Will Hagel resign his Sen seat to run as IND tomorrow???

IMO, he will and up the anty. He may even announce his VP choice(Mayor of NYC), a new fusion ticket.

No. Why do you think he would do that? It would sink the repukes next year!

...he would probably draw more votes away from the Democratic candidate than the Publican one, particularly if the Democrats nominate someone who is too closely identified with their "aye" vote on the IWR. I can see him pulling both Lieberman-style conservative Democrats and diehard anti-war liberal Democrats who would overlook all his other failings because of his stand on Iraq. Loyal Publicans, OTOH, would shun him as a "traitor" to their party, no matter how closely his views matched theirs.

Personally, I think it would be better to see him run as a Publican. He has no chance of winning, of course, but he could make sure that the Iraq issue can't be swept under the rug in the primaries, and keep the party divided through the convention, ensuring a weak candidate.

except Iraq. Dems silly enough to overlook that might vote repuke anyway. I really think it would help us. Also, Hagel voted for IWR too.

If he runs as a repoob, he will never be allowed to get their nomination; the WH would stop it at all costs because he is antiwar. But he could cause Rudy and Mitt to spend millions needlessly in the primaries.

issues, his Iraq stance is forcing the president to be on his toes.

A lot of far-right Rethugs are angry at Hagel for "forcing the president's hand."

This could get interesting.

No doubt it will be another of his lovefests...

:eyes:
rocknation

It would be cool, though.
Libermans power to blackmail would...evaporate.

if Hagel resigned, the Republican Governor of Nebraska would appoint his replacement. It would have no impact on the makeup of the Senate.

That's really how it works? So in *theory*, couldn't a Dem become an independant, still caucas with the dems, and have a democratic governor appoint a new dem to take his/her place? In other words, you would have an independent (who is really a democrat), as well as a new dem? Sorry if that's confusing, but up here we have party members switching parties all the time, there is no increase in the total number of seats.

you can't ADD a seat when a governor appoints someone - it only occurs when there's a vacancy, and the replacement is always of the same party as the Governor, regardless of the party of the person being replaced.

members of the governor's own political party.

They aren't constitutionally required to choose one party over another, but U.S. politics is very sensitive that way, and a Republican governor would likely choose a Republican senator; a Democratic governor a Democrat.

Senators can change parties at any time, and several sitting U.S. senators have done that. Shelby of Alabama, and of course, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Well I'm not a Republicon to insist something is so because I want it to be so.

He can have some effect on Iraq policy by staying in the Senate.

But I'd love to see him run — unlike McCain, Hagel doesn't cave — even though he won't get my vote.

he won't resign his seat as an R. He wouldn't want to miss out on that impeachment action--LOL! He will, though, probably retire in '08.

in half.

starting with Fat Tony's editorial page.

what Hagel does tomorrow.

There's enough poison and bile in those columns to kill a herd of bison.

should be interesting to see who funds his campaign, either way...

Others will be lucky to get 2% of votes in GE.

Only an idealist would do this; it's a purely Quixotian maneuver. He cannot win as an Indy, and his career in Congress would be over. I could see a Dennis Kucinich doing such a thing, but not Hagel. No way.

if he runs at all, he'll run as a republican. And he probably won't resign his seat to do so.

He sees the shit storm that the pro-war Cons are facing.

If Hagel enters the Republican nomination race he could take the lion's share of that vote as the only game in town for them. With Giuliani, McCain, and Romney all looking like viable candidates and Brownback taking some fundamentalist votes, Hagel would have an outside chance due to the splitting of votes under this scenario. Plus, even if he loses the nomination he could always go to Joe Lieberman route and run as an "independent".

be the top of the ticket and Chuck as VP. We'll have wait while they work it out.