Chip Saltsman...Frist Fortune's Key in gubernatorial bid

On politics: Frist, GOP may have last laugh in 2010
By Clint Brewer

Numbers are already floating around Nashville concerning a possible Frist bid. Democratic operatives say the talk from the other side is that Frist’s fundraising goal would be $15 million followed by another $10 million in his own personal wealth if needed.

Those figures appear to be coming in part from noted GOP strategist and campaign manager Chip Saltsman, former chair of the GOP in Tennessee. Saltsman, fresh off his lead role in the surprisingly strong GOP presidential primary candidacy of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, didn’t dispel the idea he was talking up a Frist bid in town when asked. Saltsman was neck-deep in preparing for Frist’s aborted presidential bid before going to run Huckabee’s campaign.

“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I think this is a good idea,” Saltsman said of a Frist gubernatorial bid. “Dr. Frist needs to make up his mind about what he wants to do.”

Should Frist actually bring $25 million to the table for the 2010 gubernatorial race, it would be an unprecedented amount for a campaign in Tennessee. Democratic operatives from several sectors of the party suggest Frist’s people may not only be trying to scare off the field with such talk — though that is one goal. Democratic campaign types said they fully expect Frist’s reach into Nashville to be a problem for the Democratic Party in 2010.