OWH:

Chuck Hagel continued to hold his political cards close to the vest Saturday, while Jon Bruning laid his on the table at a gathering of state Republicans in Bellevue.

Bruning, the Nebraska attorney general, made it clear he has decided to run for the U.S. Senate, even if that means going head-to-head against Hagel in a GOP primary.

Hagel, who held an Omaha fundraiser the night before with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, did not talk about Bruning, his plans or the possibility that he could run for president as an independent.

Instead, the maverick Republican, who has angered some in the party with his criticism of President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war, talked about his belief that the GOP has strayed from the path of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower and that politicians must put country ahead of party.

Both Hagel and Bruning spoke to about 125 Republicans who gathered at Bellevue University for a meeting of the Nebraska Republican Party’s state central committee.

So, Hagel’s running against the Republican Party, and he’s doing it in a room full of die-hard Republicans. You have to wonder what the hell he’s thinking anymore. Once again, it prompts speculation - that Hagel is all-too-willing to encourage - that Chuck Hagel is running for President as an independent. Possibly under the banner of the absolutely moronic “Unity ‘08.”

Meanwhile, Bruning has done his best to make his campaign about being the anti-Hagel candidate. It could backfire tremendously - for one thing, Hagel still has a large amount of institutional support, though that may be softening. But it could also seal his status as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. And it’s Bruning’s abrasive nature, his ruthless ambition, and his extremist views that will put him at odds with whomever the Democrats choose as our nominee. I look forward to seeing Fahey mop the floor with Jon Bruning.