Hagel, Republican for Now, Says He Has No Plans to Back McCain

[corporatemedia]

Source: Bloomberg

Hagel, Republican for Now, Says He Has No Plans to Back McCain

By Christopher Stern

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Chuck Hagel declined to endorse his party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration.

Hagel, who last year considered a White House run as an independent, said he would remain a registered Republican: ``I don't know forever, but right now I'm not considering changing my registration.''

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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQ0...

[hendo]

1. Cool news, thanks nt

[Hokie]

2. I wish Hagel would caucus with the Dem's

Then Reid could tell LIEberman to not let the door hit him in the ass as he vacates his committee posts.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. Why the hell would we want that?

Seriously folks. If you think Lieberman has taken a turn to the right... well, Hagel has always been parked in the far right end of the lot.

While he might agree with the Democrats that the war in Iraq is a disaster that never should have happened, that's it. That's the extent of the agreement. Other than that, he makes Genghis Khan look like Dennis Kucinich.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

4. The Maitre'D will show you to your table on the greatest page.

Hagel has stood out as a champion of the soldier and America's dignity. This could be a rift-maker within the party, which is already fracturing before our eyes.

[garthranzz]

5. Just goes to show there are such things as honest, and honorable, conservatives

and Republicans.

The ones who should be most ashamed and outraged about the Bush/Cheney crimes are the Republicans and conservatives.

[ingac70]

6. Chuck Hagel IS NOT HONORABLE

He is not to be trusted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hagel

"He also served as a Chairman and was CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), a voting machine manufacturer, until its name-change to Election Systems & Software (ES&S) in 1997. He had ownership interest in ES&S through its parent company The McCarthy Group as of January 29, 2003, when The Hill reported that, due to his ownership interest, “Hagel’s ethics filings pose disclosure issue”."

The only reason he is in the Senate is because the company he worked for made the machines (and rigged) that got him elected.

[Inuca]

7. Those damn machines were SCANNERS

you know, the type that scans PAPER, as in paper TRAIL. Hagel may be many things but an idiot he is not for sure. And I very seriously doubt that he is a crook either.

[ingac70]

8. .....

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htm

[Inuca]

9. .....

voting machines used in Nebraska were optical-scan machines with paper ballots. If anyone had questioned the election, officials could have recounted the ballots.

"But nobody ever questioned the results," Linehan said.

From a long Wired article, not at all favorable to Hagel (bottom of first page) http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2004/03/627...

He was involved with ESS, never hid the fact, and probably still owns stock in some fashion or another. This does not make him a crook, but in this day and age can generate a variety of tinfoil theories. Nothing was proven, his first victory against Ben Nelson (the second one was against a nobody) was the surprising one, there is no love lost between the two of them to this day from what I read, but Nelson never uttered a word, never contested his loss in any way. But more importantly, you have to look at all the information you have abou somebody, and when a "fact" sticks out as inconsistent with everything else you know about the person, and unless you have unrefutable evidence to the contrary, that so called fact is most likely incorrect. From everything I know abou Hagel, he is not a cheater, and as little of an opportunist that you can expect in a politician.

[Phred42]

10. Agree! Look at HOW he got 'elected'

Look at his voting record,

Look at what he (his 'former' company) did for Bush and to the Country

Hagle?! Are for Phucking kidding me?

[JerseygirlCT]

13. Not honorable at all, and the love-in for him from

some here is pretty distressing, I must say.

He's right on one thing: the war in Iraq. On just about every other issue he's really, really wrong.

This is not a good man. This is not a man to trust. This is not a man to include.

[corporatemedia]

11. I don't give a rat's ass about whether or not Hagel is "honorable". What's important is...

perception. Hagel is perceived as a moderate repug. Right now the McCain meme is that Obama can't/doesn't work in a bipartisan manner for the good of the country.

Well, having a perceived moderate REPUBLICAN like Hagel announce that he won't be endorsing McCain and indeed could work as Sec of Def. for Obama puts lie to the McBullshit.

As far as Hagel being Sec. of Def? Well, he might be good at that. He seems to get it about fighting unnecessary wars. I sure wouldn't want him anywhere else in an Obama administration.

[JerseygirlCT]

14. Good grief

If he's perceived as moderate then perception is never, ever to be trusted, huh?

[corporatemedia]

20. I'm not sure how ...

I perceive your question.



Unfortunately, due to the efforts of the repugs over the last 40 years, most of the public believe that that the ECM (elite corporate media)is liberal.

Should we trust the perception of the public?

[JerseygirlCT]

23. No, and that's what I'm saying, too

For pete's sake, if HAGEL is perceived as a moderate... well then perception is in another universe from reality, you know?

People here, who ought to know better, keep touting him as some sort of "good" Republican. They've obviously not looked very carefully at the man's voting record.

[ingac70]

16. Hagel vote for the IWR...

he does not "get it". He's an even bigger opportunist that McSame and he sees the writing on the wall, the Repukes will be in oblivion for a few years. Chuck wants in on the power, no matter what side.

[corporatemedia]

17. Oops! I thought we were in general election mode now. My bad. n/t

[ingac70]

18. General election mode...

doesn't mean embracing scumbags.

[corporatemedia]

19. No, hopefully it means winning... and USING Hagel's remarks.....

to fight the current repug meme is how you win. You don't waste time discussing Hagel's merits.

Do you think that the repugs will spend any time talking about all the times Holy Joe Lie. votes with the Dems on social issues?

No, when they trot him out at their convention their message will be simple:

"Former Democratic VP candidate endorses McCain."

BIG DEMOCRAT FOR MCCAIN
BIG DEMOCRAT FOR MCCAIN
BIG DEMOCRAT FOR MCCAIN

They won't talk about all the other issues.

Today:
Brownback on Obama:
"a willingness, an agressiveness to talk bipartisan, and yet to vote and be hard left"

So Hagel is a TOOL to use to fight the current attack on Obama.

Again, he is PERCEIVED as a moderate (due to the efforts of the elite corporate media) so he is useful in showing that Obama is indeed attractive, not only independents, but also to independent minded repugs.

[JerseygirlCT]

24. Well, you're right about that: he is a tool. nt

[Hulk]

12. We'll trader of liverwurst for a hagel and creame cheese.

Let's give them joe liverwurst. He's a scum bag, whining, snibbling war hawk anyway. Hardly a model Democrat. We'll take a Hagel that has seen the light and has a conscience.

I swear, I would be so ashamed to have to admit to someone I was a repug/fascist party member or that I ever voted for one. I'd be sick to my stomach for months.

[JI7]

21. Hagel's brother is a Democrat and supported Kerry in 2004

his brother is a vietnam vet also. him and chuck actually served together.

[Inuca]

22. He also posted at HuffPost!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-chuck-hagel/memo-to-t...

[Zorra]

25. Never. Ever. Trust. A. Republican.

I don't trust Hagel as far as I can spit. The last thing we need is another republican mole undermining the Democratic Party.

Yeah, great, I hope Hagel votes for Democrats, and that he votes with Democrats...but...

The Ahmanson family sold their shares in American Information Systems to the McCarthy Group and the World Herald Company, Inc. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel disclosed in public documents that he was the Chairman of American Information Systems and claimed between a $1 to 5 million investment in the McCarthy Group. In 1997, American Information Systems purchased Business Records Corp. (BRC), formerly Texas-based election company Cronus Industries, to become ES&S. One of the BRC owners was Carolyn Hunt of the right-wing Hunt oil family, which supplied much of the original money for the Council on National Policy.

In 1996, Hagel became the first elected Republican Nebraska senator in 24 years when he did surprisingly well in an election where the votes were verified by the company he served as chairman and maintained a financial investment. In both the 1996 and 2002 elections, Hagel’s ES&S counted an estimated 80% of his winning votes. Due to the contracting out of services, confidentiality agreements between the State of Nebraska and the company kept this matter out of the public eye. Hagel’s first election victory was described as a “stunning upset” by one Nebraska newspaper.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

[Inuca]

26. Same old stuff

check post 9 above if interested in some facts as opposed to unproven speculation.

[Zorra]

30. Proves nothing. Optical scanners can be deliberately miscoded.

As I recall, Hagel was brought before the Senate Ethics Committee on this issue. The Ethics Committee staff drew up a report recommending a Senate Reprimand of Hagel. Within a few days former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had the head of the ethics committee staff removed from his position, and appointed a new head of the Ethics Committee staff who within one day submitted a report that cleared Hagel of the charges.

And yeah, um, I'm sure it was all above board. Republicans would never do anything dishonest.

You're not going to get very far at DU trying to sell us on a republican. They've pretty much destroyed our country, and Democrats are going to have to work extremely hard to fix it. We certainly don't need republican obstructionist moles blocking our path. We've already got DINO's like Joe Lieberman for that.

Same old stuff? Republicans are the "Same Old Stuff". We've just experienced 8 years of their lies, blatant corruption, incompetence, and deliberate mismanagement of our government. They have been complete and unabashed miserable failures.

[Inuca]

32. I am not trying to sell anything, I am just trying to be fair

I also profoundly dislike simplistic categorizations and generalizations (republican=evil). Life, political or otherwise, is not that simple. Yes, republicans can do dishonest things, and they often do. This does not logically imply that republican ==> dishonest, and suspicions does not equal proof. One last thing: scanners can be miscoded, but they leave a PAPER TRAIL. Hagel may be many things, some of them bad, but an idiot he is not (though of course you are free to disagree on that too), and I am sure he knows about recounts.

[Zorra]

33. No, he's not an idiot. I'm sure he knew there would be no recount. n/t

[Inuca]

35. How?

Ben Nelson was not exactly thrilled about the result.

[yellowcanine]

27. I say we trade Lieberman for Hagel and a throw in a 1st round draft pick to sweeten the deal so that

thr Pubbies take it.

[ryanmuegge]

28. Hagel's a dick. This is all political opportunism.

If he was against the Iraq War he would have voted against it. Period.

He'll end up backing McCain late in the election and making Obama look like a fool (citing a late change of heart: at first I was down with Obama, but the more time I spent with him, the more I realized that his foreign policy was crazy and extreme, or something along those lines). Hell, he may even end up being McCain's VP choice.

Plus, if Obama is running as a (half-assed) anti-war candidate, wouldn't it make him appear inconsistent if he chose somebody who supported the Iraq War (judging by the only thing that matters: his voting record; rhetoric means dick) as his SOS?

[Inuca]

29. You are entitled to your own opinion, but

not to your own pseudo-facts. Obama's and Hagel's stands on foreign policy are strikingly similar so your suggesyion is absurd. Also, judging by what you write, you have no idea what Hagel's voting record on Iraq and a whole bunch of other related issues actually is. There are plenty of other reasons to disagree with and criticize him for, but on national security and foreign policy he is one of the best in either party. As to opportunism, I don't know how many opportunists you had to deal with in your life, my experience is that as a rule they do not kick the hand that feeds them nor do they burn any bridges and that's exactly what Hagel did.

[ryanmuegge]

31. Really? I do not know his voting record? I know that he voted for the IWR.

That's not a fact? Do you want to challenge that? Huh? What "suggesyion"? That he voted for the war? That he's a Republican? Those are testable, therefore, they are facts. If somebody was truly against the war, one would assume that they voted for it to begin with. Hagel (who, as somebody already mentioned, is wrong about everything else other than his recently acquired "oposition" to the war) voted for the war that was an obvious road to disaster to all except for the legislators in Washington who were blinded for their lust for the blood (and permanent military bases in the world's second-largest oil reserves) of Iraqi children that they couldn't make a rational decision. Why do we accept such mediocrity from our legislators? If somebody made a decision this wrong in the corporate world, they'd be thrown out on their asses and never work in that industry again.

And as far as Obama and Hagel sharing similar views on "defense," "national security," and foreign policy, so what? The differences between the Republicans and Democrats on foreign policy are incredibly incremental.

The point was that McCain, looking to distance himself from Bush and appear as a "moderate," may offer the VP slot to Hagel, showing his ability to "reach across the aisle." And if you don't think he's eventually going to join the fold and get behind McCain in the end, you're fooling yourself.

It's fashionable to criticize the war. In fact, Hagel said that just because he criticizes the "surge" doesn't mean that he's an against the war (that kind of nuance would make a Clinton proud).

http://new.khastv.com/modules/news/article.php?storytop...

[Inuca]

34. Voting for the IWR is not the beginning and end

of everything IMHO. I know that many disagree and that's fine. The "suggesyion" (thanks for the spelling lesson) I was refering to is the one of political opportunism. I don't know how fashionable it is to criticize the war among republicans, and especially how fashionable it was several years ago, but here a couple of quotes, I leave it to you to decide whether they qualify as Clinton-speakhttp://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/03/20/news/nebraska/d... :

"The most dangerous and costly foreign policy debacle in our nation’s history"

"This administration’s hell-bent determination to go to war in Iraq was an historic blunder borne of an astounding amount of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence"

Finally, about Hagel joining McCain in some fashion or another: wanna bet?