Chuck Hagel at the Cato Institute...

I traveled to the Fun Loving Cato Institute today, for a free sandwich.

Oh, and Chuck Hagel was speaking there too.

Senator Hagel was speaking at the Cato institute today with two goals in mind: Hawk his book, and give a "I am running to be Obama's VP, but don't tell anybody" speech. He all but endorsed Obama, saying that he thought that America needed a "Thoughtful" presidency and then advocating most of Obama's signature foreign policys (on Iraq, Iran, etc...). When asked by the President of the Cato Institute whether he would accept an offer of the #2 spot on a presidential ticket from either of the candidates, Hagel coyly remarked that every politician would have to at least consider the offer of the vice presidency, though the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republicans should not have the sort of policy disagreements with McCain that he has.

I had not had an opportunity to see Hagel speak before this, and he certainly impressed me as a thoughtful and wise politician. I do not know how seriously the Obama campaign is looking across the isle for a VP, but they could do a lot worse than the senator from Nebraska. The man perspires sincerity, with a kind of exasperated, "lets cut the BS and get to work" vibe.
Sure, he is out of line with the Dems on a bunch of social issues, and Sure he would present a host of succession problems for year 7-8 of an Obama administration if he goes for the top seat as a Republican. And I know that he is not one of those swing-state guys that people like to attach to tickets.

Obama-Hagel lends credence to Barak's "New Politics" message of getting beyond the Clinton-Bush partisanship, and will certainly pull across a couple wavering elephants with him. This will be especially important in those Great Plains states that usually go Red but that Obama dominated in the Primaries. He will need those states too, because I just don't see Obama winning in a 51% election. If it comes down to Ohio-Penn-Florida, McCain is the next president.
Obama's 50 state strategy is the only strategy that could work for him, because if he does not get large defections from the neglected branches of the Republican party I don't think he can win. On the other hand, one of the oddest things about the speech at Cato was how the crowd seemed to want him to throw his hat in with Obama formally, so they could have an excuse to Punish the Republican party. The President of the Cato Institute straight up said that he might go with Obama if Hagel was his running mate. This is an institute named after a guy who was almost a caricature of conservatism!
(Full Disclosure, the above point is not true, as I recently found out. The institute was named after a couple of 17th century British libertarians who wrote under the alias Cato, not the Cato of Rome. But my point still stands.)

I expect that if Obama wins in November, it will be because he is running a much better campaign than McCain is, not because of his VP choice. But Hagel should still be brought in. He is leaving the Senate this November, and a man as sensible as he appears to be should not be allowed to waste in retirement.