Attorney General Jon Bruning burst out of the starting gate Thursday in the 2008 Republican Senate race.
the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 7:00 pm
Targeting Sen. Chuck Hagel as a man out of touch with Nebraskans, Attorney General Jon Bruning on Thursday strode into the 2008 Republican Senate race.
“I’ve chosen this path because conservative Nebraskans deserve a leader who will support and defend the principles and values of the Republican Party,” Bruning said.
If he’s elected, the attorney general said, “we will restore conservative Republican leadership to this Senate seat.”
Hagel, he said, does not represent the views of Nebraskans when he opposes President Bush’s Iraq war policies, criticizes the president and pushes for immigration reform that opens a pathway to legal status for most of the illegal immigrants already settled in the United States.
Describing Hagel as “a temporary Virginian” who has not made a permanent personal commitment to Nebraska, Bruning said the senator has “forgotten what Nebraskans sent him there to do.”
Hagel says he’ll announce later this year whether he will seek re-election to a third term.
Bruning’s harsh assessment of Hagel was filled with “baseless accusations and insults,” said Kevin Chapman, the senator’s political director.
“Most of what Jon Bruning said today was inaccurate.”
Furthermore, Chapman said, “for Jon Bruning, who has never served his country in uniform, to question Chuck Hagel’s commitment to the troops is an insult to the troops and to the intelligence of the people of Nebraska.”
Bruning said Nebraskans want “a leader who will stand with our troops, our military commanders in Iraq and our commander in chief in this time of war.”
Hagel served in Vietnam as a combat infantryman and was wounded twice.
Other options facing Hagel moving toward the 2008 election year include a presidential bid, either as a Republican or an independent, or departure from elective office at the end of next year.
Hagel’s recent references to an independent, or third-way, presidential movement also drew fire from Bruning during his campaign kickoff in the State Capitol Rotunda.
“He’s thinking about leaving the party,” Bruning said. That kind of independent movement would only help Democrats, he said.
Bruning’s combative announcement unfolded in front of a temporary background featuring a huge American flag. The event attracted about 100 supporters and spectators, and was televised live on Internet sites.
With his family at his side, Bruning answered questions from a large media contingent for about 20 minutes.
Moments after the event concluded, former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub issued a statement declaring that Bruning’s entry into the race “will have no impact” on whether he decides to seek the GOP Senate nomination.
Daub, who served four terms in the House before he was elected mayor, has embarked on a tour of all 93 counties before making his own decision. He visited eight counties in western Nebraska last weekend and will visit nine more on a trip that begins Sunday.
Also considering a Republican bid is Columbus industrialist Tony Raimondo. But Raimondo has said he won’t enter the contest if Hagel decides to seek re-election.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, Nebraska’s former two-term governor, sits atop a list of other Republican prospects. Johanns, who has declined to even discuss the possibility, showed up at Wednesday’s weekly Nebraska breakfast in Washington hosted by the congressional delegation.
Bruning said he wants to “give the troop surge time to work” in Iraq while “keep(ing) the terrorists engaged on sand a long ways away.”
On immigration reform, Bruning said: “I oppose amnesty — in any form — no matter what Senator Hagel or other politicians call it.
“We must secure our borders and ports first,” Bruning said. “And our current criminal and immigration laws must be enforced. Period.”
Bruning disputed the results of a Congressional Quarterly survey that showed Hagel voting more often with Bush on legislative issues than any other member of the Senate in 2006. That remark, Chapman said, demonstrated Bruning “either doesn’t know the facts or doesn’t care about the facts.”
CQ figures, Chapman said, show Hagel supported Bush nearly 96 percent of the time in 2006. Hagel has supported Bush 95 percent of the time, and the majority Republican position 92 percent, during his years in the Senate, according to CQ.
In answer to questions, Bruning said he believes he could defeat Johanns in a GOP primary contest.
And if former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey ultimately should decide to enter the Senate race, Bruning said, “his record would be so easy to assail.”
Kerrey, he said, is a New Yorker now. The former two-term senator is president of New School University in New York City.
“Nebraskans do not want a carpetbagger anymore,” Bruning said. “Nebraskans want a Nebraskan.”
Kerrey, who watched the announcement in New York on the Internet, said he was surprised by Bruning’s tone.
“I don’t think gratuitous insults are necessary,” Kerrey said. “I’m not a candidate. I’m a taxpayer in Nebraska, paying my fair share of Jon Bruning’s salary.”
As for Bruning’s suggestion that Hagel is not a Nebraskan, Kerrey said: “Chuck’s not a carpetbagger. He’s working like heck for Nebraskans.
“It seems hypocritical to whack him for not supporting the president on Iraq and whack him for supporting the president on immigration.”
It appears Bruning wants to “be with the president when it’s popular and not be with him when it’s not,” Kerrey said.
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.