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February 12, 2006
Check this out
Today's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a terrific profile by Joe Lelyveld of Sen. Chuck Hagel. It's one of those early introductions that New Hampshire presidential primary watchers feast on in the long off-season.
Hagel's a conservative Republican and Vietnam combat veteran who has been critical of the Iraq war and President Bush's big domestic programs. He's not committed to a run for the presidency, but he's thinking hard about it and visiting all the right places, including a trip to New Hampshire next month.
The profile is fascinating. Check it out.
Posted by Mike Pride at February 12, 2006 11:22 PM
Comments
I also enjoyed the Chuck Hagel profile. He seems like an intriguing potential presidential candidate. However, I couldn't help feeling that Lelyveld's article represented yet another example of the mainstream media's bias towards non-mainstream Republicans. At certain points in the article, it felt like Lelyveld was tying himself in knots trying to explain why Hagel is a conservative, but not a bad conservative. As an editor, do you think the media is biased towards figures like McCain, Bruce Bartlett and Hagel? Do reporters gravitate towards these politicians because they are skeptics of the Iraq war, or support condoms in Africa, or occasionally oppose Bush? Or is it just that their unpredictable quotes make good copy?
Posted by: Jonah at February 14, 2006 12:00 PM