Sunday evening after putting my Jim Esch yard sign back into the garage I was the lucky recipient of a GOTV phone call from his campaign. After demanding an explanation as to why Esch would endorse a Republican over Scott Kleeb the caller informed me that he had an email from Jim spelling out his reasons behind the endorsement. He hoped it might shed some light as to why he did it. Of course I was very interested because there hasn't been very much coverage by the local media about it and Esch's website had zero information about it.
The email I received seems to be a memo to his volunteers. Clearly his decision has upset some in his camp. It does indeed shed light on a candidate that will do anything to get elected and shows little regard for his grassroots base.
The introduction is basic stating Raimondo is the stronger candidate against Johanns in the fall. But the 2nd graph really grabbed my atttention:
Secondly, we believe our campaign is sitting pretty well for the primary and thought it was worth the risk to expend a little political capital in order to accomplish the following...
Now you can see where this is going:
- A coordinated campaign. It has become clear to me that the national party is willing to run a coordinated campaign in Nebraska, if and only if, Tony Raimondo is the nominee....This means significant resources will be spent here which will not only help my chances of winning, but the chances of everyone else on the ticket in Douglas and Sarpy counties.
So if Kleeb wins Obama won't come to the state? The national party won't support him? Bush came to Nebraska last time around because Kleeb was viewed as a true threat.
- Turnout. Turnout is not looking so good for the primary. This does not bode well for our "lower" ticket races, especially those that are technically nonpartisan. A move like this stirs the pot, generates buzz, and we hope increases voter participation for Tuesday.
- Free press. This announcement gave almost as much press as we received in the entire 2006 election. This increased name identification is overall a good thing a few days ahead of the primary election.
So he did it for shock value? He sure shocked his grassroot supporters. Shocked them over to the Carter camp.
- An appeal to moderates and independents. This endorsement furthers my credentials as a moderate Democrat. Some of you may not like hearing that, but it's who I am and it's the type of voters I need to win in November. In 2006 I attracted a broad base of support that included Democrats and moderate Republicans. One of the great strengths of our district is our tendency to rise above bitter partisanship. I am proud of our campaign’s ability to reach out to people across the political spectrum on a range of different issues.
So its politics as usual in Nebraska. Its all about money and rolling over for Republicans. Ben Nelson would be proud of Mr. Esch.
Esch then ends it saying that he has no hard feelings against Kleeb and he will support him in the general if he wins. Wow. Won't that be fun to watch.
While you're shaking your head at Esch's reasoning behind the endorsement of a Republican over Scott Kleeb - why not shoot some cash to Richard Carter
and to our good friend Scott Kleeb