Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, said today that he is not jumping into the 2008 presidential race — for now, at least — so he can concentrate on domestic and global concerns, particularly helping to bring an end to the Iraq war.
From
New York Times
Senator Hagel should run. Liberals and progressives should be cheering him on to the GOP nomination. Why? He is the GOP anti-war candidate and his nomination will finally end the collection of contradictory canards and talking points that the right has been using as a substitute for an actual foreign policy. Most notably, the GOPer blowhards (on Fox et al) can no longer claim that those that are against the war want the terrorists to win if their own party nominates an anti-war candidate. Or if an anti-war candidate wins 30-40% of the vote. Doubly so when the clearest distinction between Senator Hagel and the rest of the pack is that he is the anti-war candidate.
Until they stop pushing this square-peg talking point into the round hole of reality; the debate on how we can secure a political end to the carnage will be blocked. A early Hagel victory can finally end this rhetorical stalemate.
