Looks like Senator ‘Quagmire’ Hagel is throwing in for the Presidency.

“Nebraska’s Chuck Hagel, the Senate Republican most outspoken in opposition to President Bush’s March 2003 decision to invade Iraq, is expected to announce Monday that he will make a bid for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.

Mr. Hagel’s candidacy could refocus the presidential contest debate, adding his Iraq doubts to those of former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III, currently the only prominent Republican in the race who has been skeptical about the basis of the war from the beginning.

The question on nearly every Republican’s lips yesterday was whether Mr. Hagel can raise the $100 million-plus that campaign analysts say will be needed by the end of this year to be a serious 2008 nomination contender.

“Hagel has a strong conservative record and great campaign skills, and if he could raise money, he could be a serious competitor,” said Charles Black, who has advised every Republican presidential campaign in the past 31 years. “But his opposition to the president on the Iraq war would deny him access to the great majority of primary voters. Most of them support Bush on Iraq.”

In Nebraska, Republican officials and operatives say Mr. Hagel could raise money as an anti-war Republican presidential aspirant, especially from the Omaha business community, which strongly supports him.

“He is very popular in Nebraska, and that popularity could translate into a popularity nationwide,” said Nebraska Republican Chairman Mark Quandahl.

Yeah, but he’s dead in the water here in the Florida GOP. Our opposition is more than just about his stance on the war, but because he’s a “face politician” who will say anything to get on MTP or before a microphone, even if it’s to throw a knife in the back of those of his own party.

Along with McCain, he is anathema.