Thursday, January 17, 2008

Counting with Kleeb


You've heard of "VooDoo Economics"? "Fuzzy Math"?
Well there is a new type of calculus going on with the Democrats these days.
And your instructor is none other than Professor Scott Kleeb.

At the 6:07 mark of the YouTube video of his speech at the Truman dinner Kleeb says that in the 2006 3rd District Congressional election,

"I lost by 10,321 votes ...not that I counted."

Well, it's pretty clear that he didn't count. Because this is...FALSE!

Kleeb lost by 20,641 votes, according to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Adrian Smith: 113,687
Scott Kleeb : 93,046

Here, let us set this out for you Scott:

113687
-93046
20641

Now Kleeb is going to try to huckster you into the idea that, well, IF 10,321 Smith voters changed, and instead voted for Kleeb, well then he would have won. Interesting theory.

But that isn't the way we count (here in America).

  • If 10,321 NEW voters had jumped in and voted for Kleeb...Kleeb would have LOST by 10,321 votes.

  • If 10,321 Smith voters had simply stayed home...Kleeb would have LOST by 10,321 votes.

  • When you make a big pile of the ballots, you'll see that Kleeb has 20,641 fewer ballots than Smith.

Heck, if Bill Callahan had convinced Tom Osborne that he really only lost to Kansas by 19 points (instead of 37), he might have kept his job!

To try to sell the idea that 10,321 voters would LEAVE Smith and THEN cast their votes for Kleeb, well, that is an interesting sales technique.
How would we describe that technique...hmm...hmm.
Oh yeah...it's LYING.

***

Tony Raimondo also showed up at the same Democrat dinner as Trigonometry Professor Kleeb last week. Raimondo got up and told everyone how pumped he was to be a Democrats because "I've been partnering with labor all my life!" (Of course, some Dems have said that his partnership with the unions has been to keep his heel clamped on his partner's neck.)

This exhortation comes as a shock to the many Republicans who he was convincing a few months ago that he was the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

Nonetheless, we found some secret audio footage of the reception the Truman dinner Democrats gave Raimondo.
Click here to listen.

***

The 2007 Senate voting tabulations are in and, SURPRISE!, E. Ben Nelson is a Democrat! How about that? And back in 2006, he was such a good "conservative", voting with the President 75% of the time, right?. But in 2007? 49%.

And then there's Nelson's recent endorsement of...Huckabee? Romney? Giuliani? Those are the conservatives, just like Bennie, right? No, Nelson endorses Obama, a Senator who votes to the LEFT of Hillary.

(Wait...I...thought...Ben was...a...Republican? Right? Right?....)

***

And finally, you've played, or at least heard of Fantasy Football? Fantasy Baseball? Heck maybe even Fantasy NBA leagues?

But we've got something new for you this year: Fantasy Senate Campaigning!

That's right, first to start up the league was the GOP's own Pat Flynn.
Then the Green's Steve Larrick fired up his computer to give it a whirl.
And finally, we have a Democrat to join! It's some dude named Larry Marvin!

Larry is Fremont resident who last ran for the Unicameral ten years ago.
He's a veteran, longtime Dem, and probably also owns a computer.

To join the Fantasy Senate Campaign League, contact the Secretary of State's office.

(Are we being mean? Yeah, a little. But geez...)

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Street sweeper, your math does not account for all the Phantom Kleeb phone calls that supressed the vote.....lol Couda, Shoulda, and Woulda doesn't get you a house seat Scott. If the 3rd district knew of Scott's more recent stances that would destroy farming and ranching in the 3rd District he would have lost by 50,000 or more votes. Nice job sweeper!!

Anonymous said...

Dang Sweeper,

Are you trying to steal my Snarkiness award?

Anonymous said...

Kleeb is retarded and Nelson is a real Democrat. But they aren't ripping the guts out of the Nebr GOP. Bush did that.

Bush has yet to apoligize for putting his arm around Nelson and all but endorsing the Democrat for reelection.

Bush bent the Nebraska elephant over and invited Nelson to have his way with it. Sure Nelson is smiling. Not many GOP fathers are willing to whore out thier children like Bush did.

Anonymous said...

Ben Nelson is neither a R or a D. Ben is out for Ben and the rank and file Democrats know it. And what frustrates Republicans is that Ben does not always vote as a D so he can fool republicans to vote for him.

Anonymous said...

Man, that was just dumb of Kleeb to say. Obviously, he could've carefully worded it to get across what he was apparently trying to say, but he didn't.

I think Kleeb's got a lot more potential than you and your fans do, SS, but this can't be chalked up to a simple mistake -- he clearly did the math of finding out how many votes he lost by and divided it by two (and rounded up).

This is just people getting themselves excited over rigged info, and the worst part is that it was completely unnecessary.

Anonymous said...

Amen, Wally. Amen.

Anonymous said...

Consider ye olde selves warned. Pat Flynn will win. Don't underestimate his campaign.

-Chriss

Anonymous said...

Here is the prediction for the primary of 2008.

Kleeb will not run for the Senate because he needs to be unopposed in the primary. The Yale soft handed ranch hand cannot let people get to know who he is and what he stands for by having primary and general election scrutiny.

Most Nebaskans, Republican and Democrat alike, are turned off by the caustic nature of the DailyKOS, George Soros and Company yet those are the big supporters, mentors and nurturers of Kleeb (and wife).

Hence, I would not pick the cowboy in a FANTASY POLITICAL league. He is an eloquent loser and a whiner extraordinaire. Otherwise he is a nice guy.

Anonymous said...

Sweeper - you conveniently forgot to mention that Bush's support was down among every member of the Congressional Delegation. Remember when Hagel touted his conservatism with "I voted with Bush 95% of the time"? Um, I guess he's a Democrat too? Even GOP talking parrot Lee Terry saw his numbers in support of Bush slip - but hey maybe he didn't know what he was voting for all those times he opposed Bush - he has a habit of not knowing what he's voting for. But its OK, Adrian "Brokeback" Smith made up for it with his numbskull, mindless, robotic 98% party voting record. Those out in the 3rd should be proud.

Street Sweeper said...

CQ,
Yes the other Members' numbers changed, but none as much as Nelson.

Here's the link to the LJS story for everyone to read themselves:

http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/01/15/news/politics/doc478bf5f52480d953255186.txt

And you're right, Hagel's numbers have changed. And Hagel's party-philosophy has apparently changed as well. Surprise, surprise.

Anonymous said...

Best Hillary for President campaign bumper sticker seen yet...

"Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriend's wife for President"

Anonymous said...

Actually Sweeper - Hagel's drop in support of the President is larger than Nelson's. But don't let the facts get in the way of the hating!
P.S. I'm surprised Hagel even registered on the study - he's so far checked out already his picture is on the Senate's milk cartons.

Anonymous said...

Finally...someone in the Democratic Party with bollocks! Either that or the NDP found someone to jump on the grenade for Kleeb.

Unless Smith chokes on a ham sandwich or is photographed oiling his robocall machine...the metro cowboy won't fare any better...probably worse in the next go-around. Any way you cut it..it will be an ugly campaign with lots of out of state cars.

For those purporting Smith has no brain because he votes 98 percent Republican...I am left with the burning question...WWKD? He says we aren't meeting our obligations as Americans. Does that mean we as taxpayers aren't doling out enough? Where does he stand on illegal immigration? What was it Ann Richards used to say? "All hat...no cattle." That should be Kleeb's mantra.

Now if the NEGOP would just spend a little time finding someone that could oust ol' earmark from his roost.

Anonymous said...

If Nelson dyed his hair blond and wore bib overalls, he'd be the perfect Herbie Husker.

Anonymous said...

Again with the hair jokes. Where, oh where, is the biting political commentary on this site? Jeez, I may just have to go back to harrassing the kids over there on NNN in order to have any fun.

And what is with Bruning joining in with good-ole-boy Huckleberry Hound saluting the (Confederate) flag? See more about that over on Nebraska Blue:

http://nebraskablue.com/index.php/2008/01/19/p205#more205

Street Sweeper said...

BTO,
No idea where you get a Bruning - Stars and Bars connection. But as far as Huck goes, seems to me he's from the same ilk as your party's Grand Poohbah, Bubba. Except he bites his bottom lip less...

Lid-tip to the guys at Nebraska Blue for the MSNBC link.

Anonymous said...

Sweeper,

I know, I know . . . it's one of those far left references, but still worth the read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/mike-huckabees-white-sup_b_82263.html

Anonymous said...

If Nelson dyed his hair blond and wore bib overalls, he would look like Herbie Husker but he would still act like the braying jackass that so well represents his Party. Is that better?

Anonymous said...

Bob,

You're getting better at the "political analysis" part. Now all you have to do is work on the "thinking" part of the process.

Anonymous said...

To Bob --- don't let BTO's comments get you down. He is one of those that regurgitate the talking points of the Liberals and calls it THINKING.

I am sure he will come up with a quip that attempts to put me down also. He is exceptional, like most liberals/progressives, at personal destruction. So Clintonesque. The difference from Brian and the Clintons is you probably will not end up dead.

Anonymous said...

Kleebsupporter,

Really? A Kleeb supporter? May I ask you why, when you obviously don't like Liberals? Anyone that reads Leavenworth Street knows most who post here think that Scott is some spawn of Stalin.

It is hard to kill you when I don't even know who you are. So . . . please explain the difference between regurgitating Liberal talking points and being a sock puppet for Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly. The distinction eludes me. I doubt you can find anything I've written that could be attributable to any of the lefty pundits you'd like to hang on me, but don't let that stop you from saying that it is so.

I'll admit I have a very well earned reputation for wielding my wit against those who like to take jabs at others then hide behind a veil of anonymity. I think it is cowardly and that's why I don't do it.

Brian T. Osborn

Anonymous said...

As a Democratic Party Chairman, it was your job to go out and find electable Democratic candidates to fill the Nebraska election slate. Instead, Democrats have been forced, by your laziness, to ask Republicans to run as Democrats. You accuse others of being anonymous but you hide in this blog from your own job. Nebraskans deserve a choice and you aren’t giving it to them.

Anonymous said...

Benz,

What in the hell have you been smoking and where can I get some?

You are absolutely right. It is written in the Nebraska Democratic Party's Constitution (not sure which section right at the moment but I'm sure it must be in there somewhere), "The selection of candidates for the Democratic ballot is the responsibility of Brian T. Osborn. Anyone that Brian names is duty bound to step forward and accept the nomination. Furthermore Mr. Osborn is charged with the duty to raise every dime it takes to keep the party running and to finance every candidates race from his own pocket."

It's a good thing I won the lottery a few years ago so that I can single-handedly fund all those junkets and golden parachutes.