Hagel: 2002 election colors congressional agenda

From Brad Wright
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, told a group of lobbyists Wednesday that the midterm election in November 2002 will have an impact on everything Congress does between now and then.

His blunt assessment of the political environment on Capitol Hill even included his own legislation for campaign finance reform, which is an alternative to the McCain-Feingold bill that would ban all so-called "soft money" donations.

"I think it's very fair to say that the Democrats feel somewhat enthused that they have a rather good shot at picking the Senate up and maybe even the House," Hagel said.

"We can't ... take that piece of reality in this business and set that aside and say, well, that doesn't count. And the Republicans on my side understand that [the] majority is in fact up for grabs next year. So there's not a decision made up here that doesn't have that factor coursing through that current."

Hagel poked a little bit of fun at his Senate colleagues -- including fellow Republicans -- who voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to tack on an amendment to the McCain-Feingold measure that would allow larger contributions of so-called "hard money" to candidates facing wealthy opponents funding their own campaigns.

Some in the Senate ridiculed the amendment, calling it the "Incumbent Protection Act."

"We took a day and a half to make sure that no millionaires could oust any of my colleagues from their seats," Hagel said. "And many of my colleagues used terms like, 'my seat,' 'our seat,' don't let anybody threaten that, of course."

"Some of my colleagues acted on the floor of the Senate like incumbents were powerless little entities," he laughed, adding sarcastically, "They had no resources, just bit players on the side, nobody returns a call to the United States Senate."

Indeed, he defended the right of millionaire John Corzine, a Democrat, to outspend Rep. Bob Franks, R-New Jersey, in their Senate race last year.

"John Corzine got hit on the front page of every major newspaper, The New York Times, every one of them said, 'You're buying a Senate seat,'" Hagel said. "And what happened? The people of New Jersey said, 'No, we want John Corzine.'

"He won a majority of the vote. Well, who are we to say that they don't have that right in making that decision? My point in using that example is that at some point we are going to have to go back and allow the people to make the choices here."

Hagel, a strong supporter of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year, said that creating sweeping new changes in campaign financing would not necessarily change what people think about politicians, noting that although there are laws against violent crime, such crime still occurs.

Rather, he said, it has more to do with the personal conduct of each individual in public service to do what is right. He referred to reports that President Clinton paid back top donors with a stay in the Lincoln Bedroom, saying such suspected means of fund raising pushed the envelope of what is right.

"The law says you can do this and not do this, and so you just technically interpret every dynamic of that, and everything between going to jail and staying out of jail is free game," Hagel said. "I don't think that's the answer."

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