If You Thought Secretary of State Kerry Was Bad...

We noted Saturday some possible Cabinet appointments for Barack Obama, with names such as John Kerry and Chuck Hagel floated as Secretary of State and Defense Secretary, respectively.

Well, if those two names failed to send a chill down your spine, get ready for Director of Homeland Security Richard Clarke. Hey, why not just install Jamie Gorelick?

On national security, Obama has sought out advisors who, like him, believe in robust public diplomacy. His two top foreign policy advisors - Tony Lake and Susan Rice - are former Clintonites. Rice is expected to head the National Security Council and Lake is in contention for Secretary of State, along with Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. John Kerry and GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel.

Obama has preached bipartisanship during his campaign, and many expect him to appoint a few Republicans to cabinet positions. Homeland Security could be headed by Bush critic and former White House counter-terrorism advisor Richard Clarke or GOP Senator Dick Lugar.

I could stomach Lugar, but the idea of putting Richard Clarke back in a position of power should scare the daylights out of people.

A hack like Eric Holder as AG should really inspire confidence considering his fine work in issuing fugitive Marc Rich a pardon.

Just as an aside, when has Obama preached bipartisanship? Somehow I've missed that.

Meanwhile, the latest polling numbers have McCain within three points in the Zogby poll but still six behind with Rasmussen. But the big news over at Rasmussen is that the long-awaited Joe the Plumber poll will soon be released.

Polling data on “Joe the Plumber” will be released later today.

Is Joe running for something? Since when are polls taken on random civilians?

'I’ve Got Friends Who Went Out and Got Their Criminal Records Expunged So They Could Vote for Obama'

Finally, they're motivated.

A throwaway line buried deep within another Obama puff piece from overseas, letting us know which luminaries will be adorning the constellation of stars known as The One's Cabinet.

I got as far as Chuck Hagel before I threw up a bit in my mouth. Glad to know felons, former felons, expunged felons and ACORN will help bring America to its knees.

With the economy on the brink of recession and the country in the midst of two foreign wars, Barack Obama is considering appointing a cabinet of stars to steer America through potentially its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s if he wins the presidency on November 4.

Obama has a well-regarded, close-knit team of domestic and foreign policy advisers who would follow him into the White House and key administration posts. But he is also being urged to make some high-profile appointments who would command the confidence of the country at such a troubled time.

“It’s important to send a signal,” an Obama adviser said. “With a comparatively new person in office and the awful mess we’re in, these appointments are going to resonate around the world.” Obama, 47, has been warning his supporters that the election is not over yet. “Don’t underestimate our ability to screw it up,” he said last week. But should Obama win, he will not be short of big names to choose for his administration.

A host of well-known figures, including some Republicans, have indicated they would be willing to serve in some capacity as Obama begins to acquire a winner’s glow. From Senator John Kerry, the 2004 presidential candidate with hopes of becoming secretary of state, to Larry Summers, a former US Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator who has been tipped as defence secretary, there are plenty who have signalled their availability.

God help us. If Lurch and Chuck Hagel resonate around the world, we're in deep shit.

The youth vote and black vote have been mobilised to an unprecedented degree by the Obama campaign, which has raised $454m – nearly double McCain’s $230m – enabling it to spend on saturation advertising and organisation in areas that were once thought to be unwinnable. It is expected to announce a record-breaking haul of more than $100m in September.

The Democratic voter registration effort has reached far and wide. Althea Patterson, 40, an African-American insurance worker from Roanoke, said: “I’ve got friends who went out and got their criminal records expunged so they could vote for Obama.” Former felons are barred from voting without a judge’s dispensation.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Another RINO Nonentity to Endorse Obama; Update: Obama Snags Key CPUSA Nod

Wow, a regular Murderer's Row of former elected Republicans lining up behind The Messiah. We've got Lincoln Chafee, the mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska and now obscure former Congressman Jim Leach.

Certainly the coveted Chuck Hagel endorsement will open the floodgates.

These people think it's a big deal.

Of course, they ignore the fact you have 18 million wildly disenchanted Clinton supporters.

More from Ben Smith. They're all excited at Time.

Whoopee.

If you ask me, a Jim Leach endorsement doesn't quite stack up against the former Democrat VP nominee in 2000 campaigning with McCain.

Update: Comrade Obama gets the approval of the Communist Party. I knew there was something about that fellow traveler remark that rang familiar.

Hmm, now I guess the ever reliable Chuck Hagel won't be making an endorsement.

For anyone. Maybe he'll go away now.

Chuck Hagel's Quixotic Quest To Stay Relevant

If it weren't for these monthly reappearances and bold proclamations signifying nothing, we'd forget Chuck Hagel were still alive.

Now he pops up again offering more vagaries, declines to endorse John McCain, and again sucks up to Barack Obama.

Senator Chuck Hagel declined to endorse his party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration.

Hagel, who last year considered a White House run as an independent, said he would remain a registered Republican: ``I don't know forever, but right now I'm not considering changing my registration.''

``I don't have any plans to endorse any candidate,'' Hagel, 61, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' to be broadcast today.

The Nebraska senator broke with his party over the war in Iraq, calling it a ``catastrophic mistake.'' He voted with Democrats to withdraw troops and against President George W. Bush's so-called surge that boosted the number of soldiers in Baghdad last year.

Yes, the so-called surge that was wildly successful. Apparently Hagel hasn't heard about that since the media is doing their best to ignore it.

Uh, Chuck, Nobody's Asking

This idiot apparently is trying to stay relevant.

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said in an interview with the Associated Press that he would consider accepting an offer to be Barack Obama's running mate, if asked.

Hagel, who has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq, added that he doesn't expect to be on a presidential ticket. Still, the Nebraska senator's non-denial of interest is sure to add fuel to the fire of those calling for Obama to pick a Republican to balance the ticket.

"If it would occur, I would have to think about it," Hagel said. "I think anybody, anybody would have to consider it. Doesn't mean you'd do it, doesn't mean you'd accept it, could be too many gaps there, but you'd have to consider it, it's the only thing you could do. Why wouldn't you?"

Just. Go. Away.

There actually is someone who thinks this is a good idea.

News Flash: Chuck Hagel Is Still Alive

I guess his announcement that he's running for president has been postponed indefinitely. Apparently the only people who have any interest in what he has to say are the media looking to undermine the GOP and John McCain.

Sounds like he's angling for a spot in the Obama administration.

SPIEGEL: But that would mean that you are closer to Democrat Barack Obama than to your own party as far as foreign policy is concerned?

Hagel: Well, that’s right, but I don’t develop my position on foreign policy based on which politicians I support or do not support. I was espousing this position on Iraq and Iran before Obama even got to the Senate.

SPIEGEL: You didn’t follow him, he followed you?

Hagel: (laughing) He has accepted my position and my direction.

Ugh.

Annoying Nanny-Stater Laments 'Woeful State' of America

Is he going to cry too?

Memo to Michael Bloomberg: Either run or don't run, but just give it a rest for five minutes.

This is the greatest country in the history of mankind, and one in which you've gotten very wealthy.

The same applies to Chuck Hagel, Gary Hart and the rest of the whiners at your little gathering.

A bipartisan group of U.S. political figures that included New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a lamentation of America's woeful state on Monday but Bloomberg gave no hint he may run for president to bail the country out.

The group, including politically experienced moderates from both parties, had been widely viewed as a national spotlight for Bloomberg and his possible presidential aspirations but he kept a low profile and only repeated previous assertions of his non-candidacy.

"I'm not a candidate, number one. I am a former businessman and a mayor," he said in a panel discussion and news conference at the University of Oklahoma.

Ironically, for a guy who won't shut up and stop teasing about his political aspirations or lack thereof, he left without further comment.

Afterward, he left without talking to a large media contingent that had shown up for the event.

Former U.S. Sen. David Boren, now president of the university and the host of the meeting, told reporters he thinks Bloomberg does not want to run for president and would only do so if he the Democratic and Republican candidates are weak.

Expect this little dance to continue through the conventions this summer.

Bloomberg's ego will allow nothing less.

Hagel Leaving Senate

Facing a strong primary challenge in 2008 and with no shot in hell of ever being taken seriously in a bid for the presidency, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel will be announcing his retirement Monday.

He won't be missed.

Hagel is calling it quits

WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday.

Hagel plans to announce that "he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," said one person, who asked not to be named.

Hagel has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday at the Omaha Press Club.

According to one person interviewed, Hagel told Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Friday morning that he had decided to retire. Hagel's staff learned of his decision that afternoon.

The North Platte native earned national recognition as perhaps the most vocal, at times angry, GOP critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policies.

His outspokenness on Iraq and other key issues, including Social Security and foreign policy, fueled national interest in Hagel as he flirted with a possible presidential bid.

His national profile reached its zenith in March, when he headed to Omaha to hold a press conference on his political future.

But amid wide speculation that he was leaning toward a White House run, Hagel announced that he would disclose his plans later in the year.

His departure leaves the GOP with another Senate seat to defend in 2008.

In Nebraska, the news will trigger a scramble among possible successors.

Attorney General Jon Bruning has been campaigning for the GOP Senate nomination since spring. A second Republican, financial adviser Pat Flynn of Schuyler, also already announced his candidacy.

Other Republicans who could enter the race are former Gov. Mike Johanns, now the U.S. agriculture secretary; former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub; and Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo.

Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, president of the New School University in New York City, has voiced interest in returning to the Senate.

Also mentioned by Nebraska Democrats are Scott Kleeb, who lost a race to Republican Adrian Smith in the 3rd Congressional District last year, and Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey.

Now Hagel is free to go on the talking head shows to continue trashing his fellow Republicans, though once he outlives his usefulness, he'll notice the left wants nothing more to do with him.

More from Dan Riehl and Don Surber.

Time To Call It a Career, Dave

David Broder has had a long, distinguished career, but for the sake of his own credibility, he needs to pack it in.

Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted he had no shot at ever being president and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel polls at numbers Ron Paul laughs at.

So naturally, Broder sees a dream ticket here.

Bloomberg And Hagel For 2008?

Chuck Hagel, the senator from Nebraska, describes himself as a "tidal" politician, one who believes that larger forces in society shape careers more than the ambitions of individuals. "The only mistakes I've made," he told me last week, "were when I tried to go against the tide."

Today, that tide may be carrying him away from his Republican Party and toward a third-party or independent ticket with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a development that could reshape the dynamics of the 2008 presidential race.

Next month, Hagel will make a threshold decision -- whether to run for a third term in the Senate. He gave me no definitive answer, but my guess is that he will say that 12 years of battling the institutional lethargy of Capitol Hill will be enough. Certainly he is under no illusions about how much he can achieve as one of 100 lawmakers.

On the contrary, while Washington is gridlocked in partisan battle between two equally spent parties, the country is moving rapidly, he thinks, to the conclusion that neither Republicans nor Democrats have the answers to the problems people see.

The war in Iraq is the prime example, a war on which Hagel was perhaps the first prominent Republican to break with the president. Credit problems that have shaken the mortgage markets and fed the decline in housing add to the sense of anxiety. And the abject failure of Washington to deal with the issue of illegal immigration is fueling further frustration.

Yes, but is Chuck Hagel the answer to any of this?

Please.

James Joyner also get a chuckle out of this absurdity.

Memo to Chuck Hagel

You cannot be serious.

SEN. Chuck Hagel, the Senate's toughest Republican critic of President Bush's war policy, has not ruled out a campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and will use the August recess of Congress to make up his mind.

A major reason for the unexpectedly strong professions of support for Rep. Ron Paul's libertarian-conservative candidacy is that he is the only announced Republican presidential candidate opposed to the invasion of Iraq. Hagel as an anti-war candidate might attract a broader base of support than Paul. He has received many offers of financial support should he run.

Hagel must decide what to do in 2008: to run for president, to run for Senate re-election or to get out of politics. The betting in the Senate Republican cloakroom is that he will retire, but Hagel has given no signal of his intentions and tells friends that he has yet to make a decision.

Hagel faces a strong primary challenge in Nebraska, rates at 0% or 1% in any polls, and is widely despised by the base of the party.

The only reason to declare a candidacy, which he said he would do back in March, is to get some more camera time on the Sunday talking head shows.

He should retire and retain any remaing dignity.

Being beaten by a nutcase like Ron Paul won't exactly help your shattered reputation.

Challenger for Hagel

Liberal media darling Chuck Hagel may face a primary challenger next year, and he'll face an uphill climb.

I guess all those fawnning Sunday interview shows aren't helping.

Bloomberg Wants to Buy Presidency

I can't be the only one turned off by the idea of Michael Bloomberg possibly spending $1 billion to try and buy the presidency. We suffered enough with the gadfly Ross Perot helping elect Bill Clinton with 42.8% of the vote in 1992.

"Bloomberg is H. Ross Perot on steroids," said former Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner. "He could turn the political landscape of this election upside down, spend as much money as he wanted and proceed directly to the general election. He would have resources to hire an army of petition-gatherers in those states where thousands of petitions are required to qualify a third-party presidential candidate to be on the ballot."

Senior Republican officials -- including those supporting declared Republican presidential nomination contenders -- and several top Democrats told The Times they take the possibility of a Bloomberg candidacy as a serious threat in November 2008.

The Bloomberg team is studying the strategies of Mr. Perot, the Texas billionaire whose 1992 presidential campaign helped President Clinton to win the White House with 43 percent of the popular vote.

"Mike has been meeting with Ross Perot's most senior people about how they did an independent run in 1992," the Bloomberg business adviser said on condition of anonymity so as to avoid appearing to speak for Mr. Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's style might play well in New York City, but I just don't believe he's an attractive enough candidate nationwide. The media saturation of spending $1 billion is sure to turn people off. Hanging around Chuck Hagel sure isn't going to attract many Republicans into his camp.

Bloomberg needs to get off the ego trip. If he wants to move on to higher office, he certainly could topple inept New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2010.

RINOs Express Doubts Over Gonzales

Of course the New Yorks Times doesn't call them RINOs, as they prefer to mislead the public by using three Republicans who seemingly are at odds with the administration over everything, namely Chuck Hagel, Arlen Specter, and Lindsay Graham.

You have to wait until the 15th paragraph of the story to have an actual Republican defend the administration.

On Sunday, the White House found its strongest Republican defender in a onetime adversary, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican whip. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Lott mocked the Democrats for charging that politics were involved in decisions involving political appointees.

“The horrors of horrors — my goodness,” Mr. Lott said. “How were they selected in the first place?”

Mr. Lott also defended Mr. Bush’s decision to invoke executive privilege in refusing to provide his aides for sworn testimony before Congress, saying “he’d be making a huge mistake” if he decided otherwise.

As noted by Gateway Pundit, CNN is just as bad, with this ridiculous headline:

Key Republicans question Gonzales' credibility

And just who are these key Republicans? Hagel, Specter and Graham.

Who Is Chuck Hagel Kidding?

Hagel expected to declare '08 bid

Memo to Chuck: Spare yourself the indignation. Perhaps all the fawning coverage you get from the left has gone to your head, but really, it's not going to happen.

UPDATE: Others commenting include Sniper One at 7.62mm Justice, who is not exactly thrilled by the prospect of Hagel running, and Sister Toldjah.

Most Dishonest Poll Story Ever

When I first saw this headline, I figured it was a gag. Sure enough, Rasmussen actually took a poll and came up with this gem:

Obama, Clinton Lead Hagel in Election 2008 Match-Up.

Illinois Senator Barack Obama leads Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel by 16 percentage points in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. The Election 2008 poll, part of a series looking at all potential match-ups, shows Obama attracting 50% of the vote to Hagel's 34%.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton also leads Hagel, but her eight-point advantage is not as commanding as Obama's. A Clinton-Hagel match shows the Democrat on top 48% to 40%.

I understand Hagel is a media darling since he basically has abandoned the GOP and enjoys the klieg lights and CNN interviews because he criticizes the President. But you can look at any poll of potential GOP candidates for 2008 and the guy either comes up last or is bringing up the rear with luminaries such as George Pataki. To even match him up with top-tier Democrat candidates is an insult to our intelligence.

What makes this poll even more ridiculous is the fact the most recent Rasmussen 2008 GOP poll Hagel barely registers. If they were to honestly report the results from that, the headline would read more like Giuliani, McCain, lead all Democrat challengers, which they do.

Funny also how after a couple of weeks of the leftist media reminding GOP voters how "liberal" Rudy Giuliani is, he's the runaway leader in the GOP race.