Senate plot stirs Bruning
Attorney General Jon Bruning made it all but official on Thursday. Unless he does a 180, you can consider him in the 2008 Senate race whether Sen. Chuck Hagel seeks re-election or not.
Tying Hagel to Democratic opponents of the Iraq war and peace activist Cindy Sheehan, Bruning said he’s preparing to challenge the two-term senator in next year’s Republican primary election.
Although he’s not ready to make a formal declaration, Bruning said, he’s polling Nebraskans, raising money and getting ready.
“Hagel has voted with Democrats on every major issue dealing with Iraq” during the past month, the attorney general said in a telephone interview after returning to Nebraska from a fund-raising trip to Washington.
“When he suggested impeachment as a remedy, that crossed the line,” Bruning said. “Impeachment smacks of vengeance and anger.
“The only other person I’ve heard talking about that is Cindy Sheehan.”
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq three years ago, has become the most recognizable face in the peace movement since camping out near President Bush’s home in Crawford, Tex., in 2005. She was in Lincoln earlier this week and expressed gratitude for Hagel’s opposition to Bush’s Iraq policy.
Hagel mentioned the word “impeachment” during an interview with Esquire magazine in its April edition. He didn’t suggest or advocate such a course, but said Bush could face “calls for impeachment” if he continued to suggest he’s not accountable for his actions.
“That’s just irresponsible,” the attorney general said.
Bruning said Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq, needs time to implement his plan for implementing the troop surge ordered by Bush.
“What Senator Hagel and the Democrats are trying to do is kill that plan in its infancy,” Bruning said.
Republican Rep. Adrian Smith “just came back from Iraq and said there already are success stories,” the attorney general said.
In addition to differences over Iraq and support for the president, Bruning said he’d make immigration policy an issue in a primary contest with Hagel.
“The Hagel plan rewards those who came here illegally,” Bruning said. “We need to be very careful about a plan that encourages people to break the law. We cannot have amnesty as part of the plan.”
Hagel has proposed a comprehensive immigration reform plan that includes a pathway for illegal workers already living in the United States to earn legal status.
Bruning said he’s been encouraged by hundreds of Nebraskans to enter the Senate race.
“Everywhere I go, from Scottsbluff to North Platte to Kearney, wherever, people approach me and say: ‘Jon, you need to run.’ I take that very seriously.”
Hagel said he’ll make his own decision about whether to seek re-election later this year.
Meanwhile, Hal Daub said he plans to announce “in a matter of weeks, not months” whether he’ll enter the GOP Senate race.
“I will not be bound by the time frame of who says what first,” he said.
Daub, Nebraska’s Republican national committeeman, is a former Omaha mayor and former 2nd District congressman.
Former GOP Rep. John McCollister of Omaha, who was Hagel’s political mentor in the 1970s, viewed this week’s developments with mixed feelings.
McCollister has been critical of Hagel’s public opposition to the president’s Iraq policies and his impeachment remark.
“I’m not enthusiastic about Jon Bruning,” he said.
“The primary election is over a year away. Let’s see what happens.”
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.
Tying Hagel to Democratic opponents of the Iraq war and peace activist Cindy Sheehan, Bruning said he’s preparing to challenge the two-term senator in next year’s Republican primary election.
Although he’s not ready to make a formal declaration, Bruning said, he’s polling Nebraskans, raising money and getting ready.
“Hagel has voted with Democrats on every major issue dealing with Iraq” during the past month, the attorney general said in a telephone interview after returning to Nebraska from a fund-raising trip to Washington.
“When he suggested impeachment as a remedy, that crossed the line,” Bruning said. “Impeachment smacks of vengeance and anger.
“The only other person I’ve heard talking about that is Cindy Sheehan.”
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq three years ago, has become the most recognizable face in the peace movement since camping out near President Bush’s home in Crawford, Tex., in 2005. She was in Lincoln earlier this week and expressed gratitude for Hagel’s opposition to Bush’s Iraq policy.
Hagel mentioned the word “impeachment” during an interview with Esquire magazine in its April edition. He didn’t suggest or advocate such a course, but said Bush could face “calls for impeachment” if he continued to suggest he’s not accountable for his actions.
“That’s just irresponsible,” the attorney general said.
Bruning said Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq, needs time to implement his plan for implementing the troop surge ordered by Bush.
“What Senator Hagel and the Democrats are trying to do is kill that plan in its infancy,” Bruning said.
Republican Rep. Adrian Smith “just came back from Iraq and said there already are success stories,” the attorney general said.
In addition to differences over Iraq and support for the president, Bruning said he’d make immigration policy an issue in a primary contest with Hagel.
“The Hagel plan rewards those who came here illegally,” Bruning said. “We need to be very careful about a plan that encourages people to break the law. We cannot have amnesty as part of the plan.”
Hagel has proposed a comprehensive immigration reform plan that includes a pathway for illegal workers already living in the United States to earn legal status.
Bruning said he’s been encouraged by hundreds of Nebraskans to enter the Senate race.
“Everywhere I go, from Scottsbluff to North Platte to Kearney, wherever, people approach me and say: ‘Jon, you need to run.’ I take that very seriously.”
Hagel said he’ll make his own decision about whether to seek re-election later this year.
Meanwhile, Hal Daub said he plans to announce “in a matter of weeks, not months” whether he’ll enter the GOP Senate race.
“I will not be bound by the time frame of who says what first,” he said.
Daub, Nebraska’s Republican national committeeman, is a former Omaha mayor and former 2nd District congressman.
Former GOP Rep. John McCollister of Omaha, who was Hagel’s political mentor in the 1970s, viewed this week’s developments with mixed feelings.
McCollister has been critical of Hagel’s public opposition to the president’s Iraq policies and his impeachment remark.
“I’m not enthusiastic about Jon Bruning,” he said.
“The primary election is over a year away. Let’s see what happens.”
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.
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