On stem cells, Specter’s playing for keeps , writes Margaret Carlson in the LA Times. Specter is not going to lose this battle. Writes Carlson:

… Specter, who has been battling Hodgkin’s disease since February, is his own draw now. Never weaker physically, never stronger mentally, Specter says he is propelled out of bed each day by his work and by the hundreds of letters he has received from patients determined to see stem cell research expanded. His former chief of staff, David Urban, calls him the Lance Armstrong of the Senate: “If you close your eyes and don’t look at his bald head and gaunt cheeks, but just listen to him, you’d think he was a well man at the height of his powers.”

And Senator Bill is hurting:

Frist enters this fight weakened by his own mistakes. Stung by a string of miscalculations and transparent panderings that haven’t paid off, he’s made some senators wax nostalgic for the good old days under Trent Lott, who at least wasn’t distracted by dreams of being president.

Earlier this year, Frist was unilaterally disarmed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who stole seven Republicans to form the Gang of 14, taking Frist’s “nuclear option” on filibusters off the table for the time being. Then Frist couldn’t get a vote on the floor on John Bolton’s nomination as ambassador to the United Nations. In another gaffe, Frist went on “Good Morning America” to claim he hadn’t diagnosed Terri Schiavo by videotape. Problem with that was there was a videotape showing him doing just that.