McCollister Blasts Protege Hagel

When Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel made his non-announcement announcement at U.N.O., he took the time to point out his political mentor in the front row. It went like this:

I was tutored many years ago by I think the finest public servant that I have ever known who is sitting in the front row of this room today, former congressman John Y. McCollister. John Y., I thank you.

Thank you, and not just for the shaping and molding of my career, which occasionally I know within your sense of evaluation I get off track, but nonetheless, you don't have to agree publicly with that, John. But also, thank you for the service you have given this country, your distinguished service in World War II and your service to the county board, to the Republican Party, and to our country, as a very respected and highly regarded United States congressman.

In today’s Omaha World Herald Public Pulse, the same eighty-three year old John Y. McCollister, a/k/a “John Y. McGumption”, wrote this not-so-subtly veiled blast down of his protégé:

Of course, on the day of the non-announcement, the AP reported that McCollister said the following:

It was a cautious statement, which is unlike the Chuck Hagel I knew. I've got to say I'm a little disappointed that he didn't declare here and now, today, that he was a candidate for president.

And while Jon Bruning, Hal Daub and others are willing to give Hagel the benefit of the doubt, Hagel’s own mentor does not.

Hagel's GOP Nomination Officially Cooked

The Republican Presidential run for Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, is over.

Well, we’re not saying he won’t run for President (and he’s certainly not saying he won’t – but then he’s not saying he will…). But we are saying, if he wanted to win the GOP nomination two recent actions absolutely ended those hopes:

1) his suggestion that President Bush could be impeached, first in Esquire then to George Snuffleupagus, put an already way-outside chance at the GOP nod into critical condition;

2) his vote against the President and the GOP, calling for a date certain for a troop pull-out of Iraq hammered the door to the convention shut.

Now we here at Leavenworth Street have mentioned this before, but we think it bears repeating: We’re not questioning Hagel’s motives for his various votes.

Our friend Uncle Wiggly over at the Heartland Notebook gave his usual call-‘em-like-he-sees-‘em view of Hagel’s vote to have a date-certain to bring home the troops from Iraq.

U-Dub’s general view is that Hagel made his vote because of his desire to win the Presidency. We certainly respect UW’s opinion, and can see where he’s coming from. However, we think Hagel’s position is a bit more nuanced than simply a plan for grabbing power.

Hagel’s view on Iraq is based on his experiences in Vietnam, and his perception that the White House does not respect his view. This has galvanized his position and has left him seeking someplace to vent wherever and whenever he can. Hagel’s goal is not so much to try to win the White House by sending his view on Iraq, as it is using a White House run to trumpet his views on Iraq.

Many may see Hagel’s Iraq view as capitulating to the terrorists, or cut and run or however you may view it. But that only gets to the result of Hagel’s position. First you have to go to the WHY on it.

Hagel is deeply, deeply scared by Vietnam, both literally and figuratively. Those scars have shaped his view on Iraq. Couple that with his Christmas-time receipt of letters his father wrote to home during WWII where his dad wrote, “if I thought I would ever have a son who would have to go through this, I would never get married.” You can bet that closed the door on Hagel ever being open to the continuation of soldiers dying in Iraq, even if it were for a good cause.

And couple all of this with his locking horns with President Bush and his advisors. Hagel is bitter that while he has on-the-ground combat experience, those who have none (Bush, Cheney, Rove) won’t listen to him (or maybe just won’t agree with him). Hagel is a stubborn guy who has gotten to where he is because he thinks he’s right most (if not all) of the time. So he’s happy to enough to go ahead and give his views and damned the other guy.

Or even VERY happy that he’s liberated enough to give those views. And VERY happy to tell the guy who won’t listen to him to go to Hell. And if people come running over to listen to him now, all the better. (And again, show us a pol who DOESN’T like that.)

With that in mind, there’s nothing wrong with agreeing or disagreeing about his judgment on this. But we at Leavenworth Street aren’t going after his motives.

But golf-pencil-in that Chuck Hagel’s GOP Presidential ambitions are D-U-N.

Oh, and what do YOU think about Bruning, Daub or anyone else’s plans to challenge Hagel if he decides to run for re-elect? Could Hagel’s actions, and Nebraska GOP anger at him, be the tipping point?

We’d say maaayyyyyybeeee.

Bruning's Goat

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is currently making the rounds of the Mideast with the Aspen Institute. A good thing to do, we think, in general. Always good to get an international perspective, particularly if you plan to speak intelligently on those types of issues.

So Bruning met with 3000 year old former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Jordan Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit. But after taking a closer look at photos from those meets, we noticed a few things.



First, Bruning apparently forgot to shave before meeting with Boutros-Ghouly. And then when meeting with Bakhit, Bruning has apparently decided to try out the Road-Trip Goatee!



Awwwwww riiiight!

So when he gets back to Nebraska, we should expect Bruning to look like other famous goateed celebs such as:

KMTV’s Travis Justice


Metallica’s James Hetfield


USSR’s Lenin


or
Hell’s Satan


Of course, in the end, we have a feeling Bruning may just end up looking like his alter-ego:



Big Boy.

Announcement(s) Day

Let’s look at a few things from today’s announcement by Jon Bruning…and Hal Daub…and Mike Johanns???

First, Daub must have heard about the coming Bruning announcement and decided to send out a release under the radar. Say what you want about Daub's chances, but the guy is old school and if you underestimate him, prepare to get knocked down at least a few times. And note the dig by Daub in his release: “it would be an amazing opportunity for the qualified candidate to serve the people of Nebraska.”

Not “A” qualified candidate; “THE” qualified candidate. Wonder who Hal thinks that is…

Next, after the cameras left the Capitol rotunda, they trundled on down to Governor Dave Heineman’s office, where he promptly told the media horde that (more or less) if Bruning wants to run for Senate, he had better be ready to face Mike Johanns. Yowza! How’s that for a right cross to Bruning (who said he’s prepping to campaign, like a boxer hits a speed bag)? Oh, and take a guess who Hagel and Heineman would be supporting in a Johanns-Bruning primary?

And, a couple words about Bruning’s statement: Bruning specifically noted that he filed his exploratory bid with the Federal Election Commission. Well that’s interesting… but it ain’t true. According to the FEC, and this handy-dandy FEC Congressional candidate guide, if you haven’t declared yourself as a candidate, you can put yourself in the “Testing the Waters” period, where you can raise and spend money but you DON’T have to register or report anything with the FEC. As a matter of fact, there is nothing to file with the FEC if you’re in this “Testing the Waters” or exploratory phase. You only register if you ARE a candidate, and at that point, you have the regular reporting requirements.

So, the question is, DID Bruning file with the FEC? If so, then he IS a candidate (whether he plans on pulling out, or not). If not, well, then what he said isn’t accurate. (**Update** Bruning's camp has responded that he DID in fact register an "exploratory committee" with the FEC, but admit that they didn't have to do it. See "Comments" section below for more on this.)

Finally, one other guffaw from the media: Calvert Collins from Omaha’s KPTM FOX 42 (yes, THAT Calvert Collins) was overheard gushing about how she “adores” Jon Bruning, and asked Heineman why Johanns would think he’d have a chance against Bruning since Johanns has disconnected himself from Nebraskans and what's important to them. Heineman reminded “Cal” that Johanns has just a little bit of service history in Nebraska and that he’s also, ahem, the freaking U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Ah politics is fun…

Bruning Announces Senate "Exploratory Committee"

In an announcement at the State Capitol in Lincoln today, Jon Bruning, the thirty-seven year old Nebraska Attorney General, declared that he has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for an exploratory committee for the 2008 Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Bruning said – twice – that he will NOT challenge U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel if Hagel decides to run for re-election. Hagel announced Monday that he will make his decision on whether or not to seek re-election sometime in the future.

Bruning stated he will do everything he can do, including fundraising, until Hagel announces his intentions. Bruning said that he was announcing now because he did not want to be secretive about his intentions while he was raising money and beginning to lay out the groundwork for a campaign.

Bruning said that he has talked to former Governor and current Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, but that Johanns would not give any information about his intentions to run.

Bruning noted that he has had calls from the John McCain campaign about endorsing McCain, but told him that he would not endorse anyone until Hagel makes his decision since “he is a Hagel guy.” He said he believes that after Romney, Giuliani and McCain “beat the crap out of each other,” Presidential voters will want someone like Chuck Hagel. He stated that if Hagel gets into the Presidential race, he thinks Hagel will win.

Bruning said that he will be going to Egypt, Israel and Jordan tomorrow with the Aspen Institute. He stated that he would not express any opinions on any issues because he is not yet a candidate.

He stated that he has begun fundraising and that his fundraising calls have been going “very, very well”.

More to come…

Bruning's Bold Move?

For you Omahans who only get your news from the local paper, we’d like to let you know that there is a bit of news happening today, which the Omaha World Herald has conveniently ignored.

Attorney General Jon Bruning is making an announcement about his political future today at 10:00 AM. (Bruning may prepare for Senate opening – LJS- 3/15/07).

Now if Bruning announces that he’ll make an announcement about his plans sometime in the fall, the denizens of Leavenworth Street will march to the nearest hat store and eat the available merchandise. One HAS to figure that Bruning is specifically taking this opportunity to show that, unlike another who announced recently, he is willing to step up and make a firm decision.

We would expect that Bruning will declare that he’s running and raising money, etc. It will be interesting to see if:

1) he will declare that he’ll stay in the race no matter what Chuck Hagel decides to do.
2) he’ll jump out and declare his positions on the issues of the day.

If he’s saying that he’ll drop out if Hagel stays in then, frankly, Leavenworth Street does not see what the purpose of this announcement is. It’s not as if declaring now will give him some major advantage. Donors and endorsers will most likely wait for Hagel’s decision.

However, if he’s throwing down the gauntlet in front of Hagel, well, that makes it a little more interesting doesn’t it?

We chuckled a little at Bruning’s apparent anger – viewed by many -- at Hagel’s non-announcement announcement. Bruning expressed “surprise” at Hagel’s statement – even though the conventional wisdom expressed by many was that at most, Hagel would announce an exploratory committee and keep his Senate re-elect options open. Was Bruning hoping for an endorsement from Hagel on the stage?

WOWT.com and KETV.com both are stating that they’ll be running a live webcast of the event. We would expect the usual radio suspects as well.
Send in your predictions before the event!!!

www.Hagel.tv

Let’s clear a few things up:

1) Chuck Hagel stated today that he is raising money “for his Senate campaign”, and that he’ll transfer that money to a Presidential campaign whenever he wants.

2) Hagel is taking part in a forum this week made up exclusively of Presidential candidates.

3) Hagel has a new commercial, on his brand spanking new website (www.Hagel.tv or www.Hagel08.com) with the tag line "Senator Chuck Hagel - An American Leader" that is “Paid For By the Hagel For Senate Committee” – oh and did we mention that he has no opponent for that Senate race that’s a year and a half away?

So while the announcement at U.N.O. on Monday was that he’ll make up his mind in the fall, this is really no different than McCain or Rudy making a pre - announcement - announcement. He may be exploring an exploratory committee – but so what? There’s really no difference between thinking about one and starting one.

The only problem was that the forum he used and the message he gave on Monday was extremely poorly executed. He confused many supporters and outright angered much of the press who made a big deal to cover it when he gave the impression that he was going to say something worthwhile.

What he said at the "announcement" could have realistically been covered in a short press-release. If he was hoping that he’d get a little national bump by being coy, he was wrong. It was barely covered by the national press, and frankly former Senator Fred Thompson’s hint that he may run caused much more interest on Monday.

But make no mistake: Hagel’s Presidential exploratory work has begun.

It’s just too bad he just didn’t go ahead and announce it.

Hagel steals his own thunder

Chuck Hagel invited people from across the state and across the nation, with the secrecy of the D-Day invasion, to announce that he would announce something later.

No Presidential exploratory announcement.
No Senate re-election announcement.
No other striking statements.

Uh, what was the point?

In 2000, Bob Kerrey got the national press to truck to Nebraska to announce that he wasn’t running for President. Afterward, national reporter David Broder stood in the lobby and asked, “Why did I come here?”

We wonder if CNN’s reporters and other national press that made the trip are asking the same question. We’re wondering how many times the press and others will tolerate these people crying wolf.

Hagel will wait ‘til later in the year

Chuck Hagel said today that while he may consider a run for President, he will hold off until later in the year to make a final decision about running for President or to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate.

He said he hopes to continue to be a part of America's history.

The announcement means the political pot ready to boil over with candidates if he retires will continue to bubble and simmer for another six months.

More to come…

A Hagel Hint for you...

CNN's Dana Bash reports that after U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel arrived in Omaha on Friday, he began calling various friends and associates for their assistance to explain to (the press and others?) "why he has the conservative credentials and is a strong Republican, who should be taken seriously in the race for president."

Leavenworth Street is sticking with its earlier predictions.

Be sure to come back to Leavenworth Street after the announcement.

Watching the Hagel Announcement

For those of you who can’t wait for the online news updates to Chuck Hagel’s 10:00 AM CDT Monday “announcement”, three of the local Omaha TV stations will provide streaming video of the event live on their websites.
They are:
WOWT.com
Action3news.com
KETV.com

In addition, you can listen to the announcement on your computer as well via radio stations KFAB or KKAR’s websites.

(Thanks to Sean Weide’s Reader’s Media Notes for the detail.)

And just to add fuel to the fire, today’s edition of The Hill carries a story with this headline: “Sen. Hagel’s retirement a ‘distinct possibility’”

If that is his announcement, as opposed to a Presidential bid, expect member of the national media, who flew in, to pelt Hagel with rotten vegetables.

On Monday, Hagel will say...

With Chuck Hagel’s cryptic message that he’s announcing…something on Monday, let’s take a look at the Leavenworth Street Odds on what he’ll announce:

That he’s retiring from the Senate and NOT running for President:
1000 to 1

That he’s running for re-election to the Senate, and NOT running for President:
500 to 1

That he’s running for President, not bothering with an exploratory committee, and is in it to win it:
30 to 1

That’s he’s forming an exploratory committee for President, but that he’s running full bore and not running for re-election to the Senate (essentially like what Giuliani and McCain did):
5 to 1

That he’s forming some sort of exploratory committee, and leaving his options open until the fall to decide if he’ll continue a Presidential campaign, run instead for re-election to the Senate or just retire all together:
1 to 1

The last one is the CW out there now and seems the most likely. We can’t imagine that with the way his poll numbers are running now, that he’d risk being a lame-duck in the Senate in order to pursue what could be a Quixotic Presidential run. Instead he keeps his Senate prestige, stays on Meet the Press, gets to rub elbows with the other candidates and give his views on the issues of the day, and if it doesn’t work out, he can decide later.

We’d point out that UNO isn’t exactly the setting that one ordinarily associates with a Presidential announcement – but if the weather is nice (it’s supposed to be 65 degrees on Monday!) a possible outdoor setting could work.

It will also be interesting to see what other GOPers are there. Heineman? Bruning? Terry or Fort? Daub? Ricketts?

It should make for an interesting morning.

Hagel will (finally) announce on Monday

Eric Olsen of the AP and Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times are reporting that U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel will be announcing his "future plans" on Monday at 10:00 AM at the UNO campus.

According to Jake Thompson of the OWH, Hagel will speak in Bootstrapper Memorial Hall at UNO's William H. and Dorothy Thompson Alumni Center.

Thompson cites unnamed GOPers who think that Hagel may just announce an exploratory Presidential bid until September, then make a final Presidential or Senate campaign decision then. Which wouldn't surprise us...

As noted here earlier, Hagel is scheduled to address the Association of International Fire Fighters next Wednesday with all the other major Presidential candidates.

The Young Democrat view of Omaha

We here at Leavenworth Street find it our civic duty to help others know about the great City of Omaha and all that it has to offer.

So when someone screws it up royally, we believe we should step in so that they can attempt to fix it.

Case in point: The Young Democrats of America (YDA) Spring Conference in Omaha this May.

Now as we mentioned in a recent post, former 3rd District Dem House candidate Scott Kleeb’s fiancé, Jane Fleming was the E.D. of the YDA until just very recently.

However, apparently Ms. Fleming never made it out of the 3rd to visit Omaha, since if she had, she would have let her staff know that there are no cattle ranches in Omaha (at least not since the old Renstrom property got turned into One Pacific Place many moons ago).

Nonetheless, the YDA web site carries this photo to describe the conference, with the caveat that the photo was “taken on a ranch in rural Nebraska”. Which is fine, except that Omaha is not in rural Nebraska.

But we’re picking nits, right? We’re sure that the Nebraska Young Democrats (NYD) will do us right in representing our fair city! Right! Right?

Well, let’s jump on over to the NYD page, and click right over to the “Top Ten Things to Do in Omaha”.

Ok, so you could have guessed that Numbers 1 and 2 would be the zoo and the Old Market. But did you know that the Number 3 thing to do in Omaha is to drive to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln? Are the NYDs privy to some info that their boy Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey plans to pull an Elkhorn-job on Lincoln? Should Lincoln start annexing land to pick up their size now? You’re on notice Lincolnites! Omaha’s comin’!

So then we go to Number 4 of the Top Ten Things, and find that it’s Boys Town. Well, that’s fine we suppose. But then after we visit the SAC Museum at Number 5, which, by the way is again NOT IN OMAHA, then we’re supposed to go right back to do Number 6 – Boys Town again! You know, just in case you missed some stuff when you visited in Number 4.

After our dual trips to Boys Town, we go to Number 7, the Durham Western Heritage Museum (which really is great, and if you haven’t been in a while you should check out). And we’re not sure what the NYDs have against the Joslyn Art Museum, but apparently they’re too busy in Lincoln to check it out.

So then we get to Number 8, and find the Omaha Royals. We love a nice spring evening at the ‘Blat. Of course, it’s nice to be there when the Royals are IN TOWN – since they will not be in town during the extent of the YDA’s conference. (But you know, that would have meant looking at the Royals web site, or something.)

At Number 9, we find the “Mormom Trail Winter Quarters” (sic). Who knows if these Mormoms are the same ones Mitt Romney hangs with.

And finally at the Number 10 thing to do in Omaha, we find both the Heartland of America Park and the Gene Leahy Mall. Essentially walking around water, but nice enough, we guess. Of course, this now makes this the Top 11 things to do. (But that’s depending on how many times you visit Boys Town, or whether you count Lincoln and Ashland as part of Omaha.)

We’ll assume that the NYDs will be changing the site soon. (And we like how they snuck that riverboat shot in their header. HINT HINT.) So let these screen shots serve them notice that we’re watching how they present Omaha when the rest of the country arrives.

Assuming they don’t just send them to Lincoln.

**Update 3/6/07 10:00 PM**
In under seven hours the NYDs read Leavenworth Street fixed their typos and amended their Top Ten list. Now about the YDA's Omaha cattle ranching picture...

Hagel Presidential Update – Ver. 9.0

Next Wednesday, March 14th, the International Association of Fire Fighters will be holding a “Presidential Forum” where nearly every Presidential candidate will be speaking.

Those included on the speakers’ list are Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson.

Republicans speaking are John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter and…

Chuck Hagel.

Word is that there is a lot of activity in the Hagel camp these days.
Is an announcement imminent?

Welcome Don Walton readers!

We appreciate the shout-out from the Lincoln Journal Star’s own Don Walton this morning. (Don Walton: What’s the role of a newspaper? – LJS – 3/4/07) As Leavenworth Street readers know, we’re big fans of Don, and if you don’t read his column, you’re missing out on the key political news in the state.

For those of you new to Leavenworth Street, you can read our previous posts by clicking on the links at the right, or searching by keyword up on the top-left. Also, you can take a look at our “Separated at Birth” posts at the right as well, featuring various Nebraska political figures.

And in that light, we present the above SAB from today’s link:
Don Walton and the late Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Mike Royko!

Kleeb finds a Cowgirl

The Kearney Hub reported that Scott Kleeb told a group of Dems he's planning on running for office again some day.

But before that, he's getting married (and YOU just may be invited to their PUBLIC wedding reception down at the Dunning ranch…).
Kleeb’s fiancée is Jane Fleming.



Ms. Fleming was the Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America.

She is frequently on FOX news -- Hannity and Colmes, Shep Smith -- and MSNB with Scarborough. (See a list of her appearances via YouTube here.) She is generally the attractive female Democratic foil to Ann Coulter, where she’s argued on behalf of various Democrat positions such as the John Edwards anti-Catholic bloggers and for Madonna’s African adoption.



She is VERY party-line, and describes herself on her Daily Kos diary, as “an Activist first, and the E.D. of the YDA second.”

She has not shied away from publicizing herself, as is evident by her blog on Eating Disorders (which includes many many personal photos) and her MySpace site. (We're not sure if she's a blonde or a brunette these days...)



So lets lay it on the line:

There’s no way Ms. Fleming is going to sit on her laurels when she gets to Nebraska.
Will she be involved with the state Democratic party?
Heck, will she run on her own someday?

Do not be one bit surprised if Mr. and Mrs. Kleeb attempt to become the Bill and Hillary of Nebraska.

Oh, and according to the Hub, Kleeb said he has moved to Hastings.
We’re just wondering if Ginger ten Bensel will be singing at the wedding…

**Update 3/1 2:30PM**
Attentive reader Jane Johnson points out that the YDAs are having their Spring meeting in Omaha in May. And apparently the YDAs think that coming to Omaha means that they'll be joining Mr. Kleeb on his dude ranch. Nice impression you're giving the rest of the country there, Ms. Fleming. Thanks a ton...