Hagel: Indie Candidacy Buzz?
A Sunday morning doesn't go by without Chuck Hagel chiming in and this Sunday's no different. Hagel was a guest on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" and the network's P.R. dept. is trumpeting Hagel's non-answer to the question of whether he'd run for the WH as an indie.
Here are some key excerpts:
-- On WH '08: "As to my political future, that will be determined to almost the greatest extent, as it always is the case for any politician, by the people. If I decide to run for president, I will come before the American people, offer who I am, my record, my beliefs, my vision, my leadership, and it’ll be up to the American people to decide whether that fits or not; whether they want me around or not."
-- On an '08 timetable: "I will make a decision here in the next couple of weeks. I have to if I’m going to get in the presidential race."
-- On his relationship with John McCain: "I talked to him this morning. John McCain and I are very close friends, and that’s not going to change. There’s no one I admire more in the United States Congress than John McCain. John McCain has helped me a lot as I have come to the Senate. And, no matter what the differences are -- we’ve had differences before -- that personal friendship is not going to change, and I think he would say the same thing. I don’t speak for him. I can’t. ... The policy differences should never ever come between good friends, and in our case, they won’t, no matter what happens."
-- And, finally, the non-answer to the question about an indie run in '08: "I have not decided I am going to run for president, so maybe that’ll be the next set of questions that you could ask after I decide what I’m going to do."