Chuck Hagel Outs "Party of 'No'"

I saw reference to this article by Zaid Jilani on Politics Plus and thought it was extremely interesting - a former Republican senator admits that the GOP is the party of "no."

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the chairman of the Atlantic Council, recently sat down for an interview with the Washington Diplomat. In the interview, the former senator touched on a variety of topics, including what he feels is the need for the United States to “unwind” from the war in Afghanistan. Towards the end of the interview, Hagel says that while he has “no plans to renounce his membership in the party,” he finds that the Republican Party of which he is a part is not “presenting any new alternatives, any new options, or any new thinking“:

“I don’t see them presenting any alternatives, any new options or any new thinking,” Hagel said. “If the Republicans get back in power, what are they going to do? There is no articulation. It’s just a ‘no no no, I’m against Obama because he’s a socialist and he’s taking America in the wrong direction.’ That’s certainly an opinion, but what about you, Mr. Republican? What would you do?”

As a Republican, I agree with Hagel, and it was that reason why I didn't vote for John McCain in 2008 - Obama presented a different (sometimes vague) philosophy of governing while McCain offered an even vaguer plan of action. The Republican party complained during the health care debates that they were being shut out of talks and that the Democrats refused to listen to them, but where were the many GOP plans? They failed to make a public appeal for an alternative, and instead opted to just say "no."