I think he'll announce and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him take the nomination... a Conservative who didn't totally allow the Bush administration to plow his principles under, a popular position on the war, and an aura much like that of the 2000 McCain.
He's got a real shot at the nomination. he has been the independent conservative that John McCain so often gets credit for.
I really do respect the man, but taking a closer look at some of his policy statements and positions. He is very, very much to the far right on social issues (in the Christian conservative, not the Barry Goldwater sense). I think far enough to the right that it would be enough to mobilize people who aren't already of that ideology. I think, like so many other very early candidates, he looks wonderful on the surface but he will have some blemishes once people take a much closer look. I could be wrong, or perhaps he judiciously moderate his positions, but right now I think there would be too much to attack him with in the actual elections. I definitely agree that on character and honesty issues he would be pretty much blemish free, which I guess might be enough for the Republican party to get behind him.
He's the kind of guy who could step in once Rudy Giuliani flames out (or gets flamed out). The kind of weakness McCain is showing tells me the GOP could turn on him also if they feel he isn't electable. Of course the GOP could do what the Dems did in 04 and resuscitate a dead candidate back to life because the frontrunner makes them uncomfortable. (Just exchange Rudy/McCain for Dean/Kerry). For the first time since 76, I want the GOP to have a truly open nominating process for a change.
If Hagel got the GOP nomination, it would signal that the party is coming out of the wilderness of extremism and incompetence. I hope he does. Win or lose, it would be good for the country. I'd probably vote against the man, but I'd love to have the option. D&D. Chump City!
Another Republican maverick thinking about entering ... Fred Thompson Considering Entering the Presidential Race
Hagel takes unorthodox route to possible presidential run OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- If Chuck Hagel is looking to join the cast of Republican presidential hopefuls, he's certainly not taking an orthodox route. Speculation that the senior U.S. senator from Nebraska is considering a run for the White House has run high since 2004, when he confirmed he might make the leap. A new flurry of conjecture hit political blogs and news programs Wednesday, when he revealed his intention to make an announcement on Monday about his future plans. Loree Bykerk, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, says recent rumblings within the state indicate he likely will run. Former students of Bykerk's now active in the state Republican Party have told her of "the queuing up ... in the Republican party of who is going to run for his senate seat and keep the governor's seat and other state offices," she said. But if Hagel is beating a path to the White House, there are those who question what he's using to pave the way. In an interview appearing in April editions of Esquire magazine -- set to hit stands next week -- Hagel suggests that President Bush could be subject to calls for impeachment as the Iraq war drags on. "The president says, 'I don't care.' He's not accountable anymore," Hagel said in the article. "Before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends on how this goes." Hagel has long been an outspoken critic of the administration's foreign policy and its handling of Iraq, but for a conservative Republican from a firmly rooted red state to mention the "I" word in the same breath with a sitting party president is still shocking. "That's pretty strong," Bykerk said. "It's hard for me to judge whether that sets him up as the anti-war candidate or some kind of superconscience for the Bush supporters of the Republican Party. "He just tells you what he thinks." That could hurt him among the loyal Republican base, where Bush still enjoys strong support, said Ross Baker, a congressional scholar at Rutgers University who served as a senior adviser to Hagel in 2000 and once served on the Senate staff of former presidential candidate Walter Mondale. But Baker and others note that simply appearing in such a high-profile, mainstream publication could mean he's posturing as a presidential contender. Hagel could stand out as an anti-war candidate, Bykerk said, but will have mend ties with Bush supporters he's offended in recent years. Baker believes Hagel's anti-war stance and late announcement could point to another possibility. "It's possible he might try to run as an independent," Baker said. "The Republican electorate is going to be a real problem for him." There is no law or regulation that would keep a sitting Republican senator from running as an independent for president, Baker said. "If you're not going to be involved in the primaries, you don't have to make a very hasty decision," Baker said, adding that it also would give Hagel plenty of time to collect contributions for the general election. Hagel would be a strong general election candidate, Baker said, not only because of his position on Iraq, but because he is a solid conservative who could still draw Republican support based on his anti-abortion, less-government foundation. "Hagel's voting record is the most conservative in the United States Senate," Baker said. "So he has not found it necessary to go to Liberty University and genuflect in front of Jerry Falwell." As a Vietnam veteran who -- along with his brother, Tom -- suffered life-threatening injuries during that war, he also carries an air of authority when he objects to the Bush administration's current war policy, Baker said. "I guess if you crawl into a burning armored personnel carrier to pull your brother out, there's not much anybody can do to you to make you feel intimidated," he said. "When you're a rifleman, you're the business end of American foreign policy." If Hagel announces a presidential bid in Omaha on Monday, he might start with persuading his own state of his worth. According to an Associated Press Election Day exit poll last year, only 37 percent of Nebraska voters surveyed indicated they believed Hagel would make a good president. Nearly half indicated they did not think Hagel would make a good president. Whatever his plans, Hagel isn't sharing them publicly. He rebuffed all questions about his political future asked by reporters Thursday during a telephone conference, saying only that he would outline his plans on Monday. His announcement could be less far-reaching than expected, if he merely announces his re-election intentions for 2008. Baker thinks Hagel would have a shot at the White House, even running as an independent. "There are a lot of people out there with their wetted fingers to the wind, and that's not what he does," Baker said. "People find it refreshing."
If the posters at FreeRepublic are any indication, Hagel will have the same problem as McCain with the Republican base. They hate him for his independence. With McCain it is his positions on torture, campaign finance reform, and willingness to publicly criticize the Bush administration. With Hagel, it is his criticism of the Iraq war.
This is how they reacted to the news he might announce- 1 posted on 03/08/2007 8:26:49 AM PST by freedomdefender [ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Switching parties, I hope. 2 posted on 03/08/2007 8:27:31 AM PST by TommyDale (What will Rudy do in the War on Terror? Implement gun control on insurgents and Al Qaeda?) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Stay home, Chuck. 3 posted on 03/08/2007 8:28:23 AM PST by mborman [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender 4 posted on 03/08/2007 8:28:55 AM PST by sully777 (You have flies in your eyes--Catch-22) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender I'd trade him for Lieberman straight-up. 5 posted on 03/08/2007 8:29:13 AM PST by AU72 [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Dead in the "starting gate"...? 6 posted on 03/08/2007 8:29:33 AM PST by VRWCTexan (History has a long memory - but still repeats itself) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: TommyDale which presidential race? 7 posted on 03/08/2007 8:30:41 AM PST by chad_in_georgia [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender That gave me the biggest laugh of the year! Plan, plan? Hah! 8 posted on 03/08/2007 8:31:08 AM PST by Sen Jack S. Fogbound [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender He can announce all he wants, no way in hell he gets the GOP nomination. He can switch parties, I'll be happy. 9 posted on 03/08/2007 8:31:12 AM PST by MaestroLC ("Let him who wants peace prepare for war."--Vegetius, A.D. Fourth Century) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: AU72 I'd trade him for Lieberman straight-up. LOL, it would be just about a straight-across trade. 10 posted on 03/08/2007 8:31:53 AM PST by Scourge of God (Remember, liberals, 'baaa' means NO!) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender We have an ex Omaha mayor Dawb whose said on TV last night he thinks it's wonderful that Nebraska has someone who could be president...I always thought he was smarter than that...Hagel is an Embarrassment.. Another thing I heard was that Hagel has one of the most conservative voting records in the senate..anyone confirm that...and if so why does hagel do everything he can to alienate the base??? 11 posted on 03/08/2007 8:32:53 AM PST by conservativehusker (GO BIG RED!!!!) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: TommyDale The sound of lead balloons passing over. Lifted to altitude in the first place by flying pigs. 12 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:03 AM PST by alloysteel (If you cannot bring yourself to condemn someone, at least make the praise as faint as possible.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: VRWCTexan Hagel will be the darling of the MSM, Russert, George Stephanoplous, etc. He will be getting lots of free, positive publicity from the Washington Post, as well. He has no chance of winning the nomination, but will move the debate on Iraq decidedly to the left. 13 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:11 AM PST by DeerfieldObserver [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Prediction: His news conference will be a showcase of his cranky, nasty nature. It will not be at all positive but full of negative statements about the current Republican President and statements that only he can save the Republic. 14 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:16 AM PST by msnimje (People are crossing party lines to support Giuliani - even some Republicans support him.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: TommyDale Switching parties, I hope. Beat me to it. 15 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:23 AM PST by ConservaTexan (February 6, 1911) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Hagel announces political plans... and crickets were heard the nation over. 16 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:55 AM PST by Mobile Vulgus [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Hagel needs to be redeployed to the Democrat Party. 17 posted on 03/08/2007 8:33:58 AM PST by Republican Red (Chris Matthews would put on diapers and drive 900 miles to abduct Cheney.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: TommyDale Having his tires rotated ? 18 posted on 03/08/2007 8:34:07 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender "Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is expected to announce his decision on a presidential race Monday in his home state of Nebraska." YAWN 19 posted on 03/08/2007 8:34:15 AM PST by rwa265 [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: alloysteel That's the sound of deaf mute crickets with no legs. 20 posted on 03/08/2007 8:34:50 AM PST by TommyDale (What will Rudy do in the War on Terror? Implement gun control on insurgents and Al Qaeda?) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender I have a number of liberal friends and within the last month, every single one of them has approached me with the proposition that Hagel is a good candidate. He must have made the talking points. 21 posted on 03/08/2007 8:35:08 AM PST by Zuben Elgenubi [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender About the only job he's qualified for is emptying the sanitary napkin disposal in the ladies' room. 22 posted on 03/08/2007 8:35:43 AM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway~~John Wayne) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender 23 posted on 03/08/2007 8:36:08 AM PST by maggief [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Mobile Vulgus LOL…. exactly 24 posted on 03/08/2007 8:37:35 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Republican Red Hagel needs to be redeployed to the Democrat Party. ---- He is probably afraid of the libs -- that is why he remains a Repub -- wow, the playing field just keeps getting WORSE. 25 posted on 03/08/2007 8:37:44 AM PST by EagleUSA [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Hagel/Kucinich or Kucinich/Hagel, I can't determine which would be better. 26 posted on 03/08/2007 8:39:15 AM PST by Loyal Buckeye [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender "I'm not sure at this stage if I am in the camp of the hawks or the doves," Hagel told faculty, students and guests Thursday at Kansas State University. "I prefer to be a wise old owl." 2/21/2003 (he repeats this line providing 'expert commentary' on the war on TV) Hagel is revolting. And yet, more conservative than Rudy McRomney. 27 posted on 03/08/2007 8:47:09 AM PST by JohnnyZ ("I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose" -- Mitt Romney, April 2002) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: AU72 Good trade and one which must be made. Chuck might win his own family's vote but little else in the primaries. He is persona non grata for BASE voters. If he stays, I suggest he follow the McConn. lead and keep his mouth shut. 28 posted on 03/08/2007 8:51:08 AM PST by phillyfanatic [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: freedomdefender Maybe the GOP and the country will luck out and he'll retire. Guy's so pathetic he even gives RINO's a bad name 29 posted on 03/08/2007 8:53:30 AM PST by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: TommyDale Nebraska: The only state where the Republican senator is a real turd-bird and the Democrat senator is a stand-up guy. 30 posted on 03/08/2007 8:53:59 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: alloysteel The sound of lead balloons passing over. Lifted to altitude in the first place by flying pigs. "As God is my witness, I thought Hagel's campaign could fly!!" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1797428/posts
Hagel Puts Off Decision on 2008 Bid By MARGERY BECK 03.12.07, 10:37 AM ET Sen. Chuck Hagel, one of the more forceful Republican voices in opposition to the Iraq war, on Monday put off a decision about a possible presidential bid, saying he wanted to focus on the conflict and other pressing national issues. In an odd twist, the Nebraska senator called a news conference to say he would decide about his political future later this year, saying a late entry into the 2008 race is still possible. "I want to keep my focus on helping find a responsible way out of this tragedy," Hagel said of the Iraq war. The Republican presidential field is crowded with 10 candidates, a number that could grow as Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson weigh possible bids. Hagel's planned announcement touched off speculation that he would join the 2008 White House race or announce plans to seek re-election to a third Senate term. Instead, he told reporters at a nationally televised news conference: "I am here today to announce that my family and I will make a decision on my political future later this year." Hagel, 60, is probably best known to voters as a high-profile critic of the Bush administration dating to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. That criticism evolved into heated discordance in January when the Nebraska Republican called President Bush's plan to send an addition 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder carried out since Vietnam." Citing the war, Social Security, trade and climate change among other issues, Hagel said, "I believe it is in the interest of my Nebraska constituents and this country that I continue to work full time on these challenges." Hagel spoke at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, his alma mater. The senator is a decorated Vietnam War veteran who made millions in cellular phone business. A conservative, he has sometimes broken with the GOP leadership on foreign policy. Several prominent Republicans have already declared their intention to run for president and have taken the necessary steps such as hiring staff and raising millions for a White House bid. Among them former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
If he's smart, he'll wait for Rudy to flame out. I just don't see how Rudy can possibly earn a nomination in the party. If he were a national candidate, he'd be crucified for everything that's gone on around him.
