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Hagel Fuels More Speculation

Published by Dave July 8th, 2007

On Meet The Press today, Chuck Hagel ruled out a bid for President as an independent.

He gave more cryptic answers when asked about his political plans:

“You try to keep as many options open for yourself in life as you can. And you try to be in a position where you’ve got some opportunities,” Hagel said.

“I also have said and said this when I first ran for the Senate after I got elected in 1996 that 12 years, two terms may be enough and that’s another option,” Hagel said.

“And then if there might be a place for me along the presidential road somewhere to try to have some influence and change the course of this country, then I’ll look at that. But the decision needs to be made soon and I’ll make it soon,” he added.

It’s really difficult to tell exactly where Hagel’s leaning right now. He clearly wants to have influence on the national scene, but he’s blown any chance of winning a Republican nomination for President by making sense on Iraq. And he’s in an increasingly vulnerable position here at home, as well. A primary challenger raising $700,000 in Q2 is very serious, indeed. It may be that by attempting to keep all of his options open, Hagel has shut the door on all of his options.

On the surface, Hagel seems like the ideal candidate for the Republicans to separate their party from the failures of George W. Bush in Iraq. But the GOP is increasingly a Cult of Bush, and Hagel’s apostasy on the Iraq War will not be easily forgiven by primary voters. He has zero chance of winning the Republican nomination.

An independent candidacy would be a fool’s errand, as Hagel would lack the donor base to mount a respectable campaign that would fare any better than Ralph Nader or Michael Badnarik in 2004. In other words, there’s even less of a chance that Hagel becomes President if he runs as an independent.

It seems that Hagel’s goal is relevance as he finalizes what, precisely, his plans will be in 2008. A chance at the Vice Presidency or a plum position in the next administration is probably his most likely avenue, but how he gets there is anyone’s guess.

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