The Republicans Get Their Lieberman

The Republicans like Joe Lieberman so much they've now got their own Lieberman, Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.

Sen. Hagel is just as out of touch with the Bush administration and the Republicans as Lieberman is with the Democrats. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Hagel sounded more like John Murtha or Ned Lamont than a conservative Republican from the Great Plains. Hagel views Iraq as being just like Vietnam, wants to withdraw American troops within a year, opposes the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, and wonders how the Republicans became the party of big government.

And Hegel is a particular thorn in the Bush administration's side. Because Sen. Hagel served in Vietnam, he has an aura of authenticity on the war that draft dodgers like Dick Cheney and George Bush can't match. That's why progressive Democrats like Arianna Huffington are as quick to headline the criticisms of "war-hero" Chuck Hagel as the Bush administration is to trumpet "liberal Democrat" Joe Lieberman.

Red State Impressions agrees a lot more with Hagel and the Democrats than Lieberman and the Republicans. In a way, however, both Hagel and Lieberman serve a crucial function in the war debate. By bucking the dominant position of their own parties, Hagel gives the public an opportunity to focus on the facts of the situation in Iraq and form their own judgment.

As Hagel said, the war in Iraq is a "real" as opposed to just another wedge issue.