Hagel’s Former Mentor Blasts Him In Editorial Pages

(One thing that pissed us political junkies off in the last several months is the Omaha World-Herald’s decision to pull all of its editorial content off of the internet. As a college student who can’t exactly afford a daily newspaper subscription, especially to a newspaper of the dubious quality of the Omaha World-Herald, I rely on the news websites, including Omaha.com, to keep me informed. So, when this extremely interesting letter showed up in the Public Pulse on Thursday, I had to learn about it secondhand from Leavenworth Street and the New Nebraska Network. Michael Kelly’s column about the McCollister-Hagel dynamic is not online, either. It’s a damn shame that in the 21st century, the Omaha World-Herald is so shut off to the information age).

John Y. McCollister served as Congressman in Nebraska’s 2nd district from 1971-1977, before he left the seat to pursue an unsuccessful run for Senate. (He was defeated by Ed Zorinsky.) As Chuck Hagel pointed out in his “announcement” speech three weeks ago, Hagel worked for McCollister on Capitol Hill, and considered him a mentor.

On Thursday, McCollister wrote a letter to the Public Pulse that was - without a doubt - an unmistakeable shot at Hagel. The letter, in its entirety:

Regardless of one’s view on the Iraq War, the congressional votes setting deadlines for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq are a tragic mistake. The president will veto the bill and give Congress a chance to do it right. Unfortunately, the votes will strengthen our enemies and dishearten our soldiers.

Yes, the war in Iraq has been difficult. But the votes come as a new U.S. war strategy renews our hopes for victory. Given the president’s certain veto, why do many senators and representatives send this defeatist message to the enemy and to U.S. armed forces, thus risking their lives?

I believe that some people disregard the awful consequences of a premature withdrawal and want to end the war, period. Others have a consuming, burning hatred of George W. Bush as their dominant legislative priority. Those who carelessly throw out talk of “impeachment” are of the same stripe.

There is no place for blind hate, however disguised, in any legislative body.

John Y. McCollister, Omaha

2nd District, U.S. House, 1971-77

McCollister lays it out on the table: he’s accusing Chuck Hagel of blind hatred of George W. Bush. What’s remarkable about this is not that it’s a Republican criticizing Hagel, or even a Nebraska Republican criticizing Hagel. That’s happened before. But normally it’s someone like Adrian Smith, or Pete Ricketts, and their criticisms are thinly veiled and aimed more at Democrats and strawmen than they are at Hagel. More often than not, you see folks like Dave Heineman, Hal Daub, and David Kramer attempt to explain away how Hagel still represents the increasingly extremist Republican Party. Former Republican Party leaders in Nebraska have even taken to bashing other Republicans as a means of defending Hagel.

This is a prominent Nebraska Republican - Hagel’s mentor - quite explicitly calling Hagel out, saying he’s blinded by hatred, and is undermining the troops.

Quite to the contrary, Hagel has put aside his hatred - of his fellow Nebraska Senator, Ben Nelson - because of the people’s demands for a change of direction in Iraq. The fact that the ever-conservative Nelson recognizes the need to change course really speaks to where the people of this state are, as well.

But this is yet another in a line of Hagel stories that suggest he’s going to face a difficult road if he runs for office again in 2008. The possibility of a primary challenge to Hagel grows more likely the longer he delays his decision - and the more often he sides with Democrats on the issue of Iraq. Though it would require Jon Bruning to go back on his word (heaven forbid, a Republican being dishonest!?) not to challenge Hagel, there’s a wide opening - especially considering Hagel’s lack of real fundraising until recently (we’ll see where he stands when the FEC reports go public on April 15).

13 months away from what will, one way or another, be a contentious Republican primary, McCollister fired a shot across the bow. I don’t know if Hagel’s going to run for anything - he’s virtually shut off the possibility of his winning a Republican nomination for President - other than keeping his political options open so he can avoid irrelevancy. My prediction remains the same: we’ll see Mike Fahey as the Democratic candidate for Senate in 2008. But if Hagel ends up running, we better be prepared for the fallout on the Republican side and have a good candidate run.