Another media member summarized today's press conference by Hagel like this:
"My announcement today is to announce that I will not be making an announcement today. I will now take questions for 30 minutes."
The Leavenworth Street blog, which describes itself as "The Talk of Nebraska Politics," wrote: "Uh, what was the point?"Steve Clemons, publisher of the popular political blog, TheWashingtonNote.com, wrote: "Senator Chuck Hagel is at this moment launching a "non-campaign campaign."
Omaha Bureau Associated Press writer Margery Beck wrote, "In an odd twist, the Nebraska senator called a news conference to say he would decide about his political future later this year, saying a late entry into the 2008 race is still possible."
The Wall Street Journal's Jackie Calmes, in a story headlined "Hagel Says Never Mind," wrote that "the maverick Republican may get the prize for the best announcement tease in a 2008 cycle that’s already been full of them."
The National Journal Hotline brought up something many Nebraska media outlets have seemingly ignored: that during Hagel's 1996 Senate campaign he said, "I support term limits. However, I will not need term limits. Twelve years in Congress is enough for anyone."
For years, the Omaha World-Herald has taught its reporters to refer to "news conferences" as "press conferences." Now we know why.
