Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) on the current, sad state of affairs loosely linked together under the name “Republican Party” in an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation:
“For example, the Republican Party, interestingly enough as the new chairman of the Republican Party said in his acceptance speech two days ago, needs to get back to what it once stood for,” Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, continued. “The party that I first voted for on top of a tank in Mekong Delta 1968 is not the party I see today.”
[...]
“I think we are living through one of the great historical, political reorientations of our time,” he said. “I think we are seeing defined right now through the process — and it will continue right up to November of next year — a new center of gravity for both parties based on beliefs, philosophies.” [emphasis added]
The article says Senator Hagel wants to move the party back to the “center,” but an inspection of his Senate votes reveals that he is not as moderate as some may believe. Hagel scored a 96 rating in 2005 from the American Conservative Union (ACU), up from 87 in 2004. The presumptive front-runner, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), scored an 80 in 2005 and a 72 in 2004 [Senate Ratings]. Congressman Duncan Hunter didn’t measure up to Hagel’s conservatism, scoring a 92 in 2005, and tied the Nebraska senator with an 87 in 2004. Only Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo bested Hagel with perfect scores both years. [House Ratings]
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect and admiration for him. Hagel is probably one of the most principled Republicans in his party, which is evidenced by this, and many other statements:
“We’re Article 1 of the Constitution,” he said. “We are a co-equal branch of government. Are we not to participate? Are we not to say anything? Are we not to register our sense of where we’re going in this country on foreign policy? Bottom line is this. Our young men and women and their families, these young men and women who are asked to fight and die deserve a policy worthy of those sacrifices.”
But Hagel is much more of a consistent conservative legislator than any of the three front-runners, and his position on the most important important issue of our time — Iraq — is shared by 68 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll.
If he runs, Hagel said his candidacy would not be solely based on the Iraq war. He will try to return his party to a platform based on fiscal responsibility, trade and smaller government.
Those are, historically, conservative positions. The Republican Party has shifted so far to the right that GOP lawmakers like Hagel appear as moderates. His legislative record would suggest otherwise.
8 Responses to “Hagel: GOP “Needs to Get Back to What It Once Stood For””
It’s not the media narratives that have set our opinions, it was the far right guys lead by Bush, who have convinced millions of Americans that they are centrists. Remember his 2000 campaign on compassionate conservatism? It clearly was their goal to pull the country to the right and when a guy like Hagel is described as a centrist, you have the proof that they have succeeded.
Well, Kurt you’re right to point out that the GOP has deliberately pushed these narratives. But they succeeded because the media bought them hook, line, and sinker – and continues to buy GOP narratives every day.
Were the media to push back on the spin the GOP is feeding them, America would not today think of Chuck Hagel as a centrist.
[...] Hagel is certainly occupying an important political space by opposing the Bush/McCain plan to escalate the war in Iraq. He is vocally and visibly against sending tens of thousands of more American troops into the meat grinder of Iraq. Doing so gives other Republicans cover to take similar positions. Hagel is embracing a correct position on Iraq, but it is not based on his ideology and it tells us nothing about what Chuck Hagel believes about how government should work and what policies we should be deploying to make our country a better place. Opposing the president as a member of the Republican Party is a rarity today and I can appreciate the pleasure Democrats feel when Bush is getting whipped by a Republican. Let’s be clear: Iraq is one issue and Chuck Hagel is a lock-step conservative on every other issue Republicans care about. [...]
[...] With Chuck Hagel, what you see in his Iraq war opposition is not what you get with on every other issue. He is not a Republican Democrats can love and he makes no efforts to hide the direction he wants to take the Republican Party and America in. [...]
[...] Rumors have it that Hagel is calling it quits but should he announce his candidacy for president, do you think the media and the GOP base will treat Hagel like they do Ron Paul, vis-a-vis the downfall of the Republican Party? [...]
Something to say?
Really interesting post Matt. I had no idea Hagel’s voting record was so conservative and so loyal to the GOP. Just another instantiation of how media narratives set our opinion and the facts usually stay pretty far out of it.
Left by Matt Browner Hamlin
January 22, 2007 at 12:55am