Tennesse Senator Bill Frist, the GOP leader in the U.S. Senate, was in Iowa this weekend helping Republicans raise money.
On Saturday, Frist participated in a Republican Party of Iowa skeet shooting tournament in Van Meter and he hit 16 of 25 clay targets. “I do a lot of hunting. I hunt throughout the south. The night I became (Senate) Majority Leader, I went hunting,” Frist said. “I don’t do a lot of skeet shooting.”
As a Radio Iowa reporter was interviewing Frist about his skeet-shooting experience, Frist took over the recorder and started quizzing another Tennessean who was at the shooting range. “Let’s see. Who did better in skeet today? Was it Senator Frist or was it Chip Saltsman?” Frist asked one of his advisors. “Definitely Senator Frist,” Saltsman replied. “Yes, indeed,” Frist added.
Frist received several invitations to return to Iowa to hunt pheasants this fall, and Frist said he’s “definitely” going to accept one. Frist, who described himself as a “very competitive” person, is seriously considering a bid for the White House in 2008. “You know, I want to get to know as many people as I possibly can in Iowa,” Frist told Radio Iowa Saturday night.
Frist is keeping to a term-limit pledge and is not seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate. Frist, who was a surgeon before he entered politics, says he’ll decide early next year whether he’ll run for president.