NEWS: Meet Your Next President

POLITICS: Meet Your Next President

I know it’s early, but I’m calling it. The race is over. The only hitch is that the guy I am declaring the winner hasn’t even declared his candidacy yet. But that is a minor obstacle. Meet your next President: Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel.

Chuck is currently the only viable candidate the Republicans have. All the other Republicans support the war in one way or another - a stance will doom them with independents and any crossover Democratic votes. It will also doom them with some Republican votes, as they are not exactly excited about the failure that is Iraq.

Chuck Hagel is highly critical of the war. He was one of two Senate Republicans who voted for to withdraw troops from Iraq and believes Congress has “constitutional responsibilities” to change the course of the war, which he calls,

But the best news of all is that Hagel may not be running as a Republican. He could possibly run as an independent.

Doesn’t sound like much when taken at face value, but if you take into consideration what he said back in March, it is a big switch.

Considering the unpopularity of the Republican Party these days, it might be wise to leave the party behind to make a run for the White House.

And his running mate? How about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They had dinner together last week, after which they both had their people leak the rumor that they could team up for a run. Very interesting.

So, there you go. Hagel will be our next president and you can all stop your pointless debating and comparing of candidates. It's over. So say we all.

Should this materialize, they'll still pull more republican voters than independent or dem voters making it another spoiler.

so say we all!

Someone's a Battlestar Galactica fan.
Umm, FTR, when you say the other Republican candidates support the war... aren't you forgetting Ron Paul?
In any case, the Republican in me wants Hagel to run, while the libertarian in me still thinks he's too much of a social conservative.

Let's wait till he actually announces, then it might be worth discussing.

Yes

+1
...
beeeeelyohn
....
dollars.

*pinky*

Sorry. I always try to foget about Ron Paul. As much as I can anyway.

Wait, you think Chuck Hagel would make it through the GOP primary?

Joseph Lieberman has as much of a chance of being the Democratic 2008 Presidential nominee.

And since Hagel has done next to no fundraising, he's going to have to rely on the deep pockets of someone like Bloomberg for a third-party run.

Also, did I miss where the electorate was crying out for a candidate who is both extremely socially conservative and against the Iraq War? Why not say that Patrick Buchanan's going to be our next President?

That combo is very plausible; there is still a "come to our senses" centrist appeal that both sides are trying to tap into rather than extreme negativism ( justifiable, but hard to market in a broad manner) and downright crazy shit from the same old James Dobson Gang. That magnetic, Robert Redford ( The Candidate) appeal was what was missing from the last two elections. An empathetic, heroic type link between a candidate and the electorate coiuld happen with Obama. If the Democrats don't dissolve into internecine warfare then Obama will be hard to stop. No amount of Democrat or Republican centrism and advocacy of common sense will stop that tide. We'll see.

And Chuck Hagel is not a fucking centrist.

YES.

Please don't talk about our president like that.

That Nolan chart doesn't show him as far to the right as I thought.

Mainly since Nebraska is not it's own nation, and I don't live there.

i was hoping to come on and it be a picture of a chimp

This exchange has been one of the most civil and enlightening debates I've seen on this site in ages. Kudos to you both for your statesmanship.

Chuck Hagel votesagainst everything i care about and for everything i hate:
chuck hagel on the issues

If we're going to go that way, I'll take Mike Bloomberg, a pro-choice, pro gay marriage, pro civil rights democrat_cum_republican

{I don't mean it Barack!! }

that's a pretty dismal record.

Yes, I certainly hope he's never my president.