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http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1673&u_sid=2195540Published Sunday
June 25, 2006
Hagel rallies GOP over Ricketts' bid
BY ROBYNN TYSVER
WORLD-HERALD
STAFF WRITER
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Republican Chuck Hagel threw several sharp jabs Saturday at his U.S. Senate colleague Ben Nelson, saying the Nebraska Democrat showed his partisan stripes when he voted with Ted Kennedy to raise the minimum wage.
Sen. Chuck Hagel
Hagel, who refers to Nelson as a "pretend Republican," left no doubt in a speech before a GOP gathering that he plans to be one of Pete Ricketts' strongest, and most vocal, supporters in his battle to unseat Nelson.
Ricketts' race against Nelson, who is seeking a second term, topped the talking points at the Nebraska Republican Party State Convention in Grand Island.
About 325 attended the convention, including Gov. Dave Heineman and U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
The gathering was used by Hagel and others to try to convince rank-and-file Republicans that Nelson can be beaten by Ricketts, a political newcomer.
Hagel noted that he was once in a similar position, when he ran against then-Gov. Nelson in 1996 and was 24 points behind on Labor Day. Hagel went on to win by 14 percentage points.
He told his partisan brethren that the Nelson-Ricketts race had national implications, because seven GOP Senate seats are in jeopardy. A Nelson victory, he said, could propel Democrats back into power in Congress, where Nelson would be compelled to vote for a Democratic leader. That leader would then preside over two years of turmoil.
"If the Democrats win either house, you will see two years of nonstop investigations of the Bush administration," Hagel said.
He also criticized Nelson for voting for the minimum wage bill proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Hagel said the vote proved that Nelson was not a true conservative.