Hagel Stays Out of Presidential Race

This article summarizes the press conference that Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) held at the University of Nebraska to announce he would not seek nomination for the 2008 presidential race, stating, “I want to…not divert my energy, efforts, and judgment with competing political considerations.” Hagel’s decision is sound because being socially and fiscally moderate in addition to opposing the Iraqi War makes Hagel a de facto Republican In Name Only (RINO), precluding him from gaining the presidential or vice-presidential GOP nomination. Hagel’s refusal to jump parties results in a candidate who has alienated himself from both potential bases of the strongest support, which hinders his chances of presidential nomination and election far more than it does a possible 2008 Senate race. Whereas Hagel is not even close to gaining enough of an overlap of interests to gain the presidency, log rolling with GOP partisans might be just the thing to make him a Condorcet winner come Senate nomination time. Hagel also acknowledged that running as a third-party presidential candidate would be a waste. (I suppose he figures there are already enough third-party candidates to split the vote…Perhaps in return for a kickback, or else why invest so many resources in a guaranteed failed venture? Something or another is adding to the third-party candidates’ immediate satisfaction from running…)