It looks like Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel might toss his hat in the GOP ring. The decorated combat veteran would be the only anti-Iraquagmire/anti-Bush candidate in the GOP prez wannabe roster. That would really twist the Right into knots. (The Politico):
A bid by the Nebraska Republican would further jolt an unsettled Republican presidential field and a GOP already under siege in the wake of President Bush’s unpopular troop surge plan and a steady drumbeat of other bad news for the administration.It’s unlikely that he’d get the party’s nod, but in reality, a top-of-the-ticket Hagel could siphon off those centrist votes that Hillary Clinton prizes. However, he’s not a moderate Republican:Some analysts say Hagel, who will announce his intentions in Omaha, faces an impossible task in courting the party’s conservative base considering his own vociferous opposition to the war in Iraq. Given that, they say, his best course may be to run as an independent.
* Voted YES on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
* Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted NO on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
* Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
* Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
* Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
He also directly answered the marriage equality question in GQ:
No. Personally, I think marriage is between a man and a woman, but that’s because I see it as a religious union. As a legal contract, marriage should be up to the states. If a state wants to change the rules, that’s up to them.Fun fact: Hagel wants manure off list of hazardous substances.
***
Seeing the weak and pretty compromised GOP field out there (flip-flop Romney, too-liberal and too-divorced Giuliani, a tanking McCain, and a second tier of politically impotent fundies and anti-immigrant prospects), Law & Order actor and the former Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson could have a shot.
“I think people are somewhat disillusioned. I think a lot of people are cynical out there. I think they’re looking for something different. … and I think that they’re going to be open to different things.”
More after the flip.
(AP):
Thompson, who plays district attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s drama “Law & Order,” said Sunday, “I’m giving some thought to it, going to leave the door open” and decide in the coming months. “It’s not really a reflection on the current field at all,” he said.The bottom line is that while the guy has star power, he’s a conservative that the CPAC crowd would like. Some of his positions:“I’m just going to wait and see what happens,” Thompson added. “I wanted to see how my colleagues who are on the campaign trail do now, what they say, what they emphasize, what they’re addressing, and how successful they are in doing that, and whether or not they can carry the ball in next November.”
* Forced birth advocate: believes the Roe v. Wade decision was “bad law and bad medical science.”
* Opposes gun control: Thompson agreed with last week’s federal appeals decision that overturned a long-standing handgun ban and said “The court basically said the Constitution means what it says, and I agree with that.”
* The Bush Iraq “surge” plan is AOK in his book: “Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify things. I think we’re doing that now,” he said. “Why would we not take any chance, even though there’s certainly no guarantees, to not be run out of that place? I mean, we’ve got to take that opportunity and give it a chance to work.”
* He would pardon convicted felon and fall guy Scooter Libby: Thompson is a fundraisier for Libby’s defense, btw. He would like Bush to pardon him now versus waiting for all Libby’s appeals to be exhausted.
* On marriage equality, note that the man holds the same position as the top tier Dem candidates: he would let states decide on civil unions. “Marriage is between a man and a woman, and I don’t believe judges ought to come along and change that.”
31 Responses to “Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Sen. Fred Thompson mull prez bids”
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I want to know when Sam Waterston is running for office. First I’ll buy some TD Waterhouse funds, then vote for him. Christ, I love that man!
How weak is the GOP field? This post is the answer to that.
I’m not saying that Hagel and Thompson are third tier or worse candidates - I think Hagel and Thompson are realists in the sense that they can see somewhat clearly without political distortion and dogma, and acknowledge that presidential campaigns are horridly draining and unlikely to produce a chance of them winning. They may still have the oversized ego of a career politician, but they believe they keep it in check with clear vision.
That is until now. Guiliani and McCain are running inept early campaigns & fundy leaders like Falwell are forgiving and blessing Gingrich. The Democrats - whom looked like a shoe-in 4 months ago for their Congressional wins - are falling apart and stabbing one another over the war.
I think they’re early to make a move, but I suspect money may be forcing them to show their hands early.
“I think people are somewhat disillusioned….”
Um, yeah. It’s hard to stay rosy and positive about an administration that condones torture, encourages the rape of the planet and preaches a doctrine of global imperialism.
Funny, that does affect my mood a bit.
But I don’t like introspection. Back to Anna Nicole!
“The bottom line is that while the guy has star power, he’s a conservative that the CPAC crowd would like.”
He would be a tough candidate to face. The stock conservative candidates are all second tier. Let’s hope they all stay down there.
I can already see the Law and Order campaign ads…
Oh, thank God, an anodyne for all of the recent clueless Hagel love that’s replaced the McCain love amongst those “progressives” who apparently haven’t been paying attention to anything for the past seven years.
So, is the Law and Order demographic really going to be that easy a target? I know many aficionados that are still wistful for Steven Hill. Is there really going to be a big Arthur Branch fan effect? Is he going to try for the “Unity ‘08″ ticket that Sam Waterston has recently endorsed, just for the synergy? And does the base really want their candidate to be the DA of a liberal northeastern city with tough gun control laws, a DA who ordered the arrest of an anti-choice doctor?
Not to be your garden variety doom and gloom enviro, but the “fun fact” about manure plays right into Right Wwing spin on the issue.
Giant factory farms are one of the biggest polluters in the country (they produce an estimated 500 million tons of livestock waste every year – three times the amount of human waste produced in the U.S.).
For example, recently, the City of Waco, Texas, and the Oklahoma Attorney General sought to use these federal laws to respond to factory farm pollution of drinking water supplies and surface water. So-called “taking manure off the hazardous list” is just code for giving factory farms a free pass on catastrophic manure spills into, lakes, rivers and streams.
Not a laughing matter and yet anither reason this guy sucks.
Of course, the last time we elected an actor president, that worked out just great, didn’t it?
The Repugs are coming to discover that to pander to the wingnuts is to guarantee a November loss. The tide has turned. They are now a liability. Arizona and South Dakota were the turning points. At the end of the day, Americans do not like other people minding their business.
States have traditionally regulated marriage and will continue to do so under the so called “police powers” unless the Federal Government declares marriage (or something an awful lot like it) a civil right thus “pre-empting the field of law.”
The 2d amendment, like all the other amendments, is about personal (or state) rights, not collective ones. The government may reasonably regulate the right like all other rights (see parade permits) but they cannot simply write it out of existence which is precisely what D.C. did.
“The decorated combat veteran would be the only anti-Iraquagmire/anti-Bush candidate in the GOP prez wannabe roster.”
Also Rep Ron Paul from Texas, but he probably won’t get very far.
Let me know when they’re running Jerry Orbach. Then we’ll know that the GOP has indeed lost it for good.
btw, why am I not the least bit surprised, based on his Law & Order performance, that Fred Thompson used to be a senator? It’s more of a “hmm, that makes it all make sense” kind of thing.
Don’t forget that Chuck Hagel also voted FOR the Military Commissions Bill, which essentially said it was okay for us to torture whoever-the-fuck Bush said it was okay to torture.
(snort)
And to think I voted for that jerkoff … (banging head on desk)
I don’t know any L&O fan who can stand DA Cleghorn. I hope Fred runs just to get him off L&O.
Hagel gets undeserved praise because he looks good in comparison to his compadres.
Hagel gets undeserved praise because he looks good in comparison to his compadres.
Pretty much. That, and he’s been critical of fellow Senators about Iraq, and even Bush a little bit. But not too critical. He’s positioned perfectly: 100% conservative on every issue, can claim that he didn’t oppose Bush on Iraq, only those damn fool generals and Rumfeld and their tactics, makes a bunch of Democrats swoon because he’s so independent, such a maverick, not like that icky John McCain.
Hagel is bad, bad news for us. The thing is, I don’t mind him being in the Senate. He has at least been pretty honest about what kind of Senator he is, and if we’re going to have conservatives in there, it’s better to know what they really believe.
I am going to predict the strongest anti-occupation candidates win the nominations of both parties.
I am going to predict the strongest anti-occupation candidates win the nominations of both parties.
So, that would be Senator Obama and Representative Paul, then? Hmm, that could be interesting.
Voted NO on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women.
I could look that up and find out what it really means, but I’m having way too much fun imagining the “Minority Lane” or the “Ladies Only Expressway”.
I want to know when Sam Waterston is running for office. First I’ll buy some TD Waterhouse funds, then vote for him. Christ, I love that man
Ooooooohhhhhh…Sam Waterston. Makes my knees weak.
Sarcastro has a point: what was the deal with that?
No. Really.
How weak is the GOP field? This post is the answer to that.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. They’re starting to sound as desperate as the Illinois Republicans were after Jack Ryan dropped out of the senate race. Crazy Alan Keyes is up next.
Chuck Hagel is a much preferable candidate to any of the current top 3. And that’s the problem. Yeah, I like Hagel as a Nebraskan senator, but I sure hope the GOP doesn’t wizen up enough to realize that he’s the guy they should nominate. Basically, he hits all of the conservative political issues except for: dumbass foreign policy that only benefits Halliburton. And I don’t understand why the base needs that particular issue at this point.
Actually folks, please don’t forget that Thompson got his start as an “actor” by being the lead Republic attorney for the Senate Select Watergate committee, supporting Howard Baker. That is, he did a lot of apologetic type questioning. Kinda the “but everyone does it” type deal. He has always been a conservative hack.
Hagel has one reasonable position as a NOW anti-Iraq War, which begs the question as to what the hell took him so long? A person did not have to be a Middle East scholar to recognize the idiocy of this craziness from way before the actual invasion while the actual implementation and planning should cause all of the pentagon enablers to resign in embarrassment. Aand hagel did vote in favor.
Oh, and Hagel voted in favor of Cornyn’s resolution to do completely away with the federal minimum wage law.
Sarcastro and six-oh-seven-nine,
Minority set asides such as the 10% for “Minorities and Women” means that all federally funded highway projects would be required to set aside 10% of the funds and work for qualified minority and women owned businesses. Basically, it’s a government attempt to break the old boys network. It is quite common in DoD contracts as well (commonly known as 8A set asides). The big companies still get their pieces of the action though, by signing on as sub-contractors depending upon the expertise being asked for…
I know many aficionados that are still wistful for Steven Hill. - mds
If age were not an issue, I would suggest the Dems. run Steven Hill if the GOP runs Thompson — all the real L&O fans would come out to the polls in droves to vote for D.A. Schiff over D.A. Branch!
How d’ya think Diane West (sp?) would do though? Is she a Dem?
Thompson could be dangerous and hard to beat.
He is a trained actor and a fairly decent one. Okay he is not De Niro but he doesn’t blow.
As an actor he knows how to work an audience. As an actor he will be able to rally that Paris Hilton watching NASCAR base.
Remember Ronald Reagan was an actor, a lousy one, and he won two terms.
Thompson could make the campaign about image, style and who looks most “Presidential” as opposed to a campaign about issues, substance and who has the best judgement.
Up until now I have been feeling that any of the Democratic candidates could beat any of the Republican candidates. I think Thompson could get out the Republican base while sounding reasoned and serious enough to win over the moderates.
(Remember I am not saying Thompson is a reasoned and serious statesman but that as an actor he will be able to PLAY a reasoned and serious statesman.)
“Let me know when they’re running Jerry Orbach.”
Ummmmm. He’s *dead*. Really unfortunate, too. He was just getting his own (and well deserved) show.
/mourns Lenny.
*Agrees with wanting Waterston.
Ummmmm. He’s *dead*.
Yes, I think that was meant to illustrate further depths of desperation by the GOP. Though if they could run the dead, they’d probably just go with Reagan. [Flips feverishly through Constitution] Hmmm…
*Agrees with wanting Waterston.
As alluded to above (Toot!), Sam Waterston is an independent who has apparently embraced the “Unity ‘08″ nonsense that worshipers of Bipartisanship Uber Alles have been pushing. And I read that at Wikipedia, which is as unimpeachable as George W. Bush.
Remember Ronald Reagan was an actor, a lousy one, and he won two terms.
And an even worse President. I still maintain that the problem with his having Alzheimers was that everyone around him suffered but he wasn’t coherent enough to do so.
Now that Halliburton is going to to Dubai, maybe that last one isn’t so important.
Back before the 2004 election, when I was hearing the very first alarm bells about vote hacking via electronic ballot machines, Diebold was not the only suspect. Nope, it was Senator Hagel’s first election to the Senate that was considered the bellwether of the whole mess. Because Hagel owned and operated the brand-new electronic voting machines that Nebraska had just purchased from his company–I believe it was ES&S–and then went on to win a surprise victory against a strong opponent. This was 1996, I think.