Chuck Hagel is the Man!

[Yeahman]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o3cwQYx9hDU

[SunWuKong]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o3cwQYx9hDU

woohoo! the only Republican to vote against party line on the Senate panel on the war. you can tell he was fed up but he still managed to sound very well-spoken.

[SunWuKong]

this is not about Chuck Hagel, but this video was linked to that Chuck Hagel video. it's a scathing attack by Dahlia Wasfi against the war in Iraq.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ELjgVq6GtPA&mode=related&search=

[Golden Monkey]

this is not about Chuck Hagel, but this video was linked to that Chuck Hagel video. it's a scathing attack by Dahlia Wasfi against the war in Iraq.

I just saw the first minute and the half of it and pretty much EVERYTHING she said was wrong.

Everything. But I do give her credit for being consistent. Consistently wrong.

[Faithless]

What happened to Hagel going Independent?

[LaiSteve66]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o3cwQYx9hDU

This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.

[haplesshobo]

I still say it was a mistake for Hagel not to run for president earlier, if that's his intention, given how compressed the primaries are this time around. He would have been the only anti-war Republican alternative, which would have given considerable support but at the same time, I wonder if that would have hurt him as well. So far, it seems that the other Rep. candidates are supporting the war, instead of running away from that issue because the primary rep. voters are still supportive of the war unlike other voters. In time, I think you'd see that support decline where it eventually reached the tipping point but it might not be in time to support an anti-war campaign.

[Yeahman]

I still say it was a mistake for Hagel not to run for president earlier, if that's his intention, given how compressed the primaries are this time around. He would have been the only anti-war Republican alternative, which would have given considerable support but at the same time, I wonder if that would have hurt him as well. So far, it seems that the other Rep. candidates are supporting the war, instead of running away from that issue because the primary rep. voters are still supportive of the war unlike other voters. In time, I think you'd see that support decline where it eventually reached the tipping point but it might not be in time to support an anti-war campaign.
The primaries are more than 6 months away so there's plenty of time for more Republicans to get sick of the war. Besides, the Iowa causus tends to go for the most electable. I could easily see a Republican consensus building around Hagel as the most electable and the only one that can probably beat Hillary. Without a pro-war Republican to run against, the Dems are doomed next year.

Aside from his opposiiton to the war, Hagel would have the distinction of being a consistantly socially conservatives. The religious right aren't happy with the Top 3. Between an anti-war pro-lifer and an anti-war pro-choicer, the decision for them is clear.

[Faithless]

Hagel will not win a republican nod for president. He will have to go independent.

He's pissed off repubs, some who think his seat in Congress should be challenged.

Where's the love for Chucky?

[haplesshobo]

The primaries are more than 6 months away so there's plenty of time for more Republicans to get sick of the war. Besides, the Iowa causus tends to go for the most electable. I could easily see a Republican consensus building around Hagel as the most electable and the only one that can probably beat Hillary. Without a pro-war Republican to run against, the Dems are doomed next year.

Aside from his opposiiton to the war, Hagel would have the distinction of being a consistantly socially conservatives. The religious right aren't happy with the Top 3. Between an anti-war pro-lifer and an anti-war pro-choicer, the decision for them is clear.

Sure, the primaries are still more than 6 months away, but you need to be have already started laying the groundwork where you're raising the money and set up the organization in place. You come in too late, and you won't have the resources to compete, esp this year where the primaries are so bunched up and truncated. California used to be an afterthought, but by moving its primary earlier, its going to be play a huge role in deciding the primaries. Any candidate is going to need the substanial resources to compete in California.

[Faithless]

Sounds like they may try to label Hagel a sell-out in Nebraska:

Bruning Cites War, Illegal Immigration In Launching Senate Bid (http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2007/06/07/46683cb775f17)

June 07, 2007

Attorney General Jon Bruning made his expected entrance Thursday into the race for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate.

In announcing his challenge of two-term Senator Chuck Hagel, Bruning hit on the two issues foremost in the minds of many voters – the war in Iraq and illegal immigrants.

“Nebraskans want a leader who will stand with our troops and military commanders, who will enforce our laws and secure our borders,” Bruning said.

Bruning did not invoke the name of President Bush, whose popularity nationwide has greatly diminished in the last two years.

...

[Deadpool]

Vote Ron Paul

[Faithless]

Hagel is catholic (http://hagel2008.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html)?

Yet, for a while there (don't know if it is still the case), he was going to an Episcopal church where his two children were baptized. The linked article says this:

Hagel realizes that if he were to try a national run, he might be called on to explain his choices in religion to Christian groups that are part of the conservative coalition his party has fused together. He doesn't especially like the idea. "I don't question or critique any other politician's style, but I know who Chuck Hagel is," he said. "I know what fits me, and I know what fits my wife. Religion is important to us, spirituality is important, but it's also private."

It's also private. How far is he willing to go to prove-out that statement?

I wonder if he should worry about his choice of church more than a conservative christian attack on his marriages. He's had two. The first one lasted only two years.

No big deal for most. But then there's the comments of one Sam Brownback recently on the issue of marriage.

At a National Catholic Men's Conference, Brownback (http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/289087886024630.php) "... encouraged married couples to stay together, saying studies have shown that if couples weather hard times for five years, their marriages tend to last. After five years, 'people are happier than those who have had a divorce[.]'"

[Yeahman]

^ Hagel was Catholic.

Anyway, more reasons to love Chuck Hagel (http://www.cfr.org/publication/14895/conversation_with_chuck_hagel_rush_transcript_fede ral_news_service.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2F by_type%2Ftranscript):

it is my opinion that this is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen personally or ever read about.
...
And you know, I think of this administration, what they could have done after 9/11, what was within their grasp. Every poll in the world showed 90 percent of the world for us. Iran had some of the first spontaneous demonstrations on the streets of Tehran supporting America. They squandered a tremendous amount of opportunity.
...
It could produce a very viable third-party candidate for president -- and I'm serious about that, if for no other reason than the majority of registered voters in this country are independents.
...
Whether these glancing blows, smart-ass, kind of glib answers that a bunch of wise-ass consultants get together and they put in the minds of all these candidates -- "Now, you want to get this one in. This will be a zinger on old Mitt. Wait until he gets that one." (Laughter.) You know, and, "Here's a good one for Rudy. You know, ask him about all the wives," and so on.
...
[And the surprise endorsement]
Now, Joe Biden -- I'm very close to Joe Biden's philosophy about foreign policy. I suppose of all the candidates out there, including McCain, I'm probably closer to Joe Biden's. And I think Biden would be a very good president. I think Joe Biden would be a very good secretary of State.

[Faithless]

He's one of the few republicans with the balls to speakout against his party and bush.

Can he really stick it out with Kerry and Hart with this think tank called the American Security Project (http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3248605&C=)?

ASP (http://www.americansecurityproject.org/) link.

[SunWuKong]

Hagel delivers again.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7623771.stm

he should get together with Ron Paul and Ralph Nader to form a party, even though the three probably don't agree on much of anything. together they could deliver a jolt to the two-party system. and they would end up winning at least one state - Maine.