What is it with this guy, anyway?
He and Lugar, always shooting off their mouths.
You know what I think it is? They are jealous as hell of Bush. Hegel's been slugging around in local and Senate politics for years. Bush comes out of nowhere and gets elected President, while Chuckie's still laboring in anonymity,except for his statements, which are guaranteed to get him on the talk shows.
Plain old jealousy.
I don't really lump Hagel in with Lugar, whom I disagree with on occasion but nevertheless respect.
Hagel may be motivated by jealousy, as you say, or he may have a sort of maverick or knight on a white horse complex -- a windmill tilter. Usually such traits are more suited to Demos, so I think it would be an interesting project to really explore the roots of his affiliation with the Republican Party. Interesting, that is, if I gave a damn about the guy, which I don't.
Hmmm. Make that independent stinker.
Better yet, make that a jerk face stinker.
More likely Hagel is still a little teed from 2000. He was one of the front runners for the VP slot on the ticket, Rove loved him, and every liked what he could bring to the table as a solid ACU conservative who is a fomer vietnam veteran and has a reputation for being independent.
Cheney instead became the VP choice, Hagel was ticked that the guy who interviewed him, chose himself, and was mad that Bush ignored Rove and chose Cheney anyway. He probably still holds a grudge, its worth noting that he even bought some domain names for a Bush and Hagel ticket.