NE-Sen: Former Republican Announces Senate Bid

A couple months ago, we heard this rumor. That the DSCC was recruiting a Republican to run for Senate as a Democrat. That Scott Kleeb was their second choice. That they wanted one of their own in Washington. It's reality now.

Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo today announced that he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel.

Raimondo, who switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party in December, said he was filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to begin his campaign.

"I pledge to be a public servant—not a professional politician. I will bring my real world business experience to Washington and fight against the career politicians who unwittingly stifle innovation, economic opportunity and development," Raimondo said.

Raimondo is chairman of Behlen Manufacturing Co. in Columbus. He's the first Democrat to enter the Senate race.

Scott Kleeb is close to a decision.

A while ago, I wrote about the choices we face in this election. Those choices still face us today. It's between someone we can trust, and a marriage of convenience. Between money and principle. In my view, between winning and losing. Tony Raimondo shot himself in the foot from the very beginning.

If it was the intention of Tony Raimondo to present himself as a disillusioned Republican who saw the light and became a Democrat, he really didn't plan it that well. When he dropped out of the Republican primary, he made it pretty clear that he was dropping out mostly because of money. (How wonderful, then, to see the story about our newest "Democrat" juxtaposed on the news with the story of Mike Johanns raising $1 million. Don't think that wasn't lost on news editors across the state tonight.) Maybe it was hubris, or a lack of political instinct, but then, really, Tony Raimondo had to have been assured that he wouldn't be challenged. Otherwise, why take the risk?

The calculus changed the day before Tony Raimondo switched parties. Scott Kleeb made a signal to all of us. He was seriously considering this race.

The choice comes now. Will we be the party of the lifelong Republican who chooses to be a Democrat out of political expediency, or will we be the party of someone who understands what the Democratic Party is about. A common message. A common purpose. Not a message of the businesses, but the message of those who are seeing their jobs shipped overseas. Not a message of the CEOs, but the labor unions they are trying to bust. Not a message of money, but a message of hope.

This is about all of us. As Nebraskans. As Democrats. Scott Kleeb will likely make a decision in the next week. I think our choice is clear.

•  Tip Jar

  Draft Kleeb.

  by ptmflbcs on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 09:54:11 AM PDT

•  Agree with you

  Nebraska is a small enough state, population-wise, to try for a reallignment and get a more genuine populist Democrat elected.  Kleeb may well have won his very conservative district had the DCCC had the good sense to fund him adequately.  

  by ivorybill on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 09:59:41 AM PDT

•  There is only one explanation for the DSCC

  That they want the Republicans to spend quite a bit of money in this unexpected race and that they are willing to sacrifice an up and coming progressive Senator in Kleeb in order to screw up the Republican Senate election plans.  Quite a steep price to pay and entirely unfair for Kleeb.

  Hopefully his name has been in the news enough in Nebraska so that his name recognition and his progressive ideals are clear to Democratic voters in the state.  Thanks for the update.

  by BasharH on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 10:34:26 AM PDT

  •  Wealthy businessmen.

      They are ridiculously unpopular and unsuccessful in statewide races.  When is the last time a candidate with no credentials besides self-funding capability was actually elected?  I can't think of one.  Have the DC morons learned nothing from the Jack Davis debacle in New York?  Clearly not.

    by redrelic17 on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 10:47:00 AM PDT

    •  You'd think the DSCC would

      Not root for any self-funding candidate in a Senate race just to highlight all of the self-funding candidates on the Republican side.  I almost heard that powerful theme of "well, at least Democrats do not have to buy their elections and Congressional seats."  Oh well, that won't work in Nebraska, surely.

      by BasharH on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 11:22:56 AM PDT

  •  Not Sure

    I know nothing about Nebraska politics and know nothing about either Democratic hopeful.

    However, I do know that we liberal Democrats have been extremely happy with a recently elected US Senator who had been a lifelong Republican and switched to the Democratic Party and proceeded to beat a GOP incumbent and give us the majority in the US Senate.

    His name is Jim Webb.

    Maybe this newly minted Democrat is another Jim Webb.  I don't know, and you probably don't know either.  

    by tailor324 on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 11:27:27 AM PDT

    •  You're right, I don't know too much about

      The Nebraska race.  However, Jim Webb is a pretty extraordinary person and Senator, and I don't think this newly-minted Democratic Senate candidate is quite in the same class.

      I do know that Scott Kleeb is quite a progressive candidate having followed his campaign for the 3rd district in Nebraska in 2006.  I would think he is a great choice for a senator, even when he didn't win his House race.

      At any rate, Virginia is also quite different from Nebraska; and while Virginia has been quickly trending Democratic for years now, I'm not sure if you can depend on the same luck with a Senate candidate from Nebraska.  I hear echoes of support from the DSCC for Harold Ford in Tennessee in 2006, where he ran a campaign fit for a conservative Democrat and where he ended up not doing very well against a Republican candidate who was in trouble from the beginning.  This in contrast to McCaskill and Webb and Tester who were campaigning like crazy with progressive issues in tow.

      I hope I'm wrong about this.  But either way, chalk up another state where Republicans will need to play defense, on territory they didn't even know could be endangered.

      by BasharH on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 11:58:57 AM PDT

    •  Raimondo is definitely not a Jim Webb

      Raimondo is a big business, anti-labor, opportunist.

      by NebraskaLefty on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 12:13:51 PM PDT

    •  Webb switched parties...

      ...because he was fed up with the Republicans, and because he was urged to run as a Democrat by many grassroots activists.

      This guy, on the other hand, actually tried running as a Republican in this Senate race first, but dropped out of the GOP race because he couldn't raise enough money.  He then decided to "switch" parties only after being courted by the DSCC and Nebraska's (overly conservative) Democratic Senator.  If I recall correctly, prior to his involvement in the Senate bid, this guy was President Bush's selection for manufacturing czar.  I think Senate Democrats blocked his selection, after bringing up his love for outsourcing as a business practice.

      In short: I'm not confident that this guy will be anything at all like Jim Webb.

      by WayneNight on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 05:41:42 PM PDT

•  This just goes to show.

  Sen. Ben Nelson is the guy behind the curtains jerking the strings on Nebraska Democratic Party State Chair, Steve Achelpohl to garner support for this very stupid move. Nelly's support for his BFF, Behlen Mfg. CEO, Tony Raimondo, is payment due on all the freebie flights in the Behlen corporate jet (Nelson used to be on Behlen's board too).

  The Constitution and Bylaws of the NDP very clearly states that Mr. Raimondo's name shall not be placed on our party's primary ballot since he had shown the intent to run for this seat on the Republican ballot earlier last year. Any officer of the NDP that supports his candidacy will be committing an impeachable offense.

  It is time for those Nebraska Democrats that really stand for something to fight against having this lifelong Republican, anti-union, Chinese factory building, opportunist on our ballot.

  Me? I've already got a call in to the Nebraska Attorney General to see what can be done with those officers in our party that won't abide by the rules which regulate it.

  Brian T. Osborn
  Chair - Phelps County Democrats
  Delegate - NDP State Central Committee, LD38

  by NebraskaLefty on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 12:24:50 PM PDT

  •  My question

    I thought the DSCC was basically staying out of it, and Raimondo was ALL Nelson's doing.

    by mcjoan on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 01:43:23 PM PDT

    •  It's a little of both...

      A couple days after Kerrey declined to run, Raimondo dropped out of the Republican race. Nelson clearly played a big role in this - he and Raimondo are close. And the DSCC met with Raimondo and offered him more than they were willing to offer Scott Kleeb - at the time. Nelson was clearly pushing the idea, and the DSCC assumed given Kleeb's silence that he was not running.

      Since then, the game has changed a bit. Draft Kleeb really started moving when the Raimondo rumors came out. The establishment in this state is seeing the advantages of a competitive primary - I think Kleeb is welcoming the opportunity as well.

      I would not be surprised at all to see Scott Kleeb enter the race by the end of this week.

      by ptmflbcs on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 03:16:47 PM PDT

•  *sigh*

  If Raimondo is the nominee, it's going to bite us in the ass.

  I don't know how.  I don't know when.  But, I do know that it will.

  by WayneNight on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 05:11:10 PM PDT