Justin's Monday Political News 9.17.07

Posted by Justin Baragona on 09.17.2007

We have a new Attorney General, Thompson and Giuliani are now in a dead heat and Chuck Hagel calls it quits.

Well, how about this? I'm posting a news column on Monday instead of Thursday. I'm sure you are confused, as you should be. But do not worry, this is not a permanent situation. As you may know, I was on vacation for a while. However, I had stated that I was going to be back in time to post a column last Thursday. Unfortunately, work interfered and I was unable to get anything written and posted in time. It appears, though, that we do not have a Monday news column currently so I told the bossman that for one week only I would post a Monday news column as well as my normal Thursday column this week, considering that I bailed on my normal duties last week. So, here you go, I nice little treat: Justin's Monday Political News.


CNN reported this on their website on Sunday evening regarding a new US Attorney General:


"Former federal judge Michael Mukasey has accepted President Bush's offer to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales."


Michael Mukasey is a retired federal judge who was appointed to his federal position in 1988 by Ronald Reagan and served as chief judge of the Southern District in New York until 2006. The formal announcement that Mukasey is the new US Attorney General should be made sometime on Monday. Current Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has already tendered his resignation and will step down on Monday, so it appears that the White House did not want to have an interim AG until a replacement was found. If there was to be an interim replacement for Gonzales, it was to be Solicitor General Paul Clement.

To be honest, I think the White House just wanted to put a safe, non-controversial choice in the role for this last year-plus that Bush has left in office. Mukasey should have no problem getting confirmed by the Senate, as liberal lobbying groups and even legislators have stated in the past that they would not have a problem with Mukasey should he be nominated for a Supreme Court seat or a Justice Department position. It looks like Bush is just not in any kind of position or mood to have a confirmation battle go on, especially as he is an unpopular President heading up a very unpopular war.



CNN political analyst Bill Schneider had this to say about Thompson gaining in the polls against Giuliani:


"Thompson has the edge among evangelical Republicans and especially among his fellow southerners; that's where Thompson has made the biggest gains."


In the latest CNN poll, Fred Thompson was at 27 percent among Republicans, which was only one percent behind leader Rudy Giuliani. Thompson officially joined the presidential race last week. A month prior in the same CNN poll, Thompson was at 22 percent while Giuliani was at 29 percent. Rounding out the poll, Sen. John McCain was at 15 percent, thus showing he is not quite dead yet in this race. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney was at 11 percent and Mike Huckabee gained in the standings by coming in at 5 percent. No other Republican was over 2 percent. Of course, many GOP voters are not satisfied with any of these candidates, as 25 percent stated that they would choose none of the above in the poll.

The poll also showed the results if either Giuliani or Thompson would run against the Democratic frontrunners at this moment. It showed that Thompson would get trounced by Sen. Hillary Clinton by 13 percentage points, while Giuliani would only be defeated by 4 points. Against Sen. Barack Obama, Thompson would also be way behind, this time by 12 points, whereas Giuliani again would make it much closer, coming in at only 4 points down. Researchers feel the reason that Thompson would not fare as well as Giuliani even though he is polling nearly the same among Republicans is that Giuliani is a more familiar name and that most people have already formed an opinion of him. About half of all registered voters have no opinion of Thompson or have not heard of him.

I agree with what Bill Schneider said above. Thompson is from Tennessee and represented them in the Senate. Southern Evangelicals are much more likely to trust him and feel that he will represent their values and interests, especially over Giuliani who is from New York and has had public scrutiny put upon him regarding his personal life as well as his supposedly moderate stances on such issues as abortion and gay marriage. Southern Christians didn't really have a candidate that they could relate to in this race, other than possibly Sam Brownback from Kansas or Mike Huckabee from Arkansas. However, those two have not been regarded as viable threats to win the presidency, despite the strides Huckabee has made recently. So therefore, they will naturally be attracted the Thompson if for nothing else than his Southern accent, tough guy swagger, and the good old boy persona he is conveying.


Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) made the following announcement last Monday:


"I'm here with my family to announce I will not seek re-election nor will I be a candidate for any office in 2008."


It appears that Chuck Hagel has finally tired of being one of the outspoken critics within his party on the Iraq War and has decided that enough is enough and it is time to go home. Hagel has also stated that he will not be seeking a Presidential nomination in 2008, whether it be as a Republican or a third-party candidate. Hagel was on 'Real Time with Bill Maher' this past weekend and did state that he felt that his party had been overrun with incompetence. He also made more critical comments about the Iraq War and the way the Bush Administration has handled it.

Chuck Hagel got involved in politics in 1971 when he worked as a staffer for Rep. John McCollister (R-NE). Prior to working for McCollister, Hagel had served in Vietnam from 1967-69 as a Sargent in the US Army and received several medals for his service, including the Purple Heart. He finished college at the University of Nebraska at Omaha when he returned from Vietnam. After he worked for McCollister, he became a lobbyist in Washington and then worked on the presidential campaign for Ronald Reagan. When Reagan was elected, Hagel served on his staff as a deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration but resigned in 1982 over a disagreement on how funds would be handled and the possibility of VA programs being cut.

After he left the Reagan Administration, he entered the private sector and made a buttload of money by founding a mobile phone manufacturer. During this time, he also served on the boards of other companies and organizations before eventually moving back to Nebraska in 1992 to become president of an investment banking firm. In 1996, he decided to get back into politics by running for US Senate against the then-current governor, Ben Nelson. He ended up defeating him in what was described as a big upset at the time, as he captured 56% of the vote. (No need to fret for Nelson, however; he won the other Nebraska Senate seat in 2000.) Hagel was easily re-elected in 2002. Since the onset of the Iraq War, Hagel has been very critical of the White House and has compared the Iraq War to Vietnam on many occasions. He also made the following quote regarding the White House and what he feels is the tendency of this administration to politicize terrorist threats and national security for its gain: "National security is more important than the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. And to use it to try and get someone elected will ultimately end up in defeat and disaster for that political party."

While Hagel has been at odds with both his political party and the White House the past few years, his retirement still is not a good thing for the GOP. Right now, Democrats hold a very thin lead in the Senate, 51 to 49. However, Republicans have 2 of their seats coming up for re-election in 2008, while Democrats only have 12 of their seats up. Also, 3 of the Republicans' sitting Senators have announced they will be retiring in 2008: Hagel, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO). There is the potential that all three of these seats could go to the Democrats, especially if former Se. Bob Kerrey decides to run in Nebraska. Other seats that are in trouble in '08 for the Republicans are in Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Oregon. All of these states are left-leaning or moderate states with Republican Senators running for re-election.



Well, that's going to do it for me today. Have a great week and I will be back on Thursday with more news in the realm of politics.