Senator Chuck Hagel throws in the towel

[I never actually got around to posting this when it happened...earlier this week]

Senator Chuck Hagel (republican, Nebraska) plans to will announce on Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate. He will also announce that he will not run for president next year, after flirting with the idea for many months. Sources close to him leaked the information to the press on Friday.

Normally we would be jubilant that another Republican has thrown in the towel. However, Hagel has earned strong national cred as the most vocal, and most pissed-off GOP critic of the President's folly in Iraq.

His outspokenness on Iraq and other key issues fueled national interest in Hagel as he went back and forth on a possible presidential bid. Until yesterday, everyone was sure he would run.

The upside: his stepping down leaves another GOP Senate seat without an incumbent just as the Republican Party desperately struggles to stem potential losses. They go into this race with more seats up for election that the Dems. The upside for Hagel: he's the first Republican in a while to leave office without a gay sex scandal dogging him.
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