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Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel says the Republican party has been led astray by “isolationist insulationists” and it may be time for an independent presidential ticket — perhaps with the names Bloomberg and Hagel on it. Hagel, a lifelong Republican who has been a frequent critic of the Iraq war, said Sunday he will decide about running by late summer after determining where he can best play a role to “make a better world.” After dining recently with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is also considering a run for president as an independent, Hagel said people might want...

Hagel Eyes Bloomberg As Possible '08 Running Mate Republcian Sen. Hagel Says Party Has Been 'Hijacked' (CBS) WASHINGTON The Republican Party has been "hijacked" and led away from its core values, Chuck Hagel, the Republican Senator from Nebraska, said Sunday on Face The Nation. Hagel, who is still considering his options for the 2008 race, left open the possibility of becoming an independent and sharing a ticket with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "I am not happy with the Republican Party today," Hagel said. "It's been hijacked by a group of single-minded almost isolationists, insulationists, power-projectors." Hagel said he...

The Leavenworth Street political blog took note today of a story by Bloomberg News, reporting that Senator Chuck Hagel declined to rule out a bid for president as an Independent candidate, and even said such a bid �is possible.� Interesting story. Hagel didn�t say he would make such a bid, just that (like almost everything else) he would not rule it out. Here is the story, as reported by Leavenworth Street. According to a Bloomberg News article, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel said he would consider running for President as an Independent: An independent bid "is possible," Hagel, 60, said in...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Hagel returned from his fifth visit to Iraq to join Senate Democrats last Thursday as one of two Republicans voting to begin withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. It was not an easy vote for a conservative party regular and faithful supporter of President George W. Bush's non-Iraq policies. A few days earlier, Hagel sat down with me to paint a bleak picture of the war and U.S. policy. Over a dozen years, I have had many such conversations with Hagel not for quotation. This time, I asked him to go on the record about his...

Attorney General Jon Bruning says a poll he paid for showed him leading U.S Senator Chuck Hagel by nine percentage points, 47 percent to 38 percent, in a survey of 404 Republicans who said they were likely to vote in the 2008 GOP primary.

Sen Hagel is having serious flashbacks to Vietnam http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042002007.html Last weekend, along with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), I completed my fifth trip to Iraq, and I am frustrated and worried. We are still risking the lives of our troops without giving them a realistic policy worthy of their sacrifices. To me, as a Vietnam veteran, that feels terribly familiar. What part seems familiar Senator? The part where the Democrats spurned the war and created the image that our soldiers were out of control, killing machines reminiscent of Ghengis Khan? The part where the military was hampered by a Congress which...