Hagel: It might be time for an independent candidate - AP Hagel/Bloomberg?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The 2008 campaigns are really getting hilarious. Is there anybody NOT going to run? The already "announced" candidates plus Gore, Fred Thompson, Hagel, Bloomberg, and Gingrich all waiting in the wings and hoping for a chance.

The more choices the better but this is getting downright silly.

http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/05/14/news/politics/doc46478c0fae419392514721.txt

WASHINGTON — 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 to consider the two on a ticket. “We didn’t make any deals. But I think Mayor Bloomberg is the kind of individual who should seriously think about this,” Hagel said.

Hagel said it was time for the political system to be shaken up with a third-party candidacy. He explained that the GOP is no longer the party of “Eisenhower, of Goldwater, of Reagan,” but rather a group hijacked by “single-minded, almost isolationist insulationists, power-projectors.”

“I think the elections next year for president and other offices will be settled on the basis of what America will be looking at and wanting and demanding — honest, competent, accountable leadership,” Hagel said.

“This country is in trouble. The world is in trouble. And we need some new, fresh, independent ideas to lead this country forward,” he said.

[The Count]

1. Hagel would love some of the Bloomberg dough - so he'll court him

(Bloomberg effectively starved his primary competition in the 2001 race (Herman Badillo) by making the donors "an offer they couldn't refuse: "cross me now, and no dough for you")I believe our own Toni Soprano of a mayor declared he'll stay out though. hagel and his ES&S shares could turn into a real wild card.
As for Gore - I'd love me some candidate I can vote FOR.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. I agree about Gore.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Heard today on Thom Hartmann that he is a Poppy Bush protege

and that he and Bloomberg will actually run late in the game as REPUBLICANS to save the GOP--this is just posturing. According to Hartmann. So what he's saying is that Hagel is the ultimate insider, and that the whole "Republicans hate Hagel thing" is fake (at least to the powers that be), and they're actually counting on him to get the nom. Hmmm. Does Thom have any credibility, or does he smoke something?

[Selatius]

4. They'll split the Republican vote and hand victory to the Democrats.

This is a two-party system, not a multi-party one.