5.30.00
A Hagel Gaffe

5/30/00 4:55 p.m.
A Hagel Gaffe
The latest v.p. rumblings.

By National Review staff

harp veep-watchers on Capitol Hill are clucking over a misstep by frequently mentioned McCainaic Senator Chuck Hagel (R., Neb.).

On May 17, the Omaha World-Herald reported that "somehow" Hagel was the only Senate Republican — the only one smart enough was the implication — to ask Gov. Bush what he thought about a GOP-backed amendment to impose a deadline on withdrawing troops from Kosovo. Hagel announced Bush's opposition, which may have helped defeat the amendment, at a meeting with his GOP colleagues.

The problem? Hagel's announcement was premature, embarrassing the Bush campaign and infuriating Sen. John Warner, who was waiting for the campaign's response to his inquiry about its position on what, after all, was his amendment. Another senator — one who had supported Bush during the primaries — complained that he too had unsuccessfully tried to get the governor's response to the amendment.

Hagel, the former national co-chairman of Sen. McCain's presidential race, modestly told the Omaha paper that "it was my feeling that we ought to run this by our candidate for president. Not only to get his sense of this, but to get him engaged in it." Good idea!

Copies of the Omaha story, with Hagel gleefully tooting his own horn and implying that the Bush campaign was asleep at the switch on an important Senate vote, are circulating at Bush's Austin headquarters. So is the notion that Chuck Hagel might be too McCain-like — too preening and self-promoting — to suit their taste in a ticket-mate.

Old News
In its June 5th issue, Time magazine reports that Gov. Bush is thinking that former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri might be a good veep pick. But we knew that — and reported it online in an NR Comment on March 28th. Stay tuned to "The Vice Beat" for all the latest.

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