Frist: I would have negotiated more on healthcare legislation

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said this morning he would have negotiated more to craft a bipartisan healthcare bill if he were still leading Senate Republicans.

Speaking to MSNBC, Frist, a physician, said that he would have tried to extract more concessions from Democrats.

"In my heart, as a physician and not as a political leader, I would have been much more in there, negotiating," he said. He added that Democrats were also to blame for a lack of bipartisanship.

Politically, Republicans will probably benefit from their unified opposition to the bill, Frist said.

"From a strictly political standpoint, Republicans played it pretty well," he said, adding that they will probably campaign on a repeal of reform in 2010.

"I think they will; I'm not sure that they should," he said.