Chuck Hagel For President?

I've been watching Senator Hagel on the Sunday news programs for the past several months. He's considering a run for President and I'd be tempted to vote for him, but he has scored a big fat ZERO rating from the Human Rights Campaign for the past three legislative sessions.

The only glimmer of hope that I can see is that he skipped the vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment and that HRC's ratings include whether someone is a co-sponsor of such bills as Hate Crimes and ENDA. Lots of Democrats haven't signed on as co-sponsors either.

I know he's a social conservative but I'd still like to see the Democrats put these bills to a vote so we can pin everyone down in writing before the 2008 election. Until there's a vote where candidates have to put their money where their mouth is, it's all policial spin. That goes for Clinton, Obama, Edwards, McCain and the rest of the pack, too.

Hagel needs to get with the program. A recent survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found a "dramatic shift" in political party identification since 2002, when Republicans and Democrats were at rough parity. Now, 50% of those surveyed identified with or leaned toward Democrats, whereas 35% aligned with Republicans.
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