Kleeb for U.S. Senate?

First, sent in by a Leavenworth Street reader, a Separated at Birth for our headliner of the day...

"Hot Rancher" and potential U.S. Senate candidate, Scott Kleeb

and

"Knight Rider" and always Beefcake candidate, David Haselhoff

(Whose pants are tighter?)

Back in April, Leavenworth Street pointed out the dilemma faced by Nebraska Democrats for the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Namely, that Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and now former Senator Bob Kerrey have both said that if Chuck Hagel decides to run for re-election that they will NOT run for seat. (And, btw, Don Walton has suggested that Hagel could be announcing his decision on July 3rd…)

So the dilemma for the Dems comes in the fact that Attorney General Jon Bruning’s polling shows that he could beat Hagel in the GOP primary -- but Dems figure that they could beat Bruning with either Kerrey or Fahey, but neither would be in the race at that point. What to do?

Enter “The Hot Rancher”, Scott Kleeb! Kleeb, who got whacked by now Representative Adrian Smith by ten percentage points in 2006, has adjusted his campaign web site and is actively raising money to…“continue and expand our campaign”.

When asked by the LJS’s Don Walton whether that means a run for Senate if Kerrey or Fahey don’t get in, Kleeb responded, “I’d definitely consider it, for sure.” (Kleeb emerges as Senate prospect – LJS – 6/27/07.)

Feel free to just focus on the “for sure” part.

In his fundraising site, which asks for you to donate to his “expanded campaign” FOUR times on the single page (nice copy there, Jane Fleming), Kleeb brags about his new life in Nebraska: selling beef overseas (out of the back of a truck?); pushing ethanol or solar panels or something; and teaching history at Hastings College in the fall. Just a thought, but Hastings College may want to look into a substitute for that class.

Now the kicker on his little letter (and one that gets us riled up here on Leavenworth Street), obviously to get the juices flowing in all those true-blue Dems, is his inclusion of the issue of a recorded Kleeb campaign message sent by robo-call just before the election, calling it a “dirty trick”. Now keep in mind that the calls just replayed a Kleeb campaign call. But of course, Kleeb uses a New York Times article that stated the calls, “distorted Mr. Kleeb’s views”. Come again? And of course NO ONE has said that they decided not to vote for Kleeb based on those calls, whomever they came from.

Here’s the thing: Kleeb lost by 10%. – over 19,000 votes. Now, Kleeb would like you to believe, first of all, that the above mentioned “dirty trick” made over 19,000 people who WERE going to vote for Kleeb, not vote for him. Uh huh. Well, we’ll go ahead and realistically put the over/under on that number more like…six. And we’d guess even they weren’t really going to vote that day anyway. So, again Scott and Jane and all the rest of the Dems out there who are convinced that the election was just soooooo close: you got clobbered, by Adrian Smith, plain and simple.

So can Scott Kleeb, sexy ranch-hand, one time loser, newly married, beat a Jon Bruning, who has won statewide twice, and in this theory just beat a sitting U.S. Senator? From Kleeb’s perspective, sure, why not. What else has he got to do? Sell beef to India?

Rock on brother. Rock on…

(Oh, and we’ve added him to the Hagel Countdown bunch, above right. Tick, tick, tick…)

Facebook Campaigning Part II

It's an oldie but a goodie.

Easily Leavenworth Street's most popular story has now made it to the national news.

Back in October of 2006 we wrote the post "Facebook Campaigning" about KPTM's Calvert Collins posting a photo of herself with 2nd District Congressional candidate Jim Esch on her Facebook page. She wrote "Vote for him on Tuesday, Nov. 7th!"

At the time, Esch wrote on his campaign blog:

Cal is a friend of mine and she posted a picture of us from a fundraiser we both attended on her facebook site. Anyhow, it’s amazing the comments people are making about it.
Ah, life in a fish bowl.

Well, now in a relatively major story, MSNBC.com's Bill Dedman writes about how "Journalists dole out cash to politicians (quietly)" and includes the Collins-Esch tale. And Collins' story gets a little trickier as well, Dedman writes:

A few journalists let their enthusiasm extend beyond the checkbook. A Fox TV reporter in Omaha, Calvert Collins, posted a photo on Facebook.com with her cozying up to a Democratic candidate for Congress. She urged her friends, "Vote for him Tuesday, Nov. 7!" She also gave him $500. She said she was just trying to build rapport with the candidates. (And what builds rapport more effectively than $500 and a strapless gown?)

Collins, a 23-year-old reporter for Fox station KPTM in Omaha, said that her father actually wrote the check for $500 to Jim Esch, the Democrat who lost a House race last fall.

"I had told my dad that I was friends with this man. He said, 'Would you like me to make a donation?' I said, 'That's up to you, but don't do it in my name.'"

The reporter also posted a photo of herself with Esch on her Facebook page, with the note, "Vote for him Tuesday, Nov. 7!" After the photo was posted on a Nebraska political blog, she apologized but explained that "it is part of my job to build rapport with candidates and incumbents during election season."

"I foolishly wrote, in jest, to vote for him, and forgot completely that that was on there," Collins told MSNBC.com. "When my boss heard about it, I immediately removed it."

"In a way, I'm glad this happened to me at age 23, and not 33," Collins said, "and I will learn from it."

Of course, MSNBC uses Collins and Esch photo for their story.

And now the MSNBC story is the main headline on the Drudge Report.

Life in the fishbowl indeed...

**Update**

And KPTM went ahead and canned Calvert Collins...

Mike Fahey Stadium?

In case you missed last Thursday night's grand opening ceremonies for the College World Series (OK, so did we...) you may have missed what was reported by the Sporting News and the Orange County Register -- namely that:

Omaha mayor Mike Fahey was soundly booed during introductions.

Mayor Mike Fahey was booed – booed! – at CWS opening ceremonies.

Now, as you read in both articles, the authors believe these boobirds showed their displeasure because of Fahey's possible plans to bulldoze Rosenblatt Stadium and build Fahey Stadium in the new happenin' North Downtown area.

This is, of course, a tough one for Fahey, since this is being driven by the NCAA: Refuse their demands for a new stadium, and Omaha could potentially lose the CWS. Give in to their demands, and the beloved 'Blatt could make way for a new panda exhibit, the city could have another new ballpark like a zillion other minor league towns, and the charm of the CWS could vanish -- along with Fahey's career and legacy.

Of course one could also argue that Fahey's job should be a little more than to simply nod to every suggestion of Dennis Poppe and the boys. If Fahey really thinks it's a bad idea to flatten the Mecca of college baseball, shouldn't he come up with a grand plan -- maybe even a fifty million dollar plan for the area? Sure we've heard about the suggestions to steamroller the west side of 13th street, but will that do the trick for the NCAA? Is it really bold enough?

So, would a new stadium be a good thing or a bad thing? And lest we think this is a pure "policy" issue, remember that the history of Rosenblatt Stadium WILL become the legacy of Mike Fahey. If it succeeds, he's a hero. If it blows, he's the goat.

We here on Leavenworth Street have a few thoughts, which we may share as we go along. But we'd like to hear what YOU think should happen with the 'Blatt, and what will happen with Fahey. Make you opinion known on the comment board (and please give your name or make one up, so you can separate yourself from the other Anonymous-es).

What will be the Legacy of Mike Fahey?

Osborne doesn't get mad...

For those of you who missed the Saturday OWH, Robynn Tysver reported that none other than Dr. Tom Osborne has sent out a fundraising letter for Attorney General Jon Bruning's U.S. Senate campaign. (Osborne aids fundraising for Bruning's Senate bid - OWH - 6/16/07.)

Tysver reports that T.O. noted his appreciation for Bruning's "loyalty" when he ran for Governor against sitting Governor Dave Heineman last year. We're not real sure what that is supposed to mean (and we admit it is out of context, as we do not yet have a copy of the letter -- in case anyone would like to forward it along). Bruning was loyal...to whom? Certainly not to the sitting Governor. We suppose he may have been "loyal" to T.O. when he decided to challenge Heineman, but we're uncertain on what that loyalty is based. Maybe Bruning pledged his undying support at sometime in the past?

In any case, what this really comes down to is T.O.'s loyalty for Bruning's support. Oh, and it also stems from the rusty steak knife T.O. feels Chuck Hagel jammed in his back when Hagel made an "early" endorsement of Heineman for Governor.

In case you've forgotten, T.O. sort of hemmed and hawed over his decision on whether or not he was going to run for Gov (sort of like another politician we know -- see above to the right). At the time, Hagel made the command decision that he wasn't going to wait for Osborne anymore, and went ahead and endorsed Heineman.

So...now that Hagel is the one who can't seem to make up his mind, we have no doubt that Osborne felt he gave Hagel plenty of time before he joined the Bruning camp. Oh, and as for Tysver's note that T.O.'s letter didn't use the word "endorse"? Yeah, well...whatever.

Like Kevin Chapman said, it is what it is...

Raimondo thinks Hagel is OUT

First, a little Separated at Birth for our Senate Candidate and Prognosticator of the Day…

Columbus's Tony Raimondo and The Soprano’s Christofuh Moltisanti!

The OWH’s Joe Morton reports today that Tony Raimondo believes that U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel will NOT run for re-election. (Raimondo preparing for Senate campaign – OWH – 6/14/07.) Raimondo, chairman of Behlen Manufacturing in Columbus, is now assembling his campaign organization for a run of his own. To date he hasn’t raised any cash but is looking to hire a campaign manager.

It is well known that one of Raimondo’s good buddies is Senator Ben Nelson, and one would think that Raimondo wouldn’t make a move, or a statement, like this unless he was fairly confident, or had some inside scoop. That being said, Hagel’s inner circle is notoriously tight, and it would be surprising if anyone actually knew what was going through his mind these days.

(And the countdown clock, above to the right, continues to tick.)

**********

The Beatrice Fiddler blog pointed out that RedState.com has already (!) endorsed Jon Bruning over Hagel in the Nebraska Senate primary. No matter that Hagel isn’t actually IN the race yet, and there may be many other candidates involved at one point or another. RedState, and many of the commenters to the post make the Connecticut Joe Lieberman – Ned Lamont comparison as well.

Besides being ridiculously early in this endorsement, we would point out that no matter how swell their intentions, those from out-of-state may want to temper their enthusiasm for dumping Chuck Hagel. Nebraskans are very protective of their own, and are not likely to be happy about those from around the country telling them how to vote. In other words, Nebraska GOPers may tell ‘em, “If he’s an S.O.B., he’s our S.O.B.”

(We’d also like to thank The Beatrice Fiddler for the nice little post about Leavenworth Street.)

**********

The FEC has entered the internet age with a leap and a bound by making their Presidential fundraising reports waaaay more user friendly. When you enter their site, you simply click on a state name, then an area and you can see who in that zip code has donated to a particular candidate.

For instance, click, Nebraska, Chris Dodd and Omaha, and you can see that Omaha’s Mayor Mike Fahey has dropped $2,100 into Senator Dodd’s coffers. (And if the thought of a “President Dodd” doesn’t make your skin quiver, well then we don’t know what to tell you…) Kudos to the site designer that you can also sort the various columns.

The FEC apparently plans to do the same thing for Senate and House candidates soon. If you never visited before, the old format forced you to download .pdf documents and wade through pages and pages to find what you were looking for.

GOP at the Precipice of the Crossroads

It’s barely June, nearly a full year before the U.S. Senate primaries, and we’ve already seen numerous potshots taken by candidates and pseudo-candidates for the job.

“Chuck Hagel isn’t a Nebraskan.”
“Jon Bruning is a liberal.”
“Chuck Hagel is an Independent.”
“Jon Bruning’s peeps write notes.”

In the words of A.J. Soprano: Can’t we all just get along?

And before anyone starts pointing fingers, there’s plenty of blame to go around for all this.

It might be wise for both the Hagel and Bruning camps to realize that taking the campaign to a low level (so early) may result in the whole GOP going down. To reference the Sopranos and/or the Godfather again, going to the mattresses is bad for business. Mark Quandahl may need to broker a sit-down before things really get out of hand (and that’s not a half-bad idea).

Keep in mind Nebraska GOP, that in the mean time, the Dems are sitting back laughing, laughing, laughing -- at you, not with you. Because they realize that they have no real candidates for the job, and figure they might just slip in anyway.

Heck, last year they didn’t even field candidates for State Treasurer or Attorney General. They had to pull a Republican in to run for Auditor. They elected a U.S. Senator who ran on a Republican platform and is generally reviled by the rest of his party because of it.

And who are they itching to bring in to run for Senate? The President of New York City’s “The New School”. Who just recently sent out an email to Nebraska Democrats claiming:

"Democrats … won more than 65% of county races throughout the state."

Only a New York Democrat could make such a ridiculous claim. (And we’ll let the excellent summary by the Nebraska GOP complete the critique of Cosmic Bob Kerrey on this – FYI, the actual number for the Dems was more like 23%...)

And what of their other wonder-boy, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, the Conqueror of Elkhorn? The Dems themselves say Fahey doesn’t really want the job. Fahey himself said he’d only like it so he could join the Senate “club”. New Omaha World Herald columnist Robert Nelson said this morning, while talking about the Disneyland colored water they put in Omaha’s Central Park Mall lagoon, suggested other items to the make it more Disney-like, such as:

Disney-like robot dolls in the Old Market.
An Ernie Chambers doll debating a Wil­liam Jennings Bryan doll…
A Paul Landow doll operating a Mayor Fahey doll with marionette strings.

(FINALLY someone else said it…)

Oh, and let’s not forget the Nebraska Dem’s savior from Yale: Scott Kleeb. Yes, Kleeb, who says he still wants to run for office in Nebraska, is now featured at a Democrat fundraiser in Washington D.C.. His moniker for the event?
“The Yalie Nebraskan”? No.
“The Guy Who Got 45% of the Vote in NE-3”? Nuh-uh.
“That dude who married the Dem–talking-head chick who’s on Fox all the time”?
No…Mr. Kleeb’s sobriquet is...“The Hot Rancher”. Honest to gawd.
(Oh, and by the way, remember it’s ranch HAND. We’ll be happy to change that as soon as he actually owns a ranch…)

So you see Nebraska GOP candidates, this is what you’re up against. And finally, to quote the Soprano's Little Carmine Lupertazzi, you are at “the precipice of an enormous crossroads.” And remember, when you reach that fork in the road…take it (instead of jamming it into someone’s back).

Sokol notes support for Hagel

In yesterday’s press conference, U.S. Senate candidate Jon Bruning pointed out that the Finance Chairman for his campaign is chairman and CEO of MidAmerican Energy, David Sokol of Omaha. (Leavenworth Street pointed out Sokol’s position in this April 26th post.)

But curious that back on March 29, 2007, David L. Sokol sent the following note to U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (and forwarded to us by the Hagel camp) (click the image below to enlarge):

Dear Senator Hagel,

As you are aware I have been, and I continue to be a supporter. If you decide to run again for another term as Senator, I & Peggy will most certainly be a contributor.

I understand your decision to hold off on making this announcement as to Senator or to jump into the Presidential race and I wish you well in your deliberations.

Your friend,
David

So, what to make of this? Well, it should be noted that this note came AFTER Hagel voted to set a date certain for troop pullout out of Iraq, and AFTER Hagel used the “I” word in Esquire Magazine and on George Stephanopoulos – things that Jon Bruning has said turned him from a “Hagel Guy” to a…“Bruning Guy”.

Now there’s nothing that says Sokol has to move in lock-step with Jon Bruning, but it’s curious nonetheless that Sokol took pretty much the same position as Bob Kerrey – we’ll wait for you Chuck.

So, we suppose the question is, Will David Sokol still be a contributor to a Chuck Hagel for Senate campaign?

And the countdown clock (up above to your right) continues to tick…tick…tick…

Bruning’s Flag-Football Strategy

Today Attorney General Jon Bruning strode to a podium adorned with a “Bruning for Senate” sign at the Nebraska capitol and did one of the most unexpected things of the political year:

He threw his son’s flag-football coach under the bus.

Wha-huh?

Yup, Bruning stepped up and related a story about watching his eight-year-old son’s football game, and that his son’s coach was terrible, didn’t know what he was doing and obviously didn’t know anything about football.

The humble AG then apparently took the reins of the team and they did…much better? (We really don’t know. And wouldn’t you know that the Nebraska press didn’t pose any follow up questions on that. Sheesh. Where’s Tom Shatel when you need him?) [Update: Joe Jordan says Bruning told him the team went 4 and 1. Though Jordan also failed to interview the old coach...]

The point of the story was supposed to be that when Bruning sees something that needs fixing he takes action instead of just criticizing.

But the real point to take away is that Bruning is not above throwing anyone under the bus. Not the poor football coach that Bruning hammered and certainly not Senator Chuck Hagel (though no one is really crying for Hagel).

The Flag-Football strategy has been the overall theme of the Bruning campaign thus far. Bruning’s opening statement today was, “I will beat Senator Hagel in the primary in May.” Well…except that Hagel may not run.

And that is the problem Bruning has going right now. He has made the campaign: If you hate Chuck Hagel, I’m your guy. If you like Chuck Hagel, I’m absolutely NOT your guy.

But in this goofy spring of 2007, Hagel has given numerous hints that he’s not really even interested in running for re-election. Sure he hosted a big funder last month, but that cash can still go to a Presidential campaign. And today, we hear about former Governor and current Ag Secretary Mike Johanns attending the Nebraska Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol. Only the second time he’s ever been. (Johanns attends Nebraska Breakfast day before Bruning announcement – OWH – 6/7/07.) Ain’t that a coincidence?

So what happens with the Flag-Football Plan? Well, it has effectively driven a wedge between Bruning and every Hagel supporter. Instead of being an alternative to Hagel for many, Bruning has instead become the enemy. And if Hagel drops out, there will be plenty of alternatives for Hagel supporters to choose from – not the least being Johanns.

What if Hagel stays in the race? Again, no true Hagel supporter is going to switch to Bruning. Do the blasting negatives Bruning has doled out really help him that much with the rest of the voters? It may get a few people to perk up their ears when the subjects of immigration and impeachment are raised. But do Nebraskans really cotton to remarks like “Hagel’s not a real Nebraskan” and “provides poor constituent services”? It’s one thing to hear those negatives tossed out by a surrogate; it’s another to hear that kind of vitriol coming from the candidate himself.

Things will get interesting once Hagel finally makes his call, supposedly around Labor Day (see our counter up on the right). But one thing is for sure this summer: Bruning’s son’s Little League Coach better watch out.

Bruning means it this time

In case you’ve been trapped under a rock and had to gnaw off your arm to get free, you should know that Jon Bruning will be in Lincoln Thursday morning at 10:00AM to announce that he is running for the U.S. Senate.

He is apparently not going to say that he’s thinking about it. He’s not waiting to see what current Senator Chuck Hagel does. And we’re guessing he’s not going to repeat his line that he’s “a Hagel Guy” (like he did just a few months ago).

But what you may not know is that Bruning’s trip to Lincoln comes via a detour to New York City, and apparently the offices of the New York Sun. The Sun, a pro-Israel tabloid that is more than happy to take shots at Chuck Hagel, tells in an editorial today that Bruning stopped by their offices on Tuesday to let them know that Hagel is arrogant, out of touch, and has poor constituent services. (Hagel meets his match – New York Sun – 6/6/07.) Why Bruning felt the need to go to New York to bash Hagel, we’re not sure. (Well, actually, we’re pretty sure, but we still think it’s a strange move.)

Why will Bruning announce tomorrow? Well, remember that while he’s in the “testing the waters” phase of the campaign, he doesn’t have to announce how much he’s raised or who from. But once he has announced, he has to play by all the FEC rules, which means publicly reporting that info. By deciding to jump in, he must have enough money to show that he’s been successful to date and can be a credible opponent, should Hagel decide to run.

In any case, Leavenworth Street suggests that Attorney General Bruning take the following tact at the announcement tomorrow:

• Talk about Jon Bruning (now how difficult should that be?).



• Don’t talk about Chuck Hagel, or anyone else for that matter.



• Note that you’re the ONLY ONE in the race right now, and that you want to talk about the important issues affecting Nebraskans today (blah blah blah).



• If you have to address other candidates, note that you’re looking forward to others getting in the race because it’s important to debate the issues that are vital to Nebraska and the country (blah blah blah).



• Resist the lure to bash Hagel. It probably shouldn’t come out of your mouth any more.

So we’re looking forward to the THIRD Bruning announcement about the U.S. Senate. And afterwards, Leavenworth Street will be giving its views on the effect of Bruning announcing now and how his strategy (particularly the Hagel bashing) will play out in this race. We’ll see you then…