Halloween Separated at Birth!

On this scaaaaariest of days, we here on Leavenworth Street offer you a spoooooky look at the freeeakiest of…Separated at Birth!!!!

First on the right side of the aisle…

Chuck Hagel and Frankenstein’s Monster!
(and Chuck seems to have taken Joe Biden's VP offer seriously -- CNN video here...)


Mike Johanns and Count Dracula!


And…Lee Terry and Eddie Munster!


And on the left side of the aisle…

Ben Nelson and The Incredible Hulk!


Bob Kerrey and Jack Skellington!


And probably the scariest of all…
Scott Kleeb and Dustin Diamond a/k/a Screech from "Saved by the Bell"!


Happy Halloween everyone! Drive safely!

The OWH is the Kingmaker..not YOU

The Omaha World Herald is scared and threatened.

By whom, you ask?

By YOU, you blog-reader you.

The OWH says so in their Sunday editorial, printed big and bold.

Oh, you didn’t catch it, because it’s not offered free of charge to the online reader, like nearly every other major city newspaper? Well, then screw you (says the OWH). (Pay up ya freeloader.)

In said editorial, entitled “A tall order”, the OWH laments the fate of the modern candidate who – woe -- must deal with the likes of talk-radio, cable TV “chatter” and YIKES, “web logs”! (Psst. They mean blogs.)

The bickering, maneuvering and insult- throwing leave little or no room for consideration of realistic answers or constructive compromise.

This is such a new thing in American politics, you see. Now get this:

In bygone years, principled leaders would be celebrated for seeking middle ground on divisive national issues and others would be labeled opportunists for populist stances.

Digest that for a moment.

Because, what the OWH means is that they would like to go back to a time when THEY DECIDED who the “principled leaders” are. They seek a time when THEY LABELED the “opportunist”.

They don’t like that now just anyone with a blog address or a keyboard to comment can figure it out for themselves and express it.

But the OWH goes further. You see…

In an America where governing is the goal, the aim should be progress for society, not power for parties or institutions.

Yes, and progress is defined by the Omaha World Herald monopolizing the print world for as far as they can reach. It’s celebrated, as a matter of fact, on the Front Page, above-the-fold story on the glorious career of King John Gottschalk, retiring Publisher of the OWH. (A King of Aksarben, you see.)

The story tells how when King John took the reigns of the OWH, it was just the The World Herald newspaper. But now, it’s the Omaha World-Herald Co., owner of :

• Four daily newspapers in Nebraska, including The World-Herald, and three others in Iowa.
  
• Twenty-one weekly community newspapers in Nebraska and Iowa.
  
• Direct marketing and product fulfillment companies in eight states.
  
• Minority ownership in the largest election-services company in the country.

Will Gottschalk be muttering “Rosebud” as he exits the premises?

***

And look no further than the Sunday Midlands section to find the latest example of the OWH’s desire to crown kings and princes.

Yes, it’s new columnist Robert Nelson’s column (also not available gratis to you, onliner), where Nelson pens the puffiest of pieces on the bucolic life of Professor and Mrs. Scott Kleeb of Hastings, NE.

So get this line from Nelson:

The top potential Democratic candidates (for U.S. Senate) are now Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and Kleeb, who burst onto the national political scene with his spirited near-win last year in Nebraska's ultra-Republican 3rd Congressional District.

Near win! Near win???

Can we yell this loud and freaking clear: Kleeb lost by TEN PERCENT! By nearly twenty thousand votes. In the year of the Democrat, when a Jim Esch who had no money and nearly zero media got 45% as well, please, puhleeeze stop trying to convince us that the Adrian Smith-Scott Kleeb race was NOT a blow-out. Anyone who can COUNT should be outraged by such witless palaver.

Of course, we all remember that the OWH endorsed Kleeb against Smith. And so did Gottschalk's’ boy Bob Kerrey. So while Kleeb-gasms continue, just remember the source and that they still want to be the ones who crown the princes.

Separated at Birth - Ernie Chambers

Saw this one during the Nebraska-Texas game on Saturday. ABC showed a photo of former Texas great Earl Christian Campbell and UT's present star running back Jamaal Charles, and of course the wheels started turning.

So we give you...
Nebraska Unicameral legend Ernie Chambers and Texas football legend, Earl Campbell.

Raimondo ain’t runnin’

The chance for the party nominations really getting weird-fun pretty much passed as Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo told the employees of his Behlen Mfg. Co. that he will not run for the U.S. Senate this term. Raimondo cited the difficulty of raising money against former Governor Mike Johanns as the chief culprit.

Backing shut door on Raimondo – Columbus Telegram – 10/26/07.

The 68 year old Raimondo had been extremely interested in running, and had stated numerous times that he would begin organizing his own campaign as soon as Senator Chuck Hagel dropped out. Raimondo had even hired an experienced out-of-state campaign manager and was meeting with potential supporters.

But soon after the rumors of Mike Johanns intentions surfaced, Raimondo, with the help of some poll results, realized that he would never have a chance against the Johanns Juggernaut ©. With that realization came rumors that Raimondo, who is good friends with Senator Ben Nelson, might be interested in switching parties to run for the Democratic nomination. Raimondo reportedly sneered that Leavenworth Street was the only one saying that – but didn’t specifically deny interest…

Alas, the Raimondo Run, and all the fun that would have come from a competitive Democrat primary, will not be. Instead, we can look forward to lots of furtive glances, knit brows and shiny belt buckles from the Democrat bench. Yee ha…

***Update, 7:30am 10/27/07***

Well, it seems now that Leavenworth Street isn't the only one talking about Raimondo runnning as a Democrat. In the OWH's story about Tony Toni Tone they said:

Raimondo left open the door — albeit a hairline crack — that he could be persuaded to run as a Democrat.

"I'll keep all options open, but it's unlikely," he said.

Raimondo also said he has not been approached by anyone, including his friend Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, to run as a Democrat. He said he would listen if approached but has no plans to switch parties.

Eric Fought, spokesman for the Nebraska Democratic Party, said party officials had no plans to woo Raimondo. "It is not a discussion that we've had, and it's not a discussion we plan to have," he said.
(emphasis ours)

So it looks like we can keep our hopes up for a Raimondo-Kleeb matchup.
Ben Nelson guy vs. Bob Kerrey's boy? Awesome....

Kleeb fails Nebraska History

It is our understanding Scott Kleeb, who lost the 3rd District Congressional race last year, is teaching History at Hastings College these days. However, we really hope he’s teaching neither Nebraska History nor Political Science, because he clearly has a grasp on neither.

Our evidence?

Kleeb appeared in the NTV newsroom for an interview regarding his political plans. Sporting a tan jacket over a black tee-shirt (yes, you read that correctly), Kleeb made the following statements:

Q: Are you considering a run for the U.S. Senate?
Kleeb: I would seriously consider an offer.

Hey Scotty, is that your understanding of how the political process works?
“Here Scott, we’d like you to be our Senator, do you accept?”

Has he been reading up on the “Divine Right of Kings” too much?
Of course, with the way Bob Kerrey planned on descending from New York City, maybe he has been mislead…

So beyond his response that it looks like he WILL get in the race after Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey takes his thirty days to say no, check out what he claimed next. In his best professorial voice he made this bald-faced assertion:

“People do forget this, that Chuck Hagel is the first Republican… almost 100 years now from George Norris to the present.”

Whahuh????

Hmm, well, it seems that Mr. Kleeb has forgotten about just a few Republican Senators from Nebraska since George Norris. Here are the easy ones that nearly any Nebraskan who follows politics can name: Roman Hruska, Carl Curtis and Dave Karnes. Hear of those three?

Well, then since Norris, other than those three Republicans there have been an additional eight Republican Senators from Nebraska, giving us a grand total of eleven that Adjunct Professor Kleeb seems to have missed.

In any case, since Kleeb seems to be headed towards a statewide campaign (assuming he gets enough votes to win the Dem nomination – as opposed to just accepting it) we here at Leavenworth Street have one suggestion for Mr. Kleeb:

See if you can trade in that Yale diploma for one from the University of Nebraska. It seems they have better History and Poli Sci classes in Lincoln.

The Dem Cupboard is Bare

We’re not surprised.

Kerrey won't run for Senate - LJS - 10/24/07.
Bob Kerrey won't run for Senate - OWH - 10/24/07.

We always figured that without a guarantee that he could coast into Chuck Hagel’s seat, New Yorker Bob Kerrey would not run for the Senate.

So with Kerrey’s announcement, do the Dems have another shoe to drop?

We don’t think there’s any way that Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey will run.

1) While Fahey would love to be a member of the Senate “club” (his word), there is no way his heart would ever be in for a statewide campaign, where he wouldn’t be guaranteed a win.

2) Fahey has plenty on his plate right now with the CWS stadium mess.

Does that bring the Dems back to (sigh…) the “Hot Rancher Ranch Hand” Scott Kleeb?

Unlike Kerrey, or even Fahey, it’s unlikely that Kleeb would have a shot against any of the current GOP crop (hey, including Pat Flynn). So why would Kleeb get in this race if it’s a sure-bet loser? Does he want to be the Dem’s perennial sacrificial lamb? Doubtful.

Steve Achepohl, get Kate Witek on the line!

We won’t have Esch to kick around anymore…

November 8, 2006, Jim Esch’s website:

The battle for 2008 begins today… Please join me….So take a few days off, and get ready for 2008!

October 22, 2007, Joe Jordan’s website:

Jim Esch called to tell me he's not running.

And so falls another opponent to the Congressman Lee Terry MACHINE.
Jordan also says that State Sen. Steve Lathrop will not run against Terry either. State Senator Tom White is still being coy at this time.

Of course White is being coy towards a five term congressman with $400K in the bank.

And Jordan also reports that Terry is going to “make some campaign changes”.

We’re going to guess that these “changes” will include making a more concerted effort towards any and all challengers, instead of sitting back and letting them take potshots.

What’s Cosmic Bob up to?

Bob Kerrey is President of New York City’s New School University. Yet he’s writing op-ed pieces about who should appear on a morning radio show?

If you missed it, Kerrey wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News (his home town newspaper) telling Democrat Presidential candidates they should appear on Don Imus’s new radio show when it is back on the air soon. (Seal of Approval – NY Daily News – 10/21/07)

Hmm, let’s give a comparison to this.

Nebraska Chancellor Perlman writes a piece in the Lincoln Journal Star saying:

Jon Bruning and Mike Johanns would be wise to appear on KFAB’s Tom Becka show, if they really want to reach West Omaha soccer moms.

Or how about...Creighton’s President Fr. Schlegel pens an op-ed for the Omaha World Herald stating:

It’s important for Lee Terry and Jeff Fortenberry to go on Z-92’s Todd n’ Tyler because they need to stay in touch with the aging-rocker vote.

Now keep in mind that Kerrey isn’t talking about some policy issue. And he’s not talking about something that’s for the better of his New York school, or his city or the country. He’s talking about the best media angle for Democrat politicians. He has become just another talking-head in the media coverage of the 2008 Presidential horse-race.

Or is he looking for his own “Sister Soulja moment”? If you read the liberal blogs (and gawd help you if you do), you’ll see that they already turn their noses up at Kerrey. They despise him for being pro-war and pro-Joe Lieberman (and very frequently accuse him of being a Vietnam-war criminal –THEIR words). And now, they hate him even more for suggesting that their peeps should appear on the “racist” Don Imus show.

So by dissing the lib bloggers and their ilk, does Kerrey gain in the eyes of, say, the Nebraska Republican and independents? We doubt it, but you can bet that’s his hope. Lately we’ve seen him write that he’s pro Chuck Hagel, he’s pro Iraq war – though he says he wants to get out, and now he’s pro blogger-lib-hated-radio-host.

Does this mean he’s getting in the Nebraska Senate race then? Well, not yet.

Here’s what we think:

The Dems have given a full clear-out for Kerrey. If he wants to run, it’s his – whenever he wants to make up his mind. And if he doesn’t make it up until February 28th, that’s fine too. Because Mike Fahey doesn’t want to run. And Scott Kleeb can sit it out as well, or run for something else.
Kerrey may likely just sit and watch the Johanns-Bruning scrap until late February, and see if Bruning has a shot at beating Johanns. If Kerrey thinks it’s likely that Bruning could be the GOP nominee (who he thinks he can beat), he’ll jump in at the last minute. If it looks to be Johanns (who he doesn’t think he can beat), well, the Dems can nominate Kate Witek or whomever. They figure they wouldn’t win anyway. Kerrey’s their only hope.

***

Oh, and just for a few more kicks and giggles on Rockin’ Bob, check this out from the Wall Street Journal: A new book out went through the papers of former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Those papers say that during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Kerrey called up President Bill Clinton and told him he should:

“begin thinking about leaving the White House,” that he would be “healthier and happier” if he resigned; the only other choices were a plea bargain or mpeachment.

Kerrey responded regarding this:

Wow. This is lost from my memory bank. Whatever conversation I had (and I won't second guess the content of the Moynihan memo) it had to be more of a discussion of options than a recommendation. I would remember if I ecommended he do this.

Yes, you’d think he’d remember if he suggested that the Leader of the Free World resign -- to be happier. But, you know…wow.

***

And on the subject of recommending resignation…for those of you sports fans who only catch the online version of the OWH, here was the last line of Tom Shatel’s Sunday column entitled, “Callahan could do us all a favor”:

This is about to get ugly. There appears to be only one way for (Nebraska head coach Bill) Callahan to fix it. Resign.

Biding our time…

Breathe in, breathe out and think about what your TVs, radios and any other media devices will look and sound like a year from now. So appreciate the wry political news you’re getting today. It will be fed to you via a fire-hose in a short twelve months.

So, in light of that, here is a Separated at Birth suggested by a loyal Leavenworth Street reader, whom we couldn’t turn down:

Senator Ben Nelson and former Wonder Years star, Dan Lauria.


***
Remember the whole saga of the New York Boy and the Nebraska Boy and the Unity ’08 ticket? Well, they’re still talking about it. And if you are itching for something loooooong (like 5,000 words, 15 pages long) and political to read this afternoon, click right here: If He Did It…A Bloomberg ’08 campaign manual. (Of course, the Nebraska Boy is featured prominently.)

***
Wait, I think we missed it. What was Bob Kerrey’s decision last week on whether to move out of New York City and run for Senate from Nebraska? Or did he decide the week before that? Help us out here.

***
We heard a rumor (from a VERY reliable source!) that Charlie McBride is going to run against Jeff Fortenberry* for Congress. And Milt Tenopir is running his campaign. Can anyone confirm that?

*That’s a joke, folks.

Squirming in SCHIP

As many of you may have heard on the radio already, Second District Congressman Lee Terry has taken the step to get ahead of an issue on his own. With the debate about the mammoth expansion of the SCHIP program swirling around, Terry’s campaign has produced a radio ad explaining his position.

You can listen to it here:



This isn’t the first time Terry has gone on his own to address an issue, but it is the first one of the political season for him. As reported in the Omaha World Herald, this issue has been demagogued by the left with their standard claims of “he hates children!” (We get a kick out of the libs when they use these lines, because no one believes such a stupid claim. Not that they’ll ever stop doing it…)

As much as we admire Terry for going directly to the voters with this, we’re not crazy about the format of the “Lee Terry Report” with the faux female-interviewer. No one actually believes this is a “report” or an interview, so why not just say, “This is Lee Terry, and I want to talk about…” It comes off more honest and less gimmicky.

We give an A for the idea, B+ for message, and, well, a B- for format. But hey, it’s early!

***
While we’re looking at that Joe Morton OWH report on the politics of SCHIP entitled “Lawmakers squirm over kids’ health insurance”, we were surprised by the verb used in the headline. After we got past that, we noticed the goofy pic they used of Lee Terry in the online article (the print edition used Terry’s standard Congressional photo).

Under the “Squirm” headline, here’s the photo the OWH used online:
Well, it was up there for most of the morning on Wednesday anyway. After awhile, it looked like this: Of course this isn’t the first time the OWH has been shamed by their use of goofy looking photos. In the nascent days of Leavenworth Street, we offered you this post on David Kramer. Ah those thousand word photos…

***
The third quarter FEC reports are out, and some of the rabid lefty sites are caterwauling about Third District Congressman Adrian Smith’s fundraising, in comparison to the ol’ cowpoke Scott Kleeb’s numbers.

Taking a closer look at Kleeb, who has announced his “new brand of politics” on his website, but not what office he wants to apply said brand to, we found some interesting stats:

Kleeb’s report says that he raised $19,561 in Q3 of 2007.

Oh, really? Well, lets’ look a little deeper.

When we do, we find that over $9,000 were refunds from his media buyer and printer. In other words, it ain’t a donation.

So, what were his receipts? Give or take $9,200.

[Update, 10/20/07: On further review, we are most likely incorrect about the $9,000 in refunds being part of the total contributions for the cycle. Instead, there are approx $10,000 in contributions that do not have to be itemized in the report. So where did those contributions come from? Grand Island? San Francisco? Chadron? Greenwich Village? Well, until the Kleeb campaign (for what???) tells us, we really don't know...]

OK, well, then these were all from Nebraskans who wear jeans and cowboy hats, right?

Well, in a word…no. In reality, more than a third of the [itemized] receipts for the “hot rancher” come from out of state – namely California, Florida, Maryland and Connecticut.

There was $1,000 from Andrew Tobias, financial writer from Miami, a longtime supporter and former chairman of the NYC Gay Pride parade.

There was another grand from Daniel Esty, Yale professor of environmental studies, climate change activist, and former Clinton Admin EPA official.

And there are assorted receipts from “Act Blue” the fund-raising arm for all causes liberal. Kleeb is a favorite of theirs, and should he run for something…anything!...you will see the Act Blue dollars add up for the former ranch-hand.

What does all of this mean? Nothing really. We just thought we’d provide a little insight. For more number-crunching fun, you can go to the FEC’s webpage yourself.

***
Now, back to your regularly scheduled Tom Osborne related rumors! (Feel free to post any good ones here.)

Bizarro Weekend

Oddities of the weekend last:

1) A team known as “South Florida” is number two in the BCS. They must have consolidated Florida, Miami and Florida State and thrown them into the Big East while we weren’t looking.

2) The Drudge Report, which usually concentrates on things like Fred Thompson’s wife and a house with 900 cats, prominently featured the Huskers’ loss on Saturday. Thanks for the attention Matt.

[Update, 5:15pm, 10/15/07. And now Drudge is reporting (in between photos of Vladimir Putin and the French President), that T.O. is going to be the new A.D. They've linked to this KPTM story that also says Dave "Remington" (read "Rimington") will be named to the coaching staff. Feel free to validate ANY of these rumors in the comments section.]

3) Tom Osborne was featured on the front page of the Omaha World Herald, looking like this.

(Our personal favorite is this shot of Creighton basketball coach Dana Altman clapping in the background. You know he has to be thinking, “God, I will holler ‘Woo pig sooie!’ every morning for the rest of my life if you’ll just spare me ever having to dress up like that…”)

The Road to MECA

With the question of the College World Series and a new stadium hitting the fan, we here on Leavenworth Street have our thoughts. (And that's not just because Paulie's is located on that street in the Big "O".)

First, if you would like to hear a very full discussion on the issue of the CWS and the stadium and MECA and "Parking Lot D", listen to Matt Perrault and Travis Justice on the Big Sports 590 interviews with Mike Fahey and Hal Daub (separately). Both interviews took their time, the speakers were unfiltered and pretty good questions were asked. Of course, we felt that the former mayor ran rings around the present mayor with his depth of responses, knowledge of the issues, and of course the ever-present ideas whizzing around from all directions. (What was that about a Great Wolf Lodge?)

But in the back and forth on the pages of Omaha's newspaper one item in David Kotok’s (copyrighted!) story went like this:

But in December, (MECA Board Chair, David) Sokol dropped out of the effort in a dispute with (Omaha Mayor Mike) Fahey over whether MECA, which operates the
Qwest Center Omaha, would also take over management of Rosenblatt. Fahey wanted to change the makeup of the MECA board, and Sokol said that would be tantamount to turning “MECA into a branch of city government.” (Italics added.)

So let's dig into this nugget: Who is on MECA’s board of directors (which is chosen by the Mayor and City Council)?

Well, there’s Terry Moore, local union head and perennial Democrat supporter.

But then…

There’s David Sokol, local City Father, big-wig, and also Chairman of Republican Attorney General Jon Bruning’s U.S. Senate campaign finance committee.

There’s Hal Daub, former mayor of Omaha, and possible future Republican candidate for the Mayor of Omaha.

There’s Gail Werner-Robertson, (daughter of C.L. Werner of Werner trucking) and Republican financial supporter ($7,500 to the Nebraska GOP, $2,100 to Jeff Fortenberry and $1,500 to Adrian Smith in 2006).

And there’s David Kramer, former U.S. Senate candidate and former Executive Director of the Nebraska Republican party (and current sorta-spokesman for the Mike Johanns Senate campaign).

Hmm, we wonder what Fahey's REAL problem with the MECA Board is?

Take a look at what Fahey is doing. He's taking what is a "best for the city" issue, and making it political. You can bet that Fahey and Paul Landow cringe at the idea of responding to a board made up of Hal Daub and David Kramer. And the stadium deal will most likely be THE issue of the next Mayor's campaign. Why would they want the Republicans on the MECA board -- especially Hal Daub -- to get any credit?

Well, now that everyone has been kept in the dark -- the public, the city council until a week ago, MECA, the Royals, Creighton -- Fahey has discovered that not everyone's crazy about a tax hike and his ultimatum of Where the Stadium Will Be Placed.

So now? A Super-High-Falutin-Blue-Ribbon Stadium Committee to "Figure it All Out". And who's on that Blue Ribbon Committee?

Ken Stinson of Kiewit
David Sokol of MECA
Alan Stein of the Royals (who, by the way, wants TWO stadiums...)
Mike McCarthy and Sue Morris of "the prospective private donors"
Bruce Rasmussen of Creighton

But who's missing? Hmmm. Could it maybe be someone representing...THE TAXPAYERS! Oh yeah, them.

Well, they've got Mike Fahey, right? Well, at least until the next election...

***

An aside on a view of Rosenblatt Stadium and the CWS.

There were a few interesting comments by the NCAA and Fahey regarding Rosenblatt and the CWS. First, Fahey, in his discussion on Big Sports 590, stressed that the CWS is NOT Omaha's event. It is the NCAA's event that Omaha has the privilege to host.

Now, of course this is technically true. But the NCAA has a myopic view on this. They would like to strip any and all flavor out of the CWS and make it just like its other sterile events. Note their big demand of a "Clean Zone". Well, that's all well and good. But of course their zone is only "clean" of any non-NCAA approved vendors. It's not as if a fan is free from overbearing sponsors in said Clean Zone. The fan is just free from any locals getting a cut of the revenue. A good chunk of what makes going to a CWS game at Rosenblatt interesting is the hub-bub along 13th street. You can wander in and check out a "Geaux Tigers" shirt, get a brat, some beads, whatever. (And if they don't want the alcohol, which may be OK, the city can regulate that out -- which they have.) You'll get none of that in the Clean Zone. At least not without a big fat "NCAA APRROVED" stamp on it.

So what does this mean? Well, it means the NCAA would like the opportunity to fly in, drop their traveling circus in Omaha's stadium, then fly out -- all with their own people, and every nickel of it going to them. Ever been to the Ringling Bros, Barnum & Baily circus? That's the model for the NCAA. They bring in their own concessions. Their own souvenirs. Their own people to sell everything. And then they pack it all up and move to the next town. The NCAA is moving ever closer to doing just that. Familiar with the ticket-managing people (not the ones behind the windows) at the CWS ? That has always been an area run by Omaha area volunteers who handle the sales, much of the marketing, and the distribution of tickets. Well, the NCAA is moving in to take complete control of that. How about the local grounds crew? It's likely that they will soon be gone, replaced by a group overseen by MECA, and ultimately the NCAA.

So in other words, once you take Rosenblatt, and the charm and tradition and memories and local flavor out of the equation, you could have the CWS anywhere. Oh sure, Omaha would offer a brand new stadium. But in the not too distant future, it will be just another five or ten or twenty year old stadium. And some other city will have a newer stadium, and maybe better weather (or a dome?), and the NCAA can simply fold up their tent and take the circus to the next town.

And you don't need to look much further than the NCAA's comments that "the affordability of tickets for families...is what makes the CWS so special, not the stadium." Now, if you follow that logic, the NCAA should be able to put the game anywhere that offers the cheapest tickets. Indianapolis may just be willing to offer seats at five bucks apiece just to get the rest of the revenue involved. And if they have the newer stadium, well, why not? It's not as if there's any tradition in a new stadium in Omaha. And the newer one in Indianapolis (in this theory) has an even BIGGER jumbotron!

Now all this being said, we're very familiar with the realities going on here: The NCAA wants A, B and C and if they don't get them, they'll leave. Hmm, well if that's what Omaha's up against, and there's no other way to go, then Omaha will just have to suck it up, apparently. But here's a suggestion to all the movers and shakers in the City-County building, and in the MECA boardroom, and on the double-super-secret committee that has been anointed to determine what's best for Omaha: You better get the NCAA to invest something in the idea. They better have ownership of something in Omaha, that can only be in Omaha and can only be accomplished in Omaha.

Why? Because the NCAA is headquartered elsewhere. They've invested elsewhere. You don't think it would be a coup for some NCAA official to go home to his family and friends and neighbors and tell them that the CWS is coming to their hometown now, and he's the hero who did it? Why then they could actually drive to the games, instead of watching on ESPN or flying to something called Eppley Airfield.

But, if the NCAA is invested in Omaha, and has a reason to keep it there, then things change. Then there's a reason to leave the tent stakes in Omaha. There's a reason for NCAA guy to tell his neighbor, while it would be great to have it here, we HAVE to have it in Omaha -- we have too much invested in it there.

So what is that investment by the NCAA? Well, we don't know -- not at this moment anyway. But apparently the smartest guys in the city are working on this, and it is the sort of thing they should figure out. Heck, with all the ideas ricocheting around Hal Daub's cranium, this is just the sort of thing he can and should come up with.

But in any case, wherever the stadium ends up, especially if it's not Rosenblatt Stadium, they better make the NCAA's investment happen. Otherwise Omahans will be sitting at home watching the Road to Indianapolis/Orlando/Oklahoma City play out on ESPN instead of in the bleachers.

Dems air negative ad on Johanns...already!

Mike Johanns has been in the U.S. Senate race in Nebraska less than twenty-four hours and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already put up a negative ad against Johanns on YouTube.

Oh, and by the way, the Dems don’t even have a candidate in the race yet (as Bob Kerrey wanders the streets of SoHo, pondering, pondering…).

First, a hat tip to the libs over at the New Nebraska Network for this. It kills us that just a few weeks ago they were bitching and moaning over the fact that the NRSC had bought a domain name that implies it could be a negative Bob Kerrey site. But now when their Washington boys starting hammering Nebraska’s own, they “give the DSCC credit for being so on top of things.” (And they say there’s no humor on that site!)

Anyway, here’s the thing about the DSCC ad:

1. They’re attacking a candidate…when they don’t even HAVE one! This is like Rice-a-Roni airing a negative ad against Dell Computers.

2. Uh, Democrat Washington ad writer-guy, the Huskers don’t play Oklahoma this year. But way to pander to the Nebraska football fans, because clearly that’s the ONLY way they could understand your ideas. (That’s sarcasm, in case it didn’t come through clearly)..

3. They spend a bunch of time and money to come up with an ad that says the exact same thing – pretty much the only thing – that’s been said about Johanns already. You know that we here at Leavenworth Street appreciate good politicking on both sides of the aisle. What we disdain is unoriginality..

4. Could the DSCC make it any more obvious that they’re afraid of the Johanns Juggernaut©? It’s blindingly obvious they want Bruning to win because they believe it’s their only shot of winning the general (assuming they have a candidate). Have they written Jon a check yet? (And don’t think this is lost on the average GOP voter. They’re interested in backing the winner in the general.)

***

A few other thoughts from the Johanns announcement today:

• Johanns must have used the word “conservative” about eighteen times. We think we may have spotted a theme.

• As awful as the video on Johanns’ web site is/was (the video, the audio, the text…please Thor, take that down -- here's what a web vid should look like), in his announcement – particularly when talking about the Ag Bill stuff – Johanns was animated. It would seem the thing to do is get him off the written page. Give him some talking points and let him run. Just a thought.

• Johanns said both in Omaha and in Lincoln (and probably in Beatrice too) that people told him not to talk about the “shortcomings of his opponents”. This would seem to indicate a plan to be 100% positive. Can this be accomplished in a modern campaign? Well, only if he has the lead. But if he’s successful, people will love him for it.

• From today’s announcement, here’s a thumbnail sketch of the battle lines of the GOP primary:

MikeJohanns2008.com

We'll update later tonight after Mike Johanns 3:15pm Central time announcement, should he have anything interesting to say.

In the mean time, you can check out MikeJohanns2008.com or you can just watch his intro video here.



The website itself was developed by Thor Schrock of Schrock Innovations. Schrock describes getting the gig on his blog:

Schrock Innovations went head to head against Washington DC design firms to win the bid to do Phase 1.

This is the first website we have done for a candidate seeking Federal office. Phase 1 of the website was pretty straight forward. We had four business days to complete an index page and a contribution page. The site had to be simple, yet appealing to the eye. It was to include a video as well as a form that allows people to subscribe for future updates.

Phase 2 of the website will be bid out again, and we are hopeful that our work on Phase 1 will give us a leg up on Phase 2.

Schrock has since been uploading the video clip to just about every video site possible, including iFilm (where you get a horror-movie trailer before it), Buzly.com and Blip.tv.

While it’s probably not Schrock’s fault, we’re looking forward to a little higher video quality in the future. If we wanted to watch Johanns through a filthy fish-tank, we’d meet him at the dentist’s office.

Kerrey still in a New York state of mind

First, a little random Separated at Birth, contributed by Leavenworth Street reader, and Lincoln Journal Star editorial cartoonist, Neal Obermeyer:

Mike Johanns and Alan Partridge

Now, while this SAB will be lost on 99.999% of you (as it was on us), Alan Partridge is a popular character done by BBC radio and TV star Steve Coogan. We know this, because we read this Wikipedia entry.

Nealo has now laid down the gauntlet to the rest of you out there to come up with some SABs. Get to work.

***

Two weeks ago, the AP reported that Cosmic Bob Kerrey would “likely” make up his mind about running for the U.S. Senate “next week”. That would have been last week which, according to our calendar, has come and gone.

Then we learned that Bob, though he’s been thinking about this for months now, has made no headway on his decision. Hmm.

Next, we find out via a random New York City blogger, that in spite of all his talk about calling Nebraska farmers, he has been meeting with New York Senators. (Arm in arm with Chuck Schumer, in this case. Color us shocked.)

So what’s he waiting for?

Well, let’s look at his decision-making process again:

1) Kerrey only runs if he thinks he WILL win.
2) Poll numbers may show that he can’t beat Johanns.
3) But poll numbers may show that Bruning could beat Johanns in the primary (or maybe they don’t).
4) Poll numbers may show that Kerrey can beat Bruning.
5) So are the odds good enough that Bruning would beat Johanns, and then Kerrey would beat Bruning?

Well we (meaning us, the non-pollster public) don’t really know. And while we do know and understand that Kerrey uprooting his kindergartener would be a hassle, let’s not pretend that Kerrey would be the first guy to go to D.C. with kids. We probably can all agree that trying to raise a family while in Congress sucks, but c’mon. You make that decision six months ago, while telling the New School board of directors (which may or may not include convicted felons) that you may quit real soon.

Enough with the hemming and hawing and “I’m talking to Nebraskans on tractors” and going on Scarbourough Country (or Morning Joe, as it were) saying “it’s possible”.

Kerrey’s only question is WILL I WIN?

The answer to that question will be the deciding factor, no matter what ever else he may say. (And thank-you to Hal Daub for giving us the honest answer when he dropped out. Will Kerrey do the same?)

***

The LJS’s Don Walton has laid out the scuttlebutt on who may run for Nebraska’s three House seats. Notably NOT on the list are 2nd Districters Jim Esch and Cliff Herd. Also on the 2nd District list with the ever-mentioned State Sen. Tom White is State Sen. Steve Lathrop. Walton also notes that Maxine Moul will be a no-show in the 1st District.

Walton’s full list of Dem prospects:

1st District: State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln and state Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah.

2nd District: State Sens. Tom White and Steve Lathrop, both of Omaha.

3rd District: Scott Kleeb of Hastings, the 2006 Democratic nominee, and state Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton.

T.O.: Bruning's Hatchet Man

"I don't want to come across as being critical of Mike Johanns leaving , but..."

Thus began Tom Osborne's role in the 2008 Senate campaign: Wearing the black helmet for Jon Bruning.

And isn't it a little sad? Here's the guy who stood by Lawrence Phillips. Here's the guy who stuck to his guns on the immigration question against Dave Heineman. Heck, here's the guy who went for two against Miami!

And now he's relegated to taking pot shots on behalf of Bruning? Geez Tom, what's next? MoveOn.org ads?

Of course, it's curious how this all came about. Osborne confirmed, "when asked" that he was considered for the Ag Secretary position before Johanns. Hmm, we wonder who prompted that reporter's question. Wait, here we see later in the article that T.O. won't "publicly" endorse a primary candidate, but will "personally" stand by Bruning. Love that distinction.

We see that T.O. wants to stress the importance of his "loyalty" to Bruning who stood by him during the Governor's race (hey, did Jon support Osborne's immigration position?). We guess that's what payback's all about. In any case, we hope we've seen the last of T.O. going negative.

(Now Tom, about that two-point conversion play call...)

***

Stop the presses! Mike Johanns is going to run for Senate? What the? Well, we're not going to get excited about this until it's actually confirmed next week.

***

And speaking of "next week", we see that Cosmic Bob hasn't gained ANY insight as to whether or not to run.

None? Really Bob?

Here's a suggestion for you Bob: flip a coin, and save us the introspection.

("Now do I use a New York state quarter, or a Nebraska state quarter...")

***

So, Marianne Means thinks because Ben Nelson is conservative he'll be Hillary's VP, huh? Well, if she says that's the way to go in balancing out the ticket, that's good enough for us.

But here are a few other conservatives that Mrs. Clinton is more likely to pick than Brunette Bennie:

Hal Daub; Dan Welch; David Kramer; Rush Limbaugh; Monica...

Waiting on Kerrey

As we wait (and wait, and wait) for New York’s own Bob Kerrey to make up his mind about moving to Nebraska so that he can move to Washington, we have to go back to his goofy Friday email to former radio host, and now Omaha City Weekly blogger, Steve Brown. Brown had emailed Kerrey to get his thoughts on Hal Daub dropping out, etc.

And we still can’t get over Kerrey’s transparently phony, pandering, condescending bit of palaver thrown down from Kerrey’s ivory tower. In his response to Brown, Bob decided to wax poetic about Fly-Over Country.

Kerrey told Brown how he’s “calling all his friends” in Nebraska.

"One friend had to turn his combine off in order to hear…"

(Oooh gee gosh jiminy! I’m here in New York City with cars honking and subways rumbling and this guy was, get this, on a TRACTOR! He he he, this is so neat!)

"Another just returned from checking his fences..."

(CHECKING FENCES! Oh wait ‘til I tell the other New Yorkers down at the bagel shop about THAT one! They won’t even know what that means!)

Then Kerrey, sipping a delicate Pinot Noir, gets philosophic:

“The harvest is underway, the yields are good and prices high.”

Um, yeah Bob, but are you going to leave your home in New York City?

“That’s why I worry about a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq…”

Bob are you going to move to Nebraska?

“…it’s why I worry about the future costs of entitlements…”

So you’re running, or you’re not running?

“blah blah blah Republicans should worry…”

Uh, yeah, great Bob, get back to us when you have something to say. OK? Thanks.

***

If Kerrey decides he’s not going to run, next everyone will look at Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey. But you don’t need to look much further than Fahey’s comments on Hal Daub’s departure to get a sense where Fahey is.

“I certainly understand why, at this time, he chose to vacate, and I wish him all the best.”

In other words, “Uh, yeah, me too.”

So that means the potato falls in Scott Kleeb’s lap, right? But these days many view Kleeb as being more interested in trying again against Congressman Adrian Smith than being the sacrificial lamb to the Johanns Juggernaut © (that’s right, it's OUR nickname).

(But if Kerrey does decide against running, we think it would be a smooth move to announce it at Hastings College and immediately endorse Kleeb. He’d be passing the torch, right? Make it happen Jane.)

And whither Anthony Raimondo? We’re not sure what his story is (though at least one commenter claims he plans to stay in the GOP).

***
And as long as we’re getting long-winded, a final note about that Don Walton poll story and his follow-up on Monday.

Don suggested that because he buried his mention of poll in the 12th paragraph of his story, it shouldn’t get as much attention. Huh? So we should instead focus on Mike Johanns' Kenyan Roast and ignore that flaming spear that’s been thrown down? C’mon Don.

All that being said, let’s see what the three polls looked like, prior to the Daub pull-out:

Of course, with Daub pulling out, all these numbers change. Though with Bruning getting on the radio and screaming about the “Phantom Poll” © (can anyone give Leavenworth Street credit?) and calling Johanns “Bush’s lapdog”, it’s possible that Johanns will hit 80% in the next poll…