Throughout his career, Senator Chuck Hagel was loyal to his party and voted the party line. However, he was not a lemming. His courageous stances against the Iraq War resulted in his party creating opposition to him in the upcoming election. Wouldn't it be sweet justice if the seat fell into Democratic hands?

Nice job, Chuck. You served your country well.

Senator Chuck Hagel has called it a career. The AP reports that the senator from Nebraska has announced that he will not seek re-election in '08. Now, while such an announcement usually gets Republican voters somewhat worried about having to work harder to defend the seat, there is very little lamenting in conservative circles regarding Hagel's departure. To put it bluntly, many conservatives are happy to see him go as Hagel has hardly been a favorite of the conservative base.

Hagel's problems with the base centered on his pro illegal immigration amnesty stance and his very public anti-Iraq war posturing. In fact, the base was so annoyed at Hagel there were calls on talk radio and on the internet for a primary challenger. This led to the bizarre rumors that Hagel (acting out of spite if a primary challenger was selected) would act as VP to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's presidential bid on a third party ticket for the White House. Of course, these rumors were never validated although there were some credible rumors that Hagel would seek the Republican nomination for president, but to say such a win would be a long shot would be the understatement of the century.

Overall this is more bad news for the GOP strategy of taking back the Senate. Chuck Hagel is retiring, and will not run for the presidency either (although that was always a long shot).

This leaves yet another open seat in a deep red state in the West. Normally conventional wisdom says that these seats are locks for Republican candidates, but the election last year of Jon Tester in Montana proved that Democrats can win these seats with the right candidate.

Last week Larry Craig announced his resignation, leaving an open seat in Idaho and earlier this year, the untimely death of Craig Thomas left an open seat in Wyoming. But Democrats may find this latest open battle in Nebraska may be the easiest to pickup. The article above reports that former senator Bob Kerrey has voiced his interest in running again and would be a formidable candidate.

For the Republicans, chances of taking back the Senate are dimming, forcing the party to win or die with the presidency.

Republican Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel must think that there is a chance for a guy like him in the GOP primary:

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., plans to make his long-awaited announcement about his political future at his alma mater Monday.

Hagel will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's alumni center.

There has been speculation in political circles for more than a year that the outspoken critic of the war in Iraq might seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008. Hagel has said for weeks that he would make an announcement about his future "soon" but hasn't indicated whether that announcement would reveal his presidential aspirations, if any, or whether he would seek re-election to the Senate in 2008.

Chuck Hagel has been garnering a lot of headlines as he has abandoned the Iraq war, voting with Democrats on the non-binding resolution and hammering the administration on their prosecution. So him running for president is absolutely crazy.