Nebraska AG to run for Hagel Senate seat

JournalStar,com:

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.
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“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.”

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“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.”

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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.

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Apparently there are other Republicans also interested in the race. I certainly agree with Bruning's criticism of Hagel and apparently many others in the state do too. With so many eager to get into the race, that is a pretty strong sign they do not think Hagel will run. He certainly needs to be replaced by a Republican who understands the war issue.

This is the Omaha World-Herald story on Bruning's announcement and criticism of Hagel. The vote on war funding and the criticism of the President were motivating factors. The Washington Post covers the story in The Fix.