http://www.omaha.com/...
According to the article:
WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday.
Hagel plans to announce that "he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," said one person, who asked not to be named.
Other media sources reported on Friday that Hagel was announcing his future plans on Monday. This article is dated Saturday, and thus probably came through within the last hour or two. This will likely trigger a chain of events. What may well end up happening, is that former democratic senator Bob Kerrey decides to seek Hagel's seat. Kerrey has already told the New School University, where he is president, that he may be leaving his position soon.
This would put a filibuster-proof senate majority a little closer. I still don't think we will get there in 2008, but we may get close. I think that if we don't do it in 2008, we will have a very good chance in 2010. There are so many vulnerable republican senators up in 2010 (in NC, FL, NH, MO, KY, PA, OH, ect). We may finally be able to undo the damage that the fringe right wing has done to this country.
Now we just need to convince Mark Warner, Bob Kerrey, and Jeanne Shaheen to run for senate.
Update: Another newspaper is confirming the retirement story. This looks real, folks.
http://www.journalstar.com/...