Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hagel Joins McCain in Abandoning His Presidential Aspirations
The Tin Ear ^ | 8/23/2005 | Will Malven

Posted on 08/24/2005 2:49:33 PM PDT by WillMalven

Senator Hagel Sunday suggested, effectively, surrendering to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Senator Hagel believes that we should abandon the Iraqis to terrorists because he’s afraid of another Vietnam.

Earth to Hagel, the only way this war can become a Vietnam is if weak-kneed Republicans like you and the other RINOs begin to back down in the face of Democrat and MSM pressure. Vietnam was lost when America’s politicians and the American people lost the will to fight and win the war. The constant barrage, by the MSM, of false portrayals of American defeats and the constant drumbeat of the death count of American soldiers served the propaganda purposes of the North Vietnamese. With no alternative source for information, the American people’s attitude became progressively more negative. Politicians, driven by the fear of being on the wrong side, became less and less capable of standing firm in support of the war. The American people need a leader of vision, not a follower of polls. How is it that so many Republican politicians lack the intestinal fortitude to stand the winds of negative press from the MSM? If they believe that the MSM, long an adjunct of the Democrat Party, is going to help them get elected against a Democrat, they are living in a fantasy world. The MSM will provide an anti-war Republican with a favorable platform from which to speak only until they gain the nomination, at which point, they will turn on them. Currying favor with the MSM has never and will never be a successful strategy for a Republican. A genuine leader seeks to shape the opinions of the American people, not allow the MSM to do so. He leads from conviction not from expedience. Hagel may have been a hero in war, but he is a rank coward in politics. Perhaps Senator Hagel needs to talk to some of our troops coming back from Iraq. You know, the same ones that are re-upping for second, third, or even fourth, tours of duty in Iraq because they believe that what they are doing is good and necessary work and believe that they are succeeding in their campaign.

Come on Senator Chuck, do you honestly believe that the al-Qaeda wing of the Democrat Party is going to replace the millions of Conservatives that you have just alienated? Do you believe that there are enough Libertarian Republicans to do so? Just as McCain turned his back on the Conservatives in the Republican Party by his continual efforts to curry favor with the Left, even going so far as to play footsies with the Kerry Campaign over the possibility of running as VP on the Democrat ticket, Hagel has now abandoned his base constituency. I can tell you right now, both Hagel and McCain are finished as potential Republican Presidential candidates. They will never be nominated by our party. That’s it, finito, end of the line, forget it, sayonara, good-bye! You cannot win the Republican nomination if you have abandoned the base. I can tell you what else, Senator Frist’s change of stance on stem-cell research and Senator Allen, who has made his own faux pas by suggesting that the president should meet with Cindy Sheehan, again, had better watch themselves or they will end up in the same place. A Republican politician must accept the fact that he will always be disliked by the MSM and that he will be opposed by the MSM in his every effort to communicate his message. For a Republican, strength of character and having the courage of their convictions in the face of the constant barrage of criticism are de rigueur. Neither the Republicans nor the American people will be well served by a “Casper Milquetoast” whose opinions and convictions are at the beck and call of the latest political poll. An assertion as per Jim Hacker (of the British sitcom “Yes Minister”) of “I am their leader, I must follow them,” will not cut it.

President Bush polls highest with the American people on his honesty and strength of character. He has been successful because he has refused to concern himself with what the latest poll numbers say. Just as the late President Ronald Reagan, President Bush is a man of firm conviction. He knows exactly what his vision for America is and he is dogged in his determination to take us there. Exactly to the extent that a potential Republican Presidential candidate declares his independence from the polls and the power of his political advisors, he will succeed in his efforts. By associating himself with McCain and the rest of the RINO sheep, Senator Hagel has driven a stake in the heart of his own political aspirations. There will be no Republican nomination for Chuck Hagel or John McCain in 2008. There have recently been rumors of a possible McCain/Kerry ticket, a rumor reported in The Hill [link] today. This man believes that he can secure the Republican nomination?

It never ceases to amaze and amuse me, the lengths to which a politician will go to make an ass of himself. To date two of the most prominent Republican Senators have done so and are vying to see which one is the more profoundly foolish. I have no problem with Hagel and McCain falling on their respective swords for the sake of our party and the Republican victory in 2008, as I have little regard for either of them and their political views. McCain has relentlessly pursued that unconstitutional abomination known as campaign finance law, and been on the wrong side of any number of issues in the past. He has been very vocal about the imprisoning of enemy combatants in GiTMO, perhaps the most understandable of his stances because of his own imprisonment during the Vietnam War. Hagel chose to run interference for the Democrats on the Bolton nomination during those hearings, and has himself, made a number of poor choices for a potential Republican nominee.

With our Republican Senators self-destructing at an astounding pace, things are looking better and better for Governor Mitt Romney, who today declared his support for President Bush’s Iraq policies, and Newt Gingrich who, if he can get beyond his own personal shortcomings, is certainly the most qualified and knowledgeable potential candidate in the field. As for the other potential candidates like Patake and Giuliani, I do not believe they stand a chance simply because of their position on the abortion/life issues. We are still too far away to make any real assumptions about the 2008 elections, but I believe that these two have pretty much destroyed their own chances.

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Art,' 1841


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 2008; hagel; hagel2008; mccain; presidential
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
Don't need no stinkin' moderates.
1 posted on 08/24/2005 2:49:36 PM PDT by WillMalven
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: WillMalven
Vietnam was lost when America’s politicians and the American people lost the will to fight and win the war.

BS! The Americans lost the will to fight because Johnson would not let the US do what it had to do to win.

2 posted on 08/24/2005 2:55:56 PM PDT by jwh_Denver (The MSM, if it's rotten it's on 24/7.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven
Iraq/ Afghanistan will become another "Vietnam" IF politicians start running this war as they did in Vietnam.

I am some what sympathetic to the Vietnam comparisons only in that I feel GWB is not prosecuting the war as massively as needs to be done to wipe the enemy off the face of the earth (LBJ's bomb them back into the stone age logic).

Retreat is not in that option.

3 posted on 08/24/2005 2:57:34 PM PDT by llevrok (Semper Conservatatum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jwh_Denver

I love GW Bush, but I don't believe we are fighting this war to win. If we were, Syria would be a rubbish pile, and Iran would be in the sights as the next victim. I also believe the the GW polling numbers include tons of folks like me. We have to win this war convincingly, and to do that will require that Iran and Syria be put in their place.


4 posted on 08/24/2005 2:59:09 PM PDT by JLAGRAYFOX
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: jwh_Denver

just like the liberals are trying to do in Iraq, and its starting to work


5 posted on 08/24/2005 3:01:13 PM PDT by curtisgardner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven

Every time Hagel and other buttwipes come out with this crap they are encouraging the terrorists to more acts of terror. Are they so stupid that they dont realise this?

We have all seen the war . Anyone with a brain in their head knows the terrorists could kill more Americans each day than they do now. You would have to be stupid not to recognise the fact that its a plan to kill two or three Americans every day so that a-holes like Cindy Sheehan and Hagel can moan that we need to get out of Iraq.

We do need to get out thats for sure, but after the job is done. Until then Hagel needs to STFU.


6 posted on 08/24/2005 3:01:48 PM PDT by sgtbono2002
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven
Newt Gingrich who, if he can get beyond his own personal shortcomings

...(which is much like saying, 'if pigs can fly')...

Patake

Pataki.

7 posted on 08/24/2005 3:03:38 PM PDT by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sgtbono2002

" Every time Hagel and other buttwipes come out with this crap they are encouraging the terrorists to more acts of terror. Are they so stupid that they dont realise this? "

They want the favorable write up in the NY Times and the rest of the MSM. Further, Chris Matthews will promote his candidacy on his show.


8 posted on 08/24/2005 3:03:43 PM PDT by Rosemont
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven
Just as McCain turned his back on the Conservatives in the Republican Party by his continual efforts to curry favor with the Left, even going so far as to play footsies with the Kerry Campaign over the possibility of running as VP on the Democrat ticket, Hagel has now abandoned his base constituency. I can tell you right now, both Hagel and McCain are finished as potential Republican Presidential candidates.

That sums it up for me.

9 posted on 08/24/2005 3:03:56 PM PDT by TexasCajun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven
You mean McCain is not running for president and Hagel is joining him on the ticket as a VP non-candidate?
10 posted on 08/24/2005 3:05:47 PM PDT by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven

I think the term we're seeking is "Publicity Whore".


11 posted on 08/24/2005 3:05:57 PM PDT by Dilbert56
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sgtbono2002

Hagel is one mouthful from parroting John Kerry in 1971/72.


12 posted on 08/24/2005 3:06:08 PM PDT by Vn_survivor_67-68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: sgtbono2002
Every time Hagel and other buttwipes come out with this crap they are encouraging the terrorists to more acts of terror. Are they so stupid that they dont realise this?

The terrorists are losing on every front -- save one.

They are winning their campaign to convert the American left and the media to dhimmitude.

13 posted on 08/24/2005 3:08:20 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: jwh_Denver

Vietnam was lost because of Communists Dems "Operation Purse Strings" got elected and cut off support to the then victorous S. Vietnames. The war was won, the Paris Accords were signed, game over.


14 posted on 08/24/2005 3:08:52 PM PDT by Dead Dog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven

President Bush will be seen as great just because of everything that he is.

Compare him to the shrill empty suits on the Democrat Party. Just compare the deportment of the last two Democrats who ran against him. They were both jokes, as are most Dems.

McCain has as his base in the crossovers in the Democrat Party. He could never win the Republican nomination but he'll do very well in Massachusetts and similar states among Democrats if indeed that matters.


15 posted on 08/24/2005 3:09:56 PM PDT by Radix (Why do they call them Morons when they do not know as much? Shouldn't they be Lessons?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven

Runaway Hagel doesn't stand a chance. He turns the stomachs of even the most middle of the road American. I can't believe he keeps being re-elected.


16 posted on 08/24/2005 3:10:49 PM PDT by McGavin999 ("You must call evil by it's name" GW Bush ......... It's name is Terror)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WillMalven

Hagel/Arnold

For President and Vice President of the Quisling Society in Hell.


17 posted on 08/24/2005 3:10:51 PM PDT by mercy (never again a patsy for Bill Gates - spyware and viri free for over TWO YEARS now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JLAGRAYFOX

The calls for such are building.


18 posted on 08/24/2005 3:12:00 PM PDT by mercy (never again a patsy for Bill Gates - spyware and viri free for over TWO YEARS now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: JLAGRAYFOX
I love GW Bush, but I don't believe we are fighting this war to win. If we were, Syria would be a rubbish pile, and Iran would be in the sights as the next victim.

Patience. Remember when we first went into Afghanistan and everyone was screaming "Bomb Them NOW" and "More boots on the ground" ? Remember how nobody understood why we were waiting so long? And then, one day BAM BAM BAM, and it was over.

It will be at a time of our choosing. G. W. Bush

19 posted on 08/24/2005 3:14:30 PM PDT by McGavin999 ("You must call evil by it's name" GW Bush ......... It's name is Terror)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: jwh_Denver
BS! The Americans lost the will to fight because Johnson would not let the US do what it had to do to win.

If that war was not micro-managed from the White House......the world would be much better and the Soviet Union would have collapsed 10 years sooner.

20 posted on 08/24/2005 3:16:23 PM PDT by CROSSHIGHWAYMAN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson