We're going to have a lot to say today about Scott Kleeb's speech last night at the Truman Dinner. For now, I want to give you an idea of how the local media sees it.
The best headline probably comes from the AP story.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Scott Kleeb sounded like a candidate tonight, speaking of change and building a better Nebraska.
The Hastings Democrat also attacked the politicians and polices that for punish small businesses, keep health care from those who need it most and ignore global warming.
But at a meeting of hundreds of party faithful, Kleeb didn't say it he was a candidate for U.S. Senate of any other office.
For much of the last year, the discussion has been about choices. The decisions and differences that existed in a political environment where we often have very little choice.
From the beginning, it was clear that this race would be the story of Nebraska politics in 2008, and, as I believed, that this race was going to be the most important race in Nebraska in 2008.
The stakes were clear. The choices that we had ahead of us were not.
Scott Kleeb has heard the call from all of us who have pledged to support him in a campaign for Senate. And in a video message to his supporters, Kleeb lays down a challenge for everyone who wants this campaign to succeed. Let's make this our campaign, together.
Kleeb makes it clear that this is a decision that we all must make. We have to realize that this is our campaign, our future at stake here. The people of Nebraska deserve a choice. And those of us who want Scott to run cannot be passive and waiting. He has issued a challenge to each and every one of us: Step Forward and make this campaign ours.
As the New Nebraska Network first reported last Monday, Republican Tony Raimondo is considering running for Senate as a Democrat. In today's Lincoln Journal Star, he openly considered the possibility in an interview with Don Walton.
Columbus industrialist Tony Raimondo said Monday he’s considering entering the 2008 Senate race as a Democrat.
Raimondo, who stepped away from a possible Republican bid after Mike Johanns entered the contest, said he’s been urged by national and state Democratic officials to consider making the race within their party.
"Those discussions are continuing to move on," Raimondo said. "Obviously, there’s some interest on both sides."
Ryan Anderson at the New Nebraska Network reported this morning on the increased chatter that Republican businessman Tony Raimondo was considering running for Senate... as a Democrat. This is a terrifying proposition, as I will explain in a moment, but worse than that is the information that we are hearing from several sources: the DSCC and the NDP are actively recruiting Raimondo to run for this Senate seat. Their logic? Money trumps all. Because it worked so well for 2006 Republican Senate candidate Pete Ricketts.
The table is set. Labor Day is upon us, and a number of political deadlines are approaching. Decisions ready to be made. Political heavyweights ready to enter the arena, and some apparently ready to exit.
I've devoted quite a bit of virtual ink to this race, repeating myself dozens of times, going over every single sign, detail, rumor, or press account to get a better picture of what I believe is the most important race in Nebraska - for Nebraska - in 2008.
The evolution of this race - from the initial rumors of Hagel's retirement, to Mike Fahey's potential entry into the race, Hagel's March "announcement," and Bruning's primary challenge, followed by Kerrey's interest in a potential candidacy, has been one of the most fascinating stories of this young election cycle.
In late 2005, a ranch hand from Dunning, Nebraska, with a PhD in history from Yale launched a seemingly hopeless campaign for Congress. The western two-thirds of Nebraska voted for Bush by a 3-1 margin in 2004. Tom Osborne, the current Congressman, was retiring to run for Governor of Nebraska, but it was still such a significant uphill battle that Scott Kleeb was basically laughed out of the office when he approached national Democratic Party officials about running.
But Kleeb was not deterred. And over the next several months, he spoke to people across the third district of Nebraska, listening to their concerns, and spreading a real message of hope for all Nebraskans. Then a funny thing happened: people started believing. By September, his internal polling was showing him ahead of Republican candidate Adrian Smith. A week before the election, George Bush had to come to Grand Island, Nebraska, to bail Smith out. And though, in the end, the election went to Smith, it was not a failure. Scott Kleeb connected with people, many of whom had never even met a Democrat, let alone voted for one. And it's that encouragement that leads to the next chapter of this campaign.
After offering a bleak assessment of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said today that he was urging lawmakers and President Bush to change course quickly to protect a further erosion of America’s standing in the world.
"We’re heading into a very partisan era," Mr. Lugar said in an interview today, following a speech he delivered on the Senate floor on Monday night in which he called on the administration to rethink its Iraq strategy. "The president has the opportunity now to bring about a bipartisan foreign policy. I don’t think he’ll have that option very long."
Clearly, Lugar "gets it." As a Republican who has now turned against Bush's disastrous foreign policy in Iraq, we should embrace him as a progressive hero. After all, he's such a strong supporter of progressive values.
The scene was set last night for the triumphant return of a native son of Nebraska, a former governor and two-term Senator, Bob Kerrey, to the Nebraska political scene.
At the annual Morrison-Exon Dinner, named for the fathers of the modern Nebraska Democratic Party (or, as Kerrey called them in his Keynote address, "Nebraska's favorite 'carpetbaggers,'" a not-so-subtle dig at those who question his credentials as a Nebraskan), Kerrey gave just enough hints that he might be running for U.S. Senate. This after weeks of rumors among the mainstream press and local Democratic circles.
A socially liberal Senator from a deep red state is eying a return to politics that could reinvigorate and reenergize the Nebraska Democratic Party in 2008. What's more - he's incredibly popular, still, and stands a very good chance of winning. In Nebraska.
So what's the left's problem with Bob Kerrey? Why are many lionizing a conservative Republican like Chuck Hagel while demonizing a progressive Democrat like Kerrey?
The Democratic Party has lost its way. Nowhere is this more apparent than the man we have chosen to be our standard bearer since 1896. We have allowed the free silver movement and the religious fanatics to infect our party. What of the days of the Bourbon Democrats? Grover Cleveland, after all, is our most successful Democratic President in the last 50 years. (Buchanan may have challenged him were it not for that whole unpleasantness that followed.)
Where are our J. Sterling Mortons? Our Samuel Tildens? Are we going to allow our party to be taken over by these people? These so-called "progressives?"
And so it begins. The opening shots in the right-wing blogosphere's "Lieberman moment." I've spent a lot of time on the similarities between this race and Lieberman/Lamont (as well as some of the differences.) But you have to wonder if the right-wingers see it this way.
Well, maybe not. Venture with me into enemy territory, after the flip...
Thursday, Jon Bruning announced that he is officially challenging Chuck Hagel for the Republican nomination for Senate. Bruning took care to characterize it as a primary challenge to Hagel, a risky move if Hagel decides not to run for reelection.
We talked a lot on Thursday and Friday here about the similarities between this race and the CT-Sen primary in 2006. Which, of course, brings us to the question: what happens if Hagel loses?
Jon Bruning may be the only person in Nebraska politics who is still running under the assumption that Chuck Hagel will be running for reelection. Today, he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, characterizing it as a primary challenge to Chuck Hagel:
"I've chosen this path because conservative Nebraskans deserve a leader who will support and defend the principles and values of the Republican Party," Bruning said in a statement. "I am disappointed we have not received that leadership from Chuck Hagel."
While we were bringing in a Presidential candidate to Omaha, Nebraska, another potential candidate was holding a fundraiser on Friday - Senator Chuck Hagel. Ostensibly for a Senate reelection bid, Hagel brought in some prominent Republicans from around the country, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell had some interesting comments to the Lincoln Journal Star’s Don Walton:
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell lavished praise Friday on Sen. Chuck Hagel and said many of his warnings about the Iraq war have been validated. "Many of the predictions Chuck Hagel made about the war came true," the Kentucky senator said in a brief interview after his remarks at a fundraising reception. "They have proven to be accurate."
Hagel’s views on the war "have not diminished his effectiveness," McConnell said, and may, in fact, increase his effectiveness over time.
Diversity committees for Health and Human Services can celebrate food from around the world.
They can bring in Polynesian dancers for a program on Pacific Rim and Asian cultures.
They can talk about Mardi Gras, black history and the Chinese New Year.
But they cannot provide any information that relates to people who are gay.
In fact, state HHS leaders recently ordered a Lincoln-based diversity committee to remove one speaker from an informational forum focusing on family diversity because the woman was in a same-sex partnership.
Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Despite all of the signs showing Chuck Hagel likely pursuing a reelection bid, the news in the past week has been bizarre and contradictory. A prominent Republican donor has thrown himself into the conversation, Hagel's making noises about an independent bid for President, and the chatter among Democrats is ramping up.
So, let's take a look at the facts, the rumors, and everything in between.
The Nebraska Democratic Party released polling information today that showed an extremely vulnerable Chuck Hagel hovering at 42% approval in the state. But the most significant finding of the poll was the question about Iraq:
Among those Nebraskans surveyed, 51 percent favor a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq, while only 37 percent believe we need to give the President’s troop surge plan a chance to work. We believe those margins will continue to widen as the President’s policy plays out in the next several months.
