Posted on 09/07/2007 10:54:26 PM PDT by LdSentinal
WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday.
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel plans to leave the Senate after two terms as a Republican Party maverick, people close to him say.Hagel plans to announce that "he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," said one person, who asked not to be named.
Hagel has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday at the Omaha Press Club.
According to one person interviewed, Hagel told Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Friday morning that he had decided to retire. Hagel's staff learned of his decision that afternoon.
The North Platte native earned national recognition as perhaps the most vocal, at times angry, GOP critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policies.
His outspokenness on Iraq and other key issues, including Social Security and foreign policy, fueled national interest in Hagel as he flirted with a possible presidential bid.
His national profile reached its zenith in March, when he headed to Omaha to hold a press conference on his political future.
But amid wide speculation that he was leaning toward a White House run, Hagel announced that he would disclose his plans later in the year.
His pending retirement leaves another GOP Senate seat without an incumbent at a time when the Republican Party is struggling to stem potential losses and must defend more seats than Democrats.
In Nebraska, the news will trigger a scramble among possible successors.
Attorney General Jon Bruning has been campaigning for the GOP Senate nomination since spring. A second Republican, financial adviser Pat Flynn of Schuyler, also already announced his candidacy.
Other Republicans who could enter the race are former Gov. Mike Johanns, now the U.S. agriculture secretary; former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub; and Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo.
Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, president of the New School University in New York City, has voiced interest in returning to the Senate.
Also mentioned by Nebraska Democrats are Scott Kleeb, who lost a race to Republican Adrian Smith in the 3rd Congressional District last year, and Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey.
Hagel, 60, would leave office after two terms, ending a career in which he was a frequently reliable Republican vote - but unafraid to show a maverick streak.
Armed with a deep voice and somber demeanor, Hagel rose quickly in the Senate, developing an international reputation perhaps faster than any previous Nebraska lawmaker.
He has become a leading Senate voice on foreign policy, promoting a pragmatic approach of reaching out to allies and adversaries alike to build economic, social and political relationships.
A decorated Vietnam combat veteran, Hagel drew the most attention for his break with the Republican president on Iraq.
Early this year, his frustration erupted after Bush announced plans for a troop buildup to try to curb violence in Iraq. Hagel labeled it "the worst foreign policy blunder since Vietnam - if it's carried out."
That and other criticism triggered a backlash from some conservatives, who viewed him as disloyal to the Republican president and potentially jeopardizing troops abroad.
Hagel didn't relish the attacks. He explained how Vietnam had a big impact on his view of this war. He recalled Congress' silence during much of Vietnam, as well as the 58,000 Americans who died. He said he didn't want that history to repeat itself.
"I'll be damned if I'm going to stand there and accept the status quo and let it all happen again," he said.
Chuck Hagel never just stood there.
Born in 1946, he was the oldest of four sons raised by Charles and Betty Hagel. He grew up in North Platte and in Rushville, Ainsworth and Columbus.
Life changed abruptly when his father died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve in 1962. It thrust Hagel, then 16, into the role of a father figure for his younger brothers, one of whom would die a few years later in a car accident.
Sent to Vietnam in 1968, he served for a time with his brother Tom, seeing the violence of war up close. The brothers saved each other's lives, they saw friends die, they lived in fear.
Chuck Hagel supported the war then, but changed his view later after hearing tape recordings of former President Lyndon Johnson saying he knew the United States couldn't win but didn't want to be saddled in history with defeat.
In 1971, Hagel landed a job on Capitol Hill as an aide to Republican Rep. John Y. McCollister, who promoted him within two years to chief of staff.
From the late 1970s to the 1990s, he worked as a lobbyist, Veterans Administration official, cellular telephone industry pioneer, USO official and investment banker.
In the 1996 Senate race, he upset then-Gov. Ben Nelson.
In 1997, he teamed with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to lead the Senate to a 95-0 vote opposing the Kyoto Protocol, a global warming treaty that was intended to curb the effects of greenhouse gases from developing nations.
He played a key role in reauthorizing the International Monetary Fund, which helps emerging economies worldwide.
Hagel-authored provisions to allow more easily traceable political contributions were included in major campaign finance reform legislation that Congress passed.
During Hagel's first year in the Senate, Washington Post columnist David Broder referred to him as "the freshman who probably has made the deepest impression on his colleagues."
He won re-election in 2002 with 83 percent of the vote.
Among second-term achievements were energy bill provisions promoting the development of clean-air technology to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
He worked on a number of Nebraska issues, including community banking, air service to rural areas and health care.
With a telegenic personality, Hagel has become a fixture on the Sunday TV talk show circuit, racking up more than 100 appearances. The topic often was foreign policy, Hagel's strongest passion.
As a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has traveled widely overseas, building relationships with foreign leaders that have given him a personal and independent view of foreign policy matters.
Hagel always freely expressed his opinions, often in a provocative manner. His temper can flare as it frequently has against the Bush administration over Iraq. Friends say that passion, coupled with his intelligence, have made him unusual in Washington.
"Chuck is one of those political leaders who marches to a drummer of his own," Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former secretary of state, said several years ago. "He decides what he believes, then he speaks out."
I can’t either. As one who barely escaped “Red” indoctrination in public school, it is especially galling. Maybe strike one up for the stupid party again. If we can’t even win battles like this, it doesn’t look good for the long term. :-\
Don't let the door hit you on the ass you Rino nitwit.
Your work along with Olympia Snowe on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee was shameful.
You can leave office knowing you helped the Democrats play search and avoid with documents you knew existed connecting Saddam with Al Qaeda.
“Psych warfare”? Come on. Going through life paranoid and delusional is sad. Well there is warfare out there all right but it has nothing to do with what color code is used on a electoral map FCOL.
You just don’t get it.
“Hoohah! Two RINOs - Warner and Hagel GONE! Things are looking up. “
ONLY IF WE WIN THESE SEATS!
The Dems will be putting Mark Warner up perhaps in VA and maybe Bob Kerrey in Nebraska. It won’t be a cakewalk to defeat them.
A LOT WILL BE RIDING ON THE 2008 ELECTIONS.
12 years is long enough. Hope this trend can spread to official democrats as well.
The Red state/Blue state thing only took hold after 2000.
Why?
Very simple - when Clinton won ... HE WON. The media didn’t waste any time mentioning that the majority of states voted against him. The media didn’t waste any time mentioning that he didnt get the majority of the vote. The color map was shown the day after the election and then filed and forgotten for the next 4 years.
The Red state/Blue state is all about the liberal media carving an identity that clearly pointed out that liberalism was not dead. It started as a poke-in-the-eye to Bush to tell him that half the country wasnt behind him. (recall the media nonsense about ‘lack of mandate’ etc.) IMHO, the color is less important than the POINT of the division - “our nation is divided” it screams, thus denying Bush the credit of being the President of all of us.
I’ve seen Red states used for Dole, but I doubt we saw the term “Red State” or “Blue State” until after 2000. And of course, with each election, the states shift so the concept is hardly valid...
Dole is red:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1996
Dole is blue:
http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?f=0&year=1996
Well put.
The media is to blame.
Maybe the confusion they created is deliberate, eh?
Quite. All part of the psych warfare. Control the language and the discourse, and you control everything.
Right. The colors could be orange and green. Doesn't matter. It just a color code for displaying the results.
Yes, we’ve had such distinguished governors in recent history as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Let’s hope that history doesn’t repeat iteslf!
And Ronald Reagan & George W. Bush.
When the two political parties are smart enough to run Governors, they usually win.
If they foolishly rally around some senatoral party hack from one of their "safe states" who tells them what they want to hear... well... talk to John "I can beat Bush" Kerry & Bob Dole about what happens.
Then we'd have two polarizing Senators for President and one of them would have to win, I suppose. I'm guessing the slickest candidate would probably win, or the one with a running mate who can actually carry a swing state.
I KNOW what lies behind ‘there’, lolol, do I really have to look?? I did look already, snicker!!
Lol, SOMEWHERE in my ‘10,000.’ I had a bagel but think another gif ate it!
Can’t recall if he is married to Linda-bird or Lucy-bird, snicker!! Think Linda.
I agree about Reagan; however, I wouldn’t include Bush because he’s NO conservative. He spent like a drunk sailor (my apologies to sailers because at least they spend their own money) for five years and gave us the biggest entitlement (prescription drugs) since LBJ. He’s sided with the leftists on affirmative action, failed to secure our borders, and has been totally devoid of any principles of conservatism. Another four years of him and we’ll really be ruined! Even in Texas, as governor, he supported the liberal agenda more than he did conservative core principles. But his main impetus (like his father’s) is to “get along.”
I wonder if Bagel is avoiding a Flynting incident. Regardless if the fool leaves, the DNC will use Flyntian scandals to paint the GOP now that the sexual degradation of Larry Craig has been outed. The DC madam may have a very powerful list of clients to sell don’tchaknow.
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