Did NEA Help Derail Hagels Presidential Plans?
In a rather odd event today, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel announced that he wasn’t yet ready to announce plans for his political future. There has been speculation that Hagel wants to enter the 2008 race for the Republican Presidential nomination. It was Hagel’s second odd event in a month, and EIA wonders if the two are connected. On February 9, Sen. Hagel became the first elected national Republican in living memory to address a meeting of the NEA Board of Directors. Hagel received a warm welcome from the union directors, particularly after NEA President Reg Weaver introduced him as someone who was opposed to school vouchers. To his credit, Hagel didn’t let that big meatball just lie there, but told his audience that he was opposed to any voucher programs at the federal level, and that state voucher programs were the business of each individual state (Holy cow! Is he a federalist?) Unfortunately for Hagel, his clarification didn’t sit well with his new NEA friends, and the temperature in
