I seriously doubt that Hagel could raise enough money to make a serious run. His appeal would be limited. As an antiwar candidate, he is a nonstarter with the right, and the left might have a problem with him when they figure out that he has a conservative voting record. Anyway, the left already has several antiwar candidates, and if Hillary gets the nomination she will have already figured out a way to appease the less stringent of the antiwar activists. If Obama gets the nomination, and that is a big if, they already have their candidate. Even if Hagel got funded for a national run, I don't see him attracting more than two or three percent of the vote.
Bloomberg certainly has the money to run as an independent, though I doubt that he would run if it looks like Giuliani is going to be the GOP nominee. It is hard to visualize having two former New York mayors running for president. Hell, most years it is hard to visualize any New York mayor running for president. Bloomberg was a registered Democrat until he ran for mayor and I suspect that he would take most of his votes away from the Democratic nominee. Having Hagel as his VP would broaden his base. A Bloomberg-Hagel ticket might end up with six to ten percent of the vote, just enough to tip the election to the GOP.
These guys could run, either independently or together, but they are not going to win. The time might be favorable for a third party effort, but it is not Bloomberg-Hagel. I can't think of a viable fusion ticket. Can you? |
