety of health care-related fields. We will also encourage high profile, guest bloggers to join the discussion.

Obviously, health care is an important issue for me, and it is issue that I feel needs a meaningful and comprehensive debate. It is also an issue where the Republican view of health care often differs greatly from the Democrats. This blog will also highlight and discuss these differences.

My hope is that the MedicalMatters.org blog will help sustain a focus on health care challenges and health care solutions in ways that the occasional news story in your Sunday paper or on the evening TV newscast cannot.

I am excited about MedicalMatters.org and I hope you will join our discussion."

Brian Kennedy To Join Bill Frist's Volunteer PAC In Iowa

Brian Kennedy to Join Volunteer PAC and head Grassroots 2006 Campaign.
 
Washington, D.C. – Volunteer PAC, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s leadership PAC, today named Brian Kennedy to serve as its Iowa Chairman. Mr. Kennedy is past Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa and former Executive Director of the Republican Governors Association.

“I am looking forward to working with Senator Frist to lead a grassroots campaign across Iowa and the nation as we work to reelect the Republican majority to the United States Senate and win key races in Iowa,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy joins Marcus Branstad, who was named director of field operations in Iowa earlier this year.

Bill Frist VOLPAC Web Site Redesign

An e-mail was sent to supporters on September 14, 2005 announcing the redesign of the VOLPAC web site.

"Just a quick note to let you know that we recently completed a full redesign of my leadership committee website www.volpac.org.

In the coming weeks and months, many issues of great consequence will come before the Senate:

Judge Roberts' confirmation hearings for Chief Justice;
Confirmation hearings for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement;
Joint Committee review of the response to Hurricane Katrina;
Legislation to improve the security of our borders.
The list goes on.

In an effort to ensure that you have access to the very latest information on these vital issues -- and many more -- we felt it necessary to improve our website.

I encourage you to visit it.

I also hope you will use it as a resource to help advance President Bush's Agenda, confirm his judicial nominees, and elect principled Republican leaders nationwide.

In addition, the site will better enable you to keep up with the political news of the day.

I suggest you begin by taking the "guided" tour of our website and when you finish, complete our website scorecard (information we need from you to improve our website).

We are going to need your help to make this website a success, so please visit www.volpac.org today.

I look forward to your feedback." Bill Frist, M.D.

Upon arriving at the web site, the user was greeted with this welcome message:

"Welcome to www.Volpac.org, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist?s leadership committee website.

We built this website as a resource to help you support President Bush?s Second Term Agenda, his judicial nominees and Republican Senate candidates.

We are committed to making this the best website that we can.  Your support and involvement is critical.

We encourage you to visit the five parts of the website we have highlighted below and when you are done looking at the website, return to this page and complete the VOLPAC WEBSITE SCORECARD.

To begin our tour of www.Volpac.org, we would like you to visit:

The Meet the Chairman section of our website, and read the letter Dr. Thomas Frist, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist?s father, wrote for his children and grandchildren.

A biography is one way to learn about someone, but we asked Senator Frist?s wife Karyn and his three sons Harrison, Jonathan and Bryan to tell us 12 Things About Senator Frist you wouldn?t read or hear anywhere else.

How did a heart transplant surgeon end up running for the Senate?

Senator Frist likes to email his supporters directly. Many of the articles on this website are from his emails.

The Legislative Priorities Project is an online and direct mail effort to collect the opinions of over 1,000,000 Americans on the important issues of the day. Each week we will update our survey, with a set of new questions on a different issue.

Thank you for visiting our website. We plan on adding new, exciting, interactive features very soon. 

Tell your friends, family and co-workers about this website and come back and see us sometime"