Bush's ongoing effort to follow me around the west and the plains landed him in Grand Island, NE today, possibly the only town in western Nebraska with an airstrip big enough to accommodate Air Force 1. But it might not have gone exactly as planned. Here's what readers of the
Lincoln Journal Star woke up to on this Presidential visit day:
There's a good reason why Scott Kleeb has come out of nowhere in his challenge for Nebraska's 3rd District congressional seat.
He's an extraordinarily strong candidate.
The Journal Star recommends that voters send him to Washington as their representative....
Nebraska needs a representative with the smarts and insight to comprehend the implications of major policy shifts, and the negotiating talents to make sure that Nebraska's interests are represented....
Adrian Smith, the Republican candidate in the race, has damaged his credibility by accepting more than $450,000 from the Club for Growth, which wants to abolish farm subsidies.
Kleeb clearly would be a more effective representative for the 3rd District in Congress.
Kleeb has received key statewide and district newspaper endorsements from the Omaha World Herald, the Kearny Hub, and the Sidney Sun-Telegraph. As Markos said in an earlier post today, endorsements in rural and small town newspapers (not to mention the major papers in rural states) can make a big impact on voters.
And it doesn't hurt to have a really smart candidate, too. Here's how he responded to Bush's statements today that Nebraska needed to send someone who understood farming and ranching to DC. He agreed with him, and then said:
"Having worked on a cattle ranch beginning in 1998, I have the real-world experience in agriculture that Adrian Smith does not have," Kleeb said. "Adrian Smith, on the other hand, received over $550,000 from the anti-agriculture special interest group Club for Growth."
"They want to end all farm subsidies and eliminate the Department of Agriculture," Kleeb continued. "If that is not a misunderstanding of agriculture, I don't know what is."