Posted: Saturday, June 9, 2007 7:00 pm
Bombs away. Jon Bruning unloaded on Chuck Hagel last week.
Iraq, immigration, criticism of the president, lack of party loyalty, carpetbagger.
Bruning’s barrage firmly planted his Republican flag as the anti-Hagel.
Hagel’s political director fired a few missiles back, suggesting Bruning is trying to build a case on accusations, insults and inaccuracy.
Annual Congressional Quarterly surveys show Hagel has supported President Bush’s position on legislative issues 95 percent of the time and the majority position held by Senate Republicans 92 percent of the time during his tenure in the Senate, said Kevin Chapman.
That’s the opening fire in a bitter war that may not even take place.
Hagel doesn’t look like a candidate for re-election yet. But who knows? Definitely not me.
As the national political landscape continues to heave and churn, no political options appear to be closed.
Hagel for Senate continues raising money that could be used in either a Senate campaign or a presidential quest. Invitations are out for a fund-raiser in New York on June 25.
Some leftovers from Bruning’s announcement last week:
* State Treasurer Shane Osborn introduced the attorney general. Bruning said he believes he also has the support of another Osborne, the one with an e. Last year, Bruning backed Tom Osborne in his GOP gubernatorial primary contest with Dave Heineman; Hagel endorsed Heineman.
* Bruning said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s strong endorsement of Hagel in Omaha last month was prompted by the Kentucky senator’s political need to “try to keep a very fragile coalition together” in the Senate at a time when every vote matters.
* Bruning said he received more than 1,000 e-mail messages of support from Nebraskans when he announced he was considering entering the race for Hagel’s seat.
* With Republicans now enjoying an overwhelming voter registration advantage, Nebraska is “a very, very different place” than it was the last time Bob Kerrey won a Senate election here as a Democrat 13 years ago, Bruning said.
Divided Nebraska
Recent polling shows Nebraskans evenly divided about Iraq war policy, Kerrey told Bill Moyers a week ago.
Forty-nine percent identified Iraq as the overriding issue, Kerrey said, and respondents were “equally divided” over whether to withdraw or stay the course.
“That’s not promising,” Moyers said.
Although Kerrey didn’t say, those figures may have come from his own polling in the state.
In the lengthy PBS interview with Moyers on June 1, Kerrey explained his views on Iraq and argued for a policy to “go after radical Islamic jihadists” wherever they may be.
The exchange with Moyers offered a much more detailed explanation of Kerrey’s views than he could provide in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed column.
If you’re interested, complete video and text are available at www.pbs.org/moyers/journal.
Inside politics 101
June 7: As he kicks off his Republican primary campaign for Hagel’s Senate seat, Bruning says David Sokol will serve as his finance chairman.
March 29, exactly 10 weeks earlier, Sokol pens this message to Hagel: “As you are aware, I have been and I continue to be a supporter. If you decide to run again for another term as senator, I and Peggy will most certainly be a contributor.”
The message was signed: “Your friend, David.”
Sokol is chairman and CEO of MidAmerican Energy in Omaha.
Finishing up
* Line of the month, so far, goes to Curt Donaldson, hands down: Spending cuts, he said, could leave Lincoln with not much more than a “guns and hoses” city budget.
* Arnold Ruhnke, who died at the age of 98, was the kind of legislator George Norris must have had in mind. Independent citizen-senator, non-partisan, essentially immune to lobbying pressure, a farmer from Plymouth who served in the Unicameral for 14 years.
* Baseball messages and phone calls are declining.
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com.