MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – Four months after the presidential election, potential 2008 hopeful Bill Frist plans to visit the state with the nation’s earliest presidential primary twice in two weeks.

The Senate majority leader’s first trip will be March 4-5, when he speaks at a Manchester Republican Committee fund-raising dinner the first night and a Cheshire County GOP breakfast in Keene the next morning.

On March 18, the former heart surgeon from Tennessee is scheduled to be in Concord for the Merrimack County Lincoln Day dinner in Concord.

Last fall, Frist came to New Hampshire to campaign for President Bush’s re-election.

Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said the two trips in March weren’t planned that way.

He said Frist agreed to speak at the three events in hopes all would be on the same weekend.

When that couldn’t be worked out, Frist “didn’t want to disappoint anybody” and scheduled two visits, said Stevenson, an aide to then-Sen. Warren Rudman of New Hampshire during the 1980s.

Asked why Frist was visiting New Hampshire, Stevenson pointed to his fund-raising work for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the organization that works to elect Republicans to the Senate.

“It’s never too early to start looking at 2006 to build on our majority in the Senate,” Stevenson deadpanned to The Union Leader of Manchester, knowing full well neither New Hampshire Senate seat is open in 2006.

Frist is one of a number of Republicans showing early interest in running for president in 2008. Bush cannot be a candidate again and Vice President Dick Cheney will not run, so the nomination is up for grabs.

Potential GOP candidate Sen. John McCain spoke at a dinner in November.

The Democratic race also is wide open. Sen. John Edwards, the party’s vice presidential nominee last year, spoke in Manchester three weeks ago, and presidential nominee John Kerry thanked his supporters at an event in December.

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Information from: The Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com

AP-ES-02-24-05 1819EST