David Broder steps in it again "Bloomberg and Hagel 2008" and readers respond.

[AlCzervik]

From Broder
By David S. Broder
Sunday, August 26, 2007; B07

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.

The common thread to all these problems, he says, is leadership -- and leadership is precisely what Bloomberg demonstrates every day as mayor of New York, following his success as a financial publisher. "A guy like Bloomberg could have deep credibility as a candidate," Hagel said. "He's a fresh face and a proven leader. It could be he'd release a dynamic that would be an answer for many people."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082402009_pf.html


Readers respond:


memorybabe1 wrote:
surprise surprise, broder suggests a republican and a half for 08. the repugs should all be hounded from office into the streets for laying waste to this nation. so the solution to the u.s.'s problems is more conservative claptrap and a billionaire? give me a friggin break, broder.
8/26/2007 10:20:45 AM
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lambert_strether1 wrote:
Anybody but a Democrat, right? It's so transparent, you're embarassing yourself.

Take the package, Dave! Take the package! ***snicker***
8/26/2007 11:30:46 AM
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storageboy wrote:
Higher Broderism is the cult of Stupid as a Higher Good. Non-Partisan is not a good thing. Partisanship is the essense of politics. Broder seems to have spent his entire life in political reporting becoming more and more clueless about this truth.
8/26/2007 11:31:17 AM
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storageboy wrote:
David:

You have become a useless entirely predictable and totally uninteresting mouthpiece for the Repukeliscum Party. Quit your column, and give up this valuable space for someone who understands politics. You do not.

Americans are not interested in a non-partisan political party. That's because we realize that politics is partisanship. We are interested in partisans who help us, rather than ones who are interested in helping themselves.

That's why your favorite party, the Repukeliscum, is losing. Too bad, you Repukeliscum mouthpiece. Stop pretending to be the mouthpiece of non-partisanship, and just admit that you are a Repukeliscum mouthpiece.
8/26/2007 11:38:55 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082402009_Comments.html

[acmavm]

1. Those responses were great. But I say never misunderestimate (thank

you george) the republican party. If they think a Bloomberg/Hagel ticket will put them in the White House, Fred and Rudy and Mike and John and the whole crew can kiss their chances and the party's endorsement good-bye.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I posted this on GDP--I agree with some of the posters on WaPo

that Broder knows the Repugs who are running are PATHETIC, and this is his way of trying to promote a better breed of Repub through the back-door of a third party. Anybody but a Democrat, to Broder.

[UTUSN]

3. As one who has sent many a critical-bomb to our elitist pundits,

they have anybody who criticizes them on perpetual "ignore."