I don’t have a lot of background on Hagel, so I thought I would ask folks to comment on what I saw this Sunday on CNN - Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Hagel and Democratic Senator Feinstein and both just ripped into Bush. Hagel, in particular, said:
He never met with Bush and to his knowledge, none of the other senior Republican Senators met with Bush, so he (Hagel) was very concerned at how insulated Bush was and only relying on 3 - 4 advisors.
That Bush was blowing it in terms of the economy.
That Bush was completely screwing up Iraq.
Republicans/conservatives, how do you regard Hagel’s obvious frustration with Bush? He certainly comes across like a Republican insider confirming every Democrat’s concerns about W. I mean, if this guy has an ounce of credibility, there is no way anyone should be voting for Bush, right? Democrats believe that already, but undecideds, if they heard this, would have to question Bush’s leadership, and I would think even die-hard conservatives would be a little freaked, too…
Hagel is part of the ‘Bush sucks’ wing of the Republican Party. He was John McCain’s man in the 2000 primaries and sticks with that worldview. Having him slam GWB is no more surprising than hearing the same from McCain.
That said if Hagel keeps it up and McCain gets louder on the subject it could have a real impact on the election. McCain is immensely respected (for good or bad) by the electorate and Hagel is smooth smooth SMOOTH on television.
Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if, should the Bush faction lose this time, that Hagel positions himself to be the 2008 nominee against incumbent Kerry.
No kidding…Hagel is that good a communicator. I would have loved to see he and Bill Clinton face off in a debate in front of an audience.
I"m not sure what Hagel is talking about – I know for a fact that Republican Senators have met with Bush. Maybe he was saying that they haven’t met with Bush recently or about the prison abuse thing or something along those lines, but if he was saying that Republican Senators haven’t met with Bush ever, then he’s delusional.
Also, VP Cheney is a regular guest at the weekly Republican caucus lunch they have for Senators, so there is ample opportunity to talk to him.
My impression is that Hagel is a conservative (or at least moderate to conservative) Republican in good standing, but one who has become increasingly outspoken in criticizing Bush. As such, one can start to expect to see his name dragged through the mud, like has happened to Richard Clarke, Paul O’Neill, and (to some degree), McCain.
I think that Hagel first began to deviate from the Bush/Ashcroft line over some civil liberties issues because Hagel has somewhat of a libertarian streak.
Perhaps personal experience in war makes one a realist about it? Hagel and Kerry are about the only Senators whose Vietnam records can be measured on the same scale with McCain’s, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that they have similar views about this war, and aparently similar senses of honor and honesty.
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Hagel served in Vietnam with his brother Tom in 1968. They served side by side as infantry squad leaders with the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division. Hagel earned many military decorations and honors, including two Purple Hearts.