Oh-eight (R)

In his speech to a crowd of diehard conservatives at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, Bill Frist previewed some of his legislative priorities for this election year.  He said he'll bring a bill to the Senate floor in May that permanently eliminates the estate tax ("I will do everything in my power to bury the death tax once and for all").  A month after that, he added, he'll introduce a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage ("Today, the institution of marriage is under attack").  But a topic Frist didn't mention at the conference -- or anywhere else lately, it seems -- is his support for embryonic stem-cell research.

This particular issue has exposed a rare fault line inside the GOP, especially since the House passed a bill (despite Bush's veto threat) that would expand federal funding for stem-cell research.  Back in July 2005, in a speech that reverberated throughout Washington, Frist said he supported a similar bill in the Senate.  Although he maintained he is pro-life and sees shortcomings with the legislation, heart surgeon Frist said, "I... strongly believe -- as do countless other scientists, clinicians, and doctors -- that embryonic stem cells uniquely hold specific promise for some therapies and potential cures that adult stem cells cannot provide."

The shouts of protests from some conservatives were deafening.  Influential conservatives from James Dobson to the Weekly Standard whacked Frist.  A Christian group even ran a 30-second ad in Iowa criticizing him for supporting this research "that actually destroys human life."

Since then, Frist hasn't said much if anything about stem cells.  A Senate vote on the bill was expected to occur in the fall of 2005, but Hurricane Katrina toppled those plans, as did the Miers and Alito Supreme Court nominations.  Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson guesses the stem-cell legislation could hit the Senate floor in the late spring or early summer, but he adds: "We have a tremendous number of priorities.  Our first priority is the President's budget, and we have to take things a step at a time."

Given conservatives' opposition to the legislation and given that it could come up for a Senate vote later this year, how would this issue play out in a Republican presidential primary?  It isn't as clear-cut as you might expect.  Polls show that a strong majority of Americans support embryonic stem-cell research.  Among Republicans, surveys find that support is about even -- or maybe even slightly in favor.  "It evokes strong feelings on both sides," Rep. Mike Castle (R) of Delaware, who authored the House stem-cell bill, tells First Read.  But he doesn't think Republicans who back this research would be penalized by GOP primary voters.  "I have not seen a poll where there's not a majority [of Republicans] in support of stem cells."

Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, executive director of the pro-stem cell Republican Main Street Partnership, adds that no politician she can remember has ever lost an election for supporting this research.  "If you don't support it, you can lose...  But if you support it, you'll get a pass [from voters]."  However, you might not get a pass from religious conservatives. 

 As Dobson said after Frist's stem-cell speech: "It is an understatement to say that the pro-life community is disappointed by Sen. Frist's decision...  Most distressing is that... Sen. Frist calls himself a defender of the sanctity of human life -- even though the research he now advocates results, without exception, in the destruction of human life."