Let’s wing it.

By mid-morning, all of this will be outdated. Perhaps even off track.

Ah, let’s jump in anyway.  Why pass up an opportunity to look foolish?

Chuck Hagel will hold a news conference in Omaha on Monday morning “regarding his future plans.”

Four carefully chosen words, I suspect.  Doesn’t tell you anything.

We’ve prepared optional story “leads” for immediate posting on the Journal Star Web site this morning, the last of which is: “None of the above.”  In the worst of all worlds, they’ll all get posted online in the rush to inform.

The Washington Post and the Washington Times both printed advance stories last week pointing toward announcement of a presidential bid by Hagel.

The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, cautioned: Don’t rule out retirement from elective office.

A number of national reporters asked Mike Buttry, Hagel’s press spokesman, for advice — and a helpful hint — as to whether they should travel to Omaha for the announcement.

Buttry referred them back to those four helpful words and said, apologetically, he couldn’t go beyond that.

In mid-December of 1998, when Bob Kerrey called a news conference in Omaha to announce whether he would enter the 2000 Democratic presidential race, David Broder showed up to cover the big event.

Kerrey announced he wasn’t going to run.

“What am I doing here?” Broder asked several reporters afterwards in the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Omaha.

OK, let’s look at what Hagel might say at his news conference at UNO.

With a number of variations, he could announce he will pursue the presidency, or he won’t.  Or he will seek re-election to the Senate, or he won’t.

Or he’ll leave elective office at the end of next year.

Or he could choose to leave both the presidential and Senate possibilities on the table until sometime around Labor Day while venturing down the presidential path through an exploratory committee.

It’s possible Hagel might just decide to stop the clock and buy some time.

Daylight saving time began yesterday; Hagel time could begin today.

That would put a lid on all the daily speculation, place a hold on virtually all the potential 2008 Senate candidates in Nebraska, and preserve all his options.

All at once.

At the same time, it would protect Hagel’s clout both as a potential Republican presidential candidate and as a senator who may be coming back for another six years.

And give him the luxury of seeing what the landscape looks like six months from now.

If that’s the path Hagel chooses, potential 2008 Senate candidates like Jon Bruning, Hal Daub and Mike Fahey would take a seat in the waiting room.

Waiting until Labor Day wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for any of them.

But, should Hagel decide to pursue the Republican presidential nomination while still leaving open the option of filing as a Senate candidate if he doesn’t fare well in early presidential caucuses and primaries next year, time begins to squeeze  potential successors.

The deadline for Hagel to file for re-election would be Feb. 15, less than three months before Nebraska’s primary election. 

Now, a couple of Hagel quotes to guide us through this maze.

Or perhaps add to the mystery.

“When I first ran for the Senate, I said two terms might be enough,” he reminded a gathering in South Sioux City last August.

“While I’m here, I’ll do anything I can to have the most impact, the most influence to change the country,” Hagel said as he flew above northeast Nebraska that day.

“This is the one time, the one place I can do it.”

OK, enough guessing.

If it’s 10 a.m., we already know.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.