Hmmmm... Chuck Hagel? Over Evan Bayh?
No contest... FUCK yes!
Nope, I've never voted Republican before and at this late date, I won't be starting. This is my deal breaker (Lieberman would be, too, but that's redundant).
He would make a great cabinet pick, but, please, no cross-overs for VP.
I would be ok with that. Hagel would be better than Kaine, anyhow. Some pluses:
1. It would make mcCain freak out.
2. McCain would be boxed in and have to respond. He would have to do something dramatic as well. If he does, it looks like he's responding to Obama--it diminishes McCain. If he doesn't, it highlights his boring oldfartness.
3. His outside-the-box response might be something truly awful. Guliani, maybe, or the grand-mack-daddy of dreadful VP choices, Joe Lieberman.
4. It would be a symbolically tremendously powerful demonstration of post-partisan-ness. It would demonstrate to Republicans that it is ok to leave the f-ed up GOP. Remember the wave of Congressional party-shifting in 1994? Maybe this would spark the same thing in reverse. Even if Hagel didn't bring a lot of voters, if he brought a few legislators, that would be nice.
5. Hagel is really. really good on those Sunday shows, and would tear up whatever hapless gas-bag McSame coughs up.
Hagel was a governor before he was a senator, by the way.
Frankly, if our candidate is so good that he gets big-wheel GOP senators to bolt and join him, well, that's a good thing, right?
I'd kind of like Clark, but Hagel wouldn't be the worst thing.
This has been the...sexy...option, for a while now.
But you're right, Gatoress; once the charm (such as it is) wears off, Obama (and we) would still be stuck with a republican veep whose biggest plus is that he was the first "name" gooper to bail on the shitmire.
It WAS courageous, but my 2c, it aint enough to offset the fact that he's pretty conservative on most of the other issues.
A polite "no", from me.
I can think of worse choices. Bayh is one.
And although Holy Joe doesn't count as a Dem in my book, I can definitely picture McSame selecting him. I hope he does.
BTW, does anyone know if Jeb ever said he wouldn't be McSame's running mate? That's my nightmare scenario, with of course Gramps stealing his way in.
Picking Hagel would be tantamount to saying that a republican is better than any Democratic VP candidate and that the rest of the Dem roster is a bunch of sorry-asses. I don't see why Obama would say that when it's not true and when he can have huge coattails with the other Dems running.
I don't like Hagel as a pick, either.
It's also worth noting that Hagel used to own (and, as far as I know, still owns shares in) one of the largest electronic voting machine firms (ES&S) in the country:
http://www.commondreams.org/view...s03/0131-
01.htm
I can see Hagel as SecDef and he would probably be pretty good at that job. But VP? Not in a million years.
The VP candidate needs to be an attack dog. Hagel is far too collegial to go after McCain. The VP also needs to be a Dem. That's non-negotiable. The VP is the tie breaking vote in the Senate and next in line. Imagine how many unhinged wackos might be gunning for Obama if it would put a Republican in the White House? Not something I want to even think about.
If Obama was trailing by 10 points, I could see this sort of thing as a hail-mary play. But not now.
If we want to talk about dark horse candidates, Obama could do much worse than my own congressman from Waco, Chet Edwards. There's been some local talk about him as a VP candidate. I think he'd be excellent.
plus the whole one heartbeat away thing. wouldn't this be a red flag to every repub. gun toting racist...?
Exactly. The VP should be a harder core partisan than the candidate. Who the hell wants to impeach Bush if it puts Cheney's finger on the bomb?
I don't have polling numbers or anything remotely close to inside (wherever that may be) access to the Party players. Still, I *do* live in Lincoln and I occasionally read the local opinion.
Lotsa folks around here are still peeved that Hagel is looking out for #1 instead of supporting Bush all the way. If I had to guess, I'd guess these same folks are largely why the other Kerr(e)y is living in NYC, but I digress. Some think Hagel is a carpetbagger, although they don't seem to care that the District 1 Representative is a Cajun brought up here for the Christian vote. Shrug.
Around these parts, many (most?) of the elected Democrats are really second-tier Republicans who have such a jones for public office that they'll switch hit for the horse race. Take Ben Nelson. Please. There's really not much momentum behind the progressive (or whatever it's called these days) faction.
I think it can be a mistake to conflate a person's Senate voting record with what they would do in altered circumstances or a different job.
If it were a choice between Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Hagel, I'd take Chuck in a heartbeat.
Personally, I've vowed not to let myself get too excited about the Obama campaign -- there's only so much depression one is prepared to handle. Still, the photo of Chuck in the background during an Obama meeting in Iraq was a thrill.
Would Hagel be switching party affiliation? Would he switch now and caucus with Dems so we could hurl Lieberman overboard?
Hah...hah...hah... what a joke to watch all the folks who thought Obama was a progressive relizing that he's actually a Republican.
ROFL dudes.
Say, think you can get your credibility refunded by 'Bonehead' Bowers? He's still blowin' that Obama horn.
Sad, really...remember when everbody called Left Blogistan, 'the reality based community....' ah well, live and learn.
This time next year folks will be goin' Kos who? Bowers, who is that?
And a good thing to as gas will be $6.00/gal and McSame will be bombing Iran.
And all 'cause some folks thought....well, that's just it they unplugged their brains and they got out their and BY GOD they believed! Thought...thoughtful analysis...checkin' out where the money comes from...who BHO be hangin' with...all the stuff people did in spades on McSame and Hillary....
Oh, what's god got to do with it? Check it out:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/e...ityservice/
4spx
...a web page on Obama's campaign site where you can sign up to pray that HIllary's, and anyone else's who opposes 'The One', soul will be saved. Saved....uh, huh....
Yep, Obama = Bush and you Obamacans can just go ahead and choke on that.
Steve is spinnin' in his grave to see this.
Me?
It's no surprise. Question is what are all you Obama supporters gonna do?
Pray for me?
Hahahhahaaaaaaaaaahhaaaaahaaaaaaaaa!
Chumps.
.
.
oooh, a troll. haven't seen you in a while. How's the weather in your reality?
No.
I can see the thought on this one over bayh and the virginians. BUT hagel has that little voting machine company in his background. And he's a freaking republican. obama would lose if he did that. Keep him close, but not quite that close.
I agree with Kent, that it should be a more partisan person. I do like the way clark conducts a smackdown too.
Next..... How about you 'gator? Obama/T.L. Gator 08! 
oops that was me...
I'm still in "Hmmmmm" mode about this one.
Number one, Hagel is retiring from the Senate at the end of this term, so he does not have a stake in his future there ... and when you look at his stand-up positions resisting Bushco, he may be willing to chuck the R party as well.
Two, his stand-up positions resisting Bushco, including his turnaround on Iraq.
Three, he evidently has an ability to listen to all sides of an issue, like Obama, and then make up his own mind, even if it goes against his (increasingly insane) party line.
Four, he's the Senate go-to guy on issues that are critical for the next two decades: climate (read: energy), China, oversight (someone has to lead the cleanup crew), housing & banking (eeep) and rules.
Five, if he's been involved with lobbyists and telecoms he knows how they work, what they want and where the weak spots are.
Six, Republicans like my Mom who have felt so lost for the past 8 years, could feel included again and come forth in droves to vote O/H.
At the same time,
Six could be wrong.
Switching parties could be "damned if you do, damned if you don't."
And yet,
The sound of exploding heads would be like fireworks in July.
So let's look at the personality balance between H and O.
Hagel seems earthy and grounded where Obama can be a laser beam sweeping through the air. Hagel could be a policy anchor for Obama, and an emotional anchor for those scared by the changes they're being asked to make. He could be the collegial hardass who gets s**t done in Congress, because he knows the game so well.
He comes off as a human being. I feel he would be horrified by the excesses of the Cheney reign, and would work to reverse them.
The bi-partisan ticket might be a step too far for some. But hey, if Republicans are willing to vote Democratic and Americans can support a Black man as a Presidential candidate -- what else might we all be able to do together??
Guess I should add, re: voting machine company --
See Five in my comment above.
The guy you want on your demolitions team is the guy who knows the structure from the inside.
Hagel? Good choice for Defense. Vice President? Nyet; it's got to be an all-Democrat show at the top, and nevermind McCain's ravings or his possible choices.
Clark or Sebelius.
I do find it interesting that Hagel was non-committal when asked whom he would support.Like others have said, a cabinet post possibly, but not VP.
Picking Hagel would be tantamount to saying that a republican is better than any Democratic VP candidate and that the rest of the Dem roster is a bunch of sorry-asses.
Perhaps.
It would also send the message that real Republicans (not actually mythical!) don't agree with McCain - or Bush/Cheney, or Mitch McConnell.
They're rational, responsible, and reasonable. And voting for Obama. I.e. - all you fiscally responsible folks out there, who believe in individual freedoms? Your party has been hijacked and if you want it back, you're going to have to vote against it.
I'm not enamored of the man, but I certainly respect him - he seems to have those things - what's the word, oh - "principles", which seem to be in meager supply on the R side of the aisle these days.
And selecting a respected R as a running mate, while it could be viewed as a sort of capitulation, would certainly be evidence of "change".
Any glimpses of what the down-ticket impact looks like it would be?
(D) would be preferable, but I tend to be results-oriented - if Hagel can help deliver 400+ electoral votes for Obama? Gimme.
Citizen!
"credibility" is not a good word to use, for anyone who thinks that John McCain is going to win this election.
:o)
How is Hagel on Abortion?
He has a 0% rating from NARAL.
Gatoress has put her finger on one hard, cold, fact: we live in an era of political assassinations. If Hagel were the VP, and the unspeakable happened, we would have a republican president, following a clear democratic win of the election.
Not good.
Also, while it was decent of Hagel to bail on the shitmire relatively early, it's kind of like acknowledging the existence of AIDS as a health threat. (Which a lot of republicans still don't want to do...)
Kaine is also not pro-choice. Of the two--Hagel and Kaine--Hagel is by far the best choice. As a campaigner, I think Hagel is much better than Sebelius.
I would prefer Hagel to Kaine or Sebelius, but not to Clark.
I wouldn't put too much stock in the futures stuff. There were people propping up Hillary's primary futures too as I recall.
Besides the chance that Hagel could be president during Obama's term, because of ( God forbid ), O's death,
I want to know where Hagel's greater allegiance would be. Would it be with his GOP or with the Dems?
There is absolutely no good, strategic reason to put him into office with Obama, and should there be some desire to consult him on programs or get his support for them, leave him in the senate and get his support from there.
It's stinks too much of that "Unity" crap. If Progressives and Democrats want to get what they want done, they do not need an anchor dragging behind their stern.
If you want an "attack dog" with some heart and compassion, I'd go with Wesley Clark.
..
tanbark: "A polite "no", from me.
well a very impolite FUCK NO from me! who the hell wants a conservative ReThug a heartbeat away from being president?
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