I’m no fan of Robert Novak, but he’s an influential conservative insider, so it’s important that he slams Bill Frist’s nascent presidential candidacy in today’s edition of the Evans-Novak Political Report, which covers the failure of the Republican Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling or pass a long-term extension of the Patriot Act.

Here’s Novak’s bottom line on the implications of the week for Frist:

[I]f there was any doubt before, Frist will not be in serious contention for the presidency in 2008. He needed a victory to cast aside his image as a weak leader, but he failed to get anything through the Senate beyond the absolute minimum.

Frist’s buffoonery over the last year has been amusing, but I’m happy to see that others are realizing he has no business in the presidential race.

Update 12/30: WashingtonPost.com blogger Chris Cillizza slams Frist as having had the worst year of all the major presidential contenders:

Singling out Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist (R) as the presidential hopeful who had the worst 2005 was a no-brainer. Everywhere Frist turned in the past 12 months he found bad news. In March, Frist was roundly criticized by the medical community for alleging that a comatose Florida woman — Terri Schiavo — may have been misdiagnosed by her doctors. Two months later, Frist’s attempt to invoke the so-called nuclear option on judicial nominations — a pet issue for conservatives — was thwarted by a group of moderate senators from both parties, raising doubts about Frist’s ability to lead his own caucus. Then in July, Frist announced his support for legislation that would expand the use of stem cells for medical purposes — a move that drew considerable ire among social conservatives and was seen as at least a partial reversal of Frist’s previous position on this issue.

Finally, in October, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was opening an investigation into a stock sale Frist authorized involving a company his father and older brother founded. Despite that laundry list of political pitfalls, those close to Frist insist he is still planning to run for president. If he has any chance of winning the nomination, he needs his final year in the Senate to be much better than the year just past.