The plot not only thickened in the 2008 Senate race Wednesday night, it threatened to spin out of control.
Attorney General Jon Bruning is ready to enter the 2008 Republican primary whether Sen. Chuck Hagel seeks re-election or not. Bruning confirmed his intentions in a statement released Thursday morning.
Hagel’s recent vote supporting a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and his recent criticism of President Bush provide “significant reasons” to enter the Senate race, the attorney general said.
“Senator Hagel voted with the Democratic leadership against President Bush on the most important issue facing our country,” Bruning said.
And with that, it’s on. I had strong feelings that Bruning was going to challenge Hagel, but no real confirmation. Now, Bruning is using all of the reasons why Republicans distrust Hagel to explain why he is running for Senate. Make no mistake, Jon Bruning is running against Chuck Hagel. Things just got a whole lot more interesting, folks.
Walton speculates further on Bob Kerrey’s intentions, based on a poll that’s been going around (I think someone told us about this Monday night.) Kerrey insists he’s not running, and based on the fact that he’s still living in New York, I’d say that’s right. Still, I wonder who is polling Bob Kerrey here in Nebraska… They must have their reasons.
All of this news comes on the heels of Mike Fahey giving his strongest indication yet that he will seek a third term as mayor of Omaha if he does not run for Senate. He doesn’t plan to make a decision until later in the year.
Okay, so we had a conversation about where Bruning’s numbers are. A couple things to keep in mind:
Bruning has filed paperwork with the FEC establishing a committee, Friends of Jon Bruning. He has not filed an official statement of candidacy. My (admittedly weak) understanding is that until he files form 2, he’s not officially a candidate. Then again, I could be completely off base here.
Bruning filed his papers on March 14, meaning that his committee was in existence for all of two weeks when the end of the first quarter came around. So, even if we saw Bruning’s filings for the first quarter, there probably wouldn’t be much to chew on, there.
The real interesting numbers should come with the Q2 filings, which presumably Bruning will have to report. Given Hagel’s weak fundraising numbers for this quarter, does Bruning have a chance to outraise him?
The Nebraska Democrats have a real problem. Bruning compared same-sex marriage to a man marrying his dog. So what did Democrats do when he ran for re-election for the attorney general office? The Democrats let him run UNOPPOSED! It is not a matter of winning the office. The Democrats lost a chance to galvanize voters. So if Bruning wins against Hagel what will the Democrats do?
Hey now! That’s not exactly true. John Owens-Ream ran against Bruning.
We support Chuck Hagel !!!!!!!!!!!!
The problem is that just because a person speaks his mind (and trys
to represent the average person) and does not go along with the good
ole boys (republican party) he is not wanted. What about representing what is good for the average person, and our country and not worrying about what the party thinks. We support our troops and their familys every day with prayers. But the fact is that people are fed up with politicians from both parties that are only worried about their party and their pocket book. It is amazing that Bush wants to be buddies with the democrats now, but not when he controled the house and senate, but only wants to get along if it goes his way……A mistake has been made and we need to put a end to it, It doesn’t matter if we leave today or 20 years from
now……..it will all be the same ending. If Iraq wants us to be there and help them, let them use their oil money to fund the war and
not the American tax payer. Bottem Line……Lets all forget if we are Democrat or Republican and strat thinking about what is good for the United States and the American people… Which is another subject what about illeagel imigrants…….what a joke with our laws on them.