Publicity Whore

After getting bipartisans and post-partisans and David Broder all excited, and eliciting commentary and positive buzz for nearly a week, Chuck Hagel backed off announcing for President but still left the door open a bit. In other words, he announced that he's not announcing anything.

In an odd twist, the Nebraska senator called a news conference to say he would decide about his political future later this year, saying a late entry into the 2008 race is still possible.

"I want to keep my focus on helping find a responsible way out of this tragedy," Hagel said of the Iraq war.

The Republican presidential field is crowded with 10 candidates, a number that could grow as Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson weigh possible bids. Hagel's planned announcement touched off speculation that he would join the 2008 White House race or announce plans to seek re-election to a third Senate term.

Instead, he told reporters at a nationally televised news conference: "I am here today to announce that my family and I will make a decision on my political future later this year."

I think that the media is Hagel's natural constituency in the same way that it was for McCain in 2000. He loves the cameras and will do anything to get them to follow him just a bit longer. In actuality, Hagel is quite conservative. He's in the dead center of the Republican Party with a 72% conservative rating, making him more to the right than John McCain, Richard Shelby, Sam Brownback (!) or Rick Santorum (!!). His record is far-right even if his rhetoric is not. I believe that he is somewhat sincere on the war, but when the vote came down on a nonbinding resolution last month he refused to break with the party.

Because he sometimes criticizes Republicans in public, but votes almost uniformly with them in private, the media swoons over him. Maybe the real question here is, why is his record more private than his rhetoric?

UPDATE: Good for the Nebraska Democratic Party chair for calling Hagel out.

"I think it is extremely disappointing that Senator Hagel would bring the entire state of Nebraska to a screeching halt by holding an elaborate ceremony to announce absolutely nothing."

I don't think Hagel is even representing his constituents in Nebraska anymore; he represents himself and his pack of media sycophants.