What they said / What they meant

Joe Jordan reports that Lee Terry is courting the Obama Presidential voters.

Jordan reports that Terry said that the "Obama-Terry" voters are:

"People who want the right kind of change."

What Terry meant was:

"I'm more than happy to accept the votes of people who want to vote for Obama, but realize that Jim Esch has zippo experience and got really excited when people chanted his name a few months ago."

***

The Washington Post reports that Senator Chuck Hagel's wife, Lilibet, contributed $500 to the Obama for President campaign.

Hagel's press dude, Mike Buttry said:

"Mrs. Hagel is a private citizen who is entitled to decide who she supports and how she supports them...Senator Hagel has not endorsed or supported any candidate in the presidential race."

What Buttry meant was:

"Do you people even read the friggin' internets? Do you really think Chuck's gonna endorse McCain? Why are you bothering me?"

***

And the OWH reports that Chuck Hagel said:

"I don't intend to be and don't expect to be on any ballot this year.
I don't intend to be or expect to be in any administration next year."

What Hagel meant was:

"Uh, no. No one has offered anyone anything yet. No I probably won't be offered the Vice President job. But do you really think I'd turn down a Secretary of State job? Why are you calling me? Move along before I scowl at you once more."

Daily Kos buries Johanns-Kleeb poll

The kids at the über-liberal "Daily Kos" paid for a poll of Nebraska voters on the Senate and Presidential races.

What, you didn't hear about it? Well, that's because they released it on Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend. You see, that way no one will hear about it or read about it because you're all off doing three-day weekend things and won't read the paper. Well that's why we waited until today.

And why would they bury such an exciting poll of their glamor boy, Scott Kleeb?
Let's fly back to Saturday morning and lay it out for you:

Johanns 58%
Kleeb 31%

TWENTY-SEVEN points. That's right amigos. And these number are since that Rasmussen poll that had MJ 55%, Kleeb 40%.

And remember what the numbers were back in November (when we unfortunately used the verb "smush")?
Johanns 59%
Kleeb 28%

Yup. Haven't moved.

And here is what is even funnier. Remember that Obama tidal wave that Kleeb and Jim Esch are hoping to ride in November?
Take a look at what that same poll, paid by Daily Kos, found:

McCain 57%
Obama 29%

Oh, and by the way, guess what Hillary "I sure hope Barack doesn't get assassinated" Clinton polled:

McCain 58%
Clinton 28%

Yes the Obamania that swept through just a few short months ago has pretty much done zip.

The Johanns Juggernaut © continues.
And that means that Nebraska "in play" in November is less likely.
That means more liberal Democrat money into Nebraska is less likely.

But then, no one said it was likely that Nebraskans were going to vote for liberal Democrats, like Obama and Kleeb.
Just ask the Daily Kos pollsters...

(Click here for full poll and crosstabs)

Memorial Day

Omaha. Omaha. Omaha.

Remember Tim Russert's white board from the 2004 Presidential Election?
As he totaled the electoral votes coming in by hand, he kept up his mantra:
"Ohio. Ohio. Ohio."

Well, political savants, here's the latest scenario, via the New York Sun:
"Obama's Presidential Fate May Rest in Omaha"

The possibility of such a decisive role for the Midwestern city exists because Nebraska allocates electoral votes by congressional district rather than on a statewide, winner-take-all basis.

...

(The) scenario involves the likely Democratic nominee, Senator Obama of Illinois, taking every state Senator Kerry of Massachusetts won in 2004 with the exception of New Hampshire. Under this carefully chosen sequence of events, the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator McCain of Arizona, hangs on to all of President Bush's winning states from 2004, except for Iowa, Colorado and either New Mexico or Nevada. The result: a 269-269 tie, with 270 votes needed to win the presidency.

...

Of the five electoral votes up for grabs in the Cornhusker State, the one belonging to the 2nd Congressional District is considered the best prospect for Mr. Obama, though the area is still not particularly welcoming.

Of course, the article correctly notes ( to you over-excited Obamaniacs) that the bloom is off the Obama-rose these days. The likelihood is still that McCain will take all of Nebraska's five electoral votes -- including the 2nd District's.

Still, since Omahan's can never get enough national attention thrown their way -- the CWS, NCAA, American Idol, BRK, the Olympic trials -- some Presidential fawning would be right up their alley. And, hey, isn't that Johnny Mac on his way next month?

But Obama and McCain going door-to-door in Dundee, networks in tow, in late October? Well, we can dream can't we...

(Thanks to our anonymous source for pointing to this article.)

Johanns polling over Kleeb

Rasmussen Reports released a poll Sunday showing Mike Johanns with a sizable lead over Scott Kleeb: Mike Johanns: 55% Scott Kleeb: 40% Ras sez:

Johanns is supported by 78% of Republicans, Kleeb by 72% of Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided.
Johanns is viewed favorably by 65% of the state’s voters, including 27% who have a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican candidate. Kleeb is viewed favorably by 56%, a figure that includes 17% with a Very Favorable opinion of the Democratic hopeful.

The Favorables looked like this:

	Favorable Ratings for Senate Candidates in Nebraska
		Johanns	Kleeb
	Very Favorable	27%	17%
	Somewhat Favorable	38%	39%
	Somewhat Unfavorable	20%	23%
	Very Unfavorable	12%	13%
	Not Sure	3%	9%

After a relatively high profile, softball questioned, primary, it's no wonder Kleeb is polling higher than he was last November. It's not as if Raimondo challenged Kleeb on any issues. And Kleeb didn't do much more than wear giant cowboy hats and not take positions on issues. And then Raimondo complimented him. Nonetheless, it's obvious that Nebraska Republicans will have the weight of another difficult national election cycle bearing down on them. If the Mike Johanns and Lee Terry campaigns are any indication, they don't plan on taking anything for granted.

***

Rasmussen also indicates that Dave Heineman is getting high marks as Governor:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Nebraska voters say Heineman is doing a good or an excellent job as Governor. Just 9% say he is doing a poor job.

As Rasmussen points out, that's a good sign for statewide Republicans as well.

***

The poll also showed John McCain over Barack Obama.

McCain 50%
Obama 39%

And McCain will be in Nebraska next month...

***

Annnnnnd while Rasmussen is polling, a poll-ee reported into Leavenworth Street that a polling outfit out of Fargo (you betcha) called, [actually , it seems that it is Survey USA] asking lots and lots of questions about:

• the state of Omaha affairs;
• Mike Fahey's performance;
• Hal Daub's performance when he was Mayor; and
• a question about Mike Johanns thrown in there for good measure.

Hmm. Gotta be one of two people, right? We have our guesses...

Ashford: It's not a Hal thing

State Senator Brad Ashford will not run for Omaha Mayor in 2009.

Or, so he says, right now.

The OWH reports that Ashford has said he is interested in keeping his seat in the legislature. He will move up in seniority, and believes he can do as much good for Omaha in the Uni as being Mayor (hmm...).

But Ashford says that Hal Daub announcing his run did not influence his decision. "It's not a Hal thing," said Ashford. Well, Hal at least influenced him to announce his decision. So Hal was involved a little.

But lets remember that Ashford could pretty much change his mind at any time between now and, say February 2009.

But with Ashford announcing this, it definitely adds intrigue to the 2009 race.

Hagel Veep talk

David Ignatius, Op-Ed writer for the Washington Post, today gave a shout-out for Senator Chuck Hagel to be the Vice Presidential choice... of Barrrrrack Obama.

Ignatius isn't the first to make such a suggestion, but his is one of the highest profile voices to date. Iggy says:

By reaching outside the Democratic Party for his vice presidential nominee -- tapping Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, say, or independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg from New York -- Obama would in an instant demonstrate that he truly means to change the divisive, lose-lose politics of Washington. It would offer a unity government for a country that seems to want one.

...

Hagel would be an especially interesting choice for Obama. As a decorated Vietnam veteran, he would add some national-security heft to the ticket. And he was also an early and courageous GOP critic of the Iraq War, which would reinforce one of the most powerful themes of Obama's campaign. At the same time, although Hagel agrees with Obama on the need for withdrawal from Iraq, his military credentials would reassure U.S. allies that it would not be a pell-mell retreat.

A final advantage is that Hagel and Obama actually seem to like each other. Hagel is said to view Obama as a politician with a special gift who might actually be able to bring the country together. Whether Democrats could accept Hagel's pro-life views and other aspects of his Republican identity is a complicated question, but here again, bipartisanship is about bridging hard issues.

Hagel said recently that he would not be endorsing the Democrat Presidential nominee. So would accepting an offer be endorsing? That would be an interesting work-around.

We still find all of this highly unlikely. The domestic-policy conservative Hagel would be viewed as the Great Satan at the Dem Convention. Hard-core Dems would feel betrayed by Obama. But would they then vote for McCain? Unlikely.

In any case, the Veep has traditionally not been the deciding factor for any Presidential candidate. So why add someone who you disagree with on so many issues?

This has already been an unusual campaign season. Hagel as Veep would tip it into bizarro world.

Hal Daub on deck

Word has it that former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub will announce Thursday his intention to re-seek the Omaha Mayor's office in 2009.

**UPDATE at 6:30 AM**
Confirmed by the OWH.

**UPDATE at 8:15 AM**
Confirmed by Hal Daub press release (see below)

Daub has been a major player in Omaha politics over the past year. In his position on the MECA board influencing the new stadium build, Daub has stayed in the news and kept his face in Omaha politics.

Even before his interest in the Chuck Hagel's Senate seat last year, Daub made no secret of his other desire to sit in Suite 300 of the City-County Building.

As Mayor, the uber-energetic Daub was the driving force behind the Qwest Center arena and convention center. One of his continuing proposals was a light-rail system in Omaha -- an idea now being floated by present Mayor Mike Fahey.

And what of Fahey? He has hinted that he may run for another term, but the current CW is that he will step aside. Many believe that the successful new stadium and commitment for the College World Series will be Fahey's swan-song. Some also believe that Fahey will do his best to hand-pick his successor. (State Senator Brad Ashford maybe?)

And Daub is hardly the only one interested. If Fahey should stay in, the field would be much smaller. But if he drops out the names of Ashford, Councilman Jim Vokal, former Mayor P.J. Morgan, and others, will certainly come up.

But Daub will keep things interesting for the next...year. The Wikipedia entry for "Energy" should just have his photo.

**UPDATE at 8:15 AM**

Via a Press Release this morning, Hal Daub has announced the formation of an exploratory committee while he considers a bid to become Omaha’s mayor in 2009.

From the release:

An informational Web site, http://www.daubformayor2009.com/, has been established. In addition, interested persons are invited to telephone their comments and concerns directly to Daub at 402-339-DAUB (3282).

General Election begins today

Any excitement in the big races last night ended early.

So, while we were watching the returns dribble in, here are a few things we learned:

• When Democrats are given the choice between the Democrat they know and the Republican they don’t, they’ll usually go for the Democrat.
  
• Mike Johanns has already defined Scott Kleeb (anti-tax cuts, pro-choice, pro- gay unions).
  
• Kleeb’s campaign apparently had pre-election day internal polling that they chose not to release. (According to Owen Lei of KETV.)
• Jim Esch is hoping to raise $300,000 of dirty, filthy, corrupting PAC money for the general. (KMTV video.)
• Richard Carter plans on running for office again.
• Tony Raimondo does not.
• Hillary has gotten screwed by the caucus system. Her Nebraska delegates are based on the 12,000 people (32%) who sided with her in the caucus. But she had 43,000 people (47%) actually fill in the oval for her yesterday. If that happened in Peru, Jimmy Carter would have a conniption fit.
• Kleeb believes that “Washington can’t change Nebraska, but Nebraska can sure change Washington.” Just in case you were thinking he might give a clearer message for the general.
• Jim Esch’s endorsement doesn’t have the weight it carried back in high school. (And neither does the Omaha World Herald's...)
• The Kleeb folks may hold a grudge against Esch...

Anything else interesting?

Raimondo concedes?

Was it just us, or did Tony Raimondo concede as soon as the clock struck 8?

See Tony essentially call it for Kleeb on WOWT.
Well...that was fun while it lasted...

(So will Mike Johanns be gunning for Jim Esch's endorsement?)

Tony vs Scott: Who ya got?

In our final race of the day, the Leavenworth Street Odds Makers look a the Democratic Senate Primary.
(See the GOP Senate Primary here.)
(And the Dem 2nd District Primary here.)

Remember way back when, when all the talk was about Bob Kerrey getting in the Senate race? He was buying a house in Dundee, and picking out kindergartens, strolling the Old Market.

And now this race is Tony Raimondo and Jim Esch pumping each other. Weird year. Anywho...

Tony Raimondo has made this a race. Who'd a thunk that Democrat poster-boy Scott Kleeb could get his Stetson handed to him in the ad war that sprang up in this short primary season?

Let us back up. We all know that Raimondo figured out, like Hal Daub and Jon Bruning before him, that he couldn't beat Mike Johanns in a primary. But he could always be a Ben Nelson Democrat, right?

But wait, when you hear hoof-beats you shouldn't look for zebras, so who is that? True Democrat Scott Kleeb! And the primary was over, right?

Scott sure didn't think so. He came right out of the chute knocking Raimondo for his former Republican-ness. And then followed that up with how he'd be super bi-partisan. Wha-huh?

And then the ad-war started. And in a race where the candidates are very similar, something has had to break, and it's been Tony's drumbeat of business experience. (Oh, in case you didn't hear, Behlen is a company in Nebraska that makes stuff.)

In the mean time, Kleeb's campaign has been pure feely-goodness -- not unlike what catapulted Obama to where he is. But since Nebraskans still crave a little meat with their dessert, Kleeb's fluff has been elbowed out by Tony's offers of bidness experience.

Buuuuut. Will that be enough for Raimondo? Because while he would very likely be a better general election opponent for Mike Johanns, he still has to make it out of the DEMOCRAT primary. And last we checked, it wasDems voting there. The same Dems who gave Kleeb their votes two years ago in the Third.

Oh, and don't forget GOTV. Tony is skipping it. Kleeb is banking on it.

And then, we gotta hand it to KMTV reporter Joe Jordan for his standard question to Raimondo -- will he support Kleeb if Kleeb wins. And Tony says...he'll think about it.
He'll THINK ABOUT IT??? The guy has been a Dem for about 15 minutes, is trying to get Dems' support, and he'll only THINK about supporting the party's Senate nominee???
Nice job there Tony. But hey, at least you got Jim Esch's support...

Raimondo has made this race close and we give him a shot at pulling it off. But like when Tom Osborne fell to the Republican stylings of Dave Heineman, we feel that Raimondo can't out Democrat a Democrat. And Kleeb, if nothing else, is a Democrat.

So our Odds on the each candidate pulling it out tonight look like this:

Kleeb: 1 to 2 (bet $2 to win $1)
Raimondo: 3 to 1
Over/Under: Kleeb 54%

Comment it up pardners!

Bettin' on the Second

As we continue our Leavenworth Street Election Day Odds, we point you first to the 8 o'clock hour where we prognosticated on the GOP Senate race. Be sure to take a look.

Now we set the odds on the 2nd District Democrat primary between Jim Esch and Richard Carter.

This was a strange race from the start. Months back, Jim Esch, who came within 10% of Lee Terry two years ago, declared that Hillary would be too much of a drag on the ticket to overcome. Thus, he wasn't running.

Enter Rich Carter, Econ 101 teacher, Air Force veteran, eager beaver. He got the formal promise from Esch and jumped in.

But what did Jimmy hear? Was that his name they were chanting at the Obama rally-cum-Democratic caucus? Could they love him? Really LOVE him? Why then , Jim was IN!

But wait a second there, said Carter! Pee in this cup, Jim. It's for the children. (The results, not the sample.)
And while Esch turned up clean...

...his website, DID NOT.

JimEsch.org tested positive for "Plagiarism". But did anyone notice? Did anyone care?

Apparently Tony Raimondo did. Because Tony drove down from Columbus to convince the Esch Juggernaut to endorse HIM in his Senate race!
(Side note: How come Tony didn't endorse Jim? But we digress...)

So did the Carter Camp call foul? Did they call a presser of their own? Did Rich don a giant Stetson to show his campaign's desire to be the true Team of Change -- Kleeb-Karter '08!!!???

Uh...no.

Maybe Rich hopes to run for something else in the future and is content to let Esch tilt at the windmills.
We dunno. But any champagne that he may have nearby tonight ,will stay firmly on ice.

We put the odds of each candidate claiming victory tonight at....

Jim Esch: 1 to 5 (bet $5 to win $1)
Richard Carter: 20 to 1
Over/Under: Esch 68%

What say you? Too high? Too low? Got something to get off your chest? Saw something at the polls?
That's what the Comments section is for...

(Come back in an hour for our final odds of the day -- the Dem Senate Primary.)

"Never tell me the odds..."

It's that time again folks! The Leavenworth Street Election Day Odds! As always, wagering using these odds is only permitted in designated legal locations and/or off-shore servers.

We're only going to do three races here today, but we'll break them up over three hours:
The GOP Senate race now (8:00 AM CST);
The 2nd District Dem House race at 9:00 AM CST;
The Dem Senate race at 10:00 AM CST.

Also, while we won't be commenting on the "down-ballot" races, you should feel free today -- and today only -- to toss in your POLITICAL comments about other races. Feel free to comment on strategy, mailing, speeches, hairstyles, etc. But be forewarned, that if these become boring, we will use the DELETE button to our hearts' desire.

Now with that, we give you...

The Over/Under on Mike Johanns Victory in the GOP Senate Primary.

What, we're calling it already? That's right politico fans. But it's not like we're alone.
Frankly, we're not sure what Pat Flynn set out to achieve here. Somehow, he was hoping to out-conservative Mike Johanns. And we really don't know why.
Maybe Pat has political plans in the future that he hopes this race will jump-start.

In any case, Johanns has run the primary like he had real competition. He has toured the state. Hit small towns and medium towns and the cities. He has gone on TV talk shows across the state. Put together a top-notch website. He has run a TV ad campaign. He has done everything that a a solid candidate should do.

Other than a sort of average commercial, Johanns has run a flawless primary. So...what's the over/under on his victory?

Well, we considered all the factors, and we look at the fact that no matter whose name is on the ballot, some people just like to vote "Nay."
Pat Flynn is that Nay.

So, the Leavenworth Street Odds Makers put the Over/Under on the Johanns victory at...83%.

Did we nail it?
Do you like the over?
Are you a fan of the under?
Or do you just want to spout off about a lower race?

Rock those comment boards. And we'll see you in an hour.

Tony: Maybe I'll support Kleeb, maybe not

It was probably a routine question by KMTV's Joe Jordan to Tony Raimondo: Will you support Scott Kleeb if he wins the Senate nomination?

And Raimondo's response: "I'll think about that later."

He'll think about it later?

That's right, Tony, who has been a Dem for about fifteen minutes, will have to weigh whether or not he'll support his new party's nominee. Because, he wouldn't want to convince party regulars that he's a party-guy, or anything.

The kicker on Jordan's story is Kleeb's face after Jordan tells him what Raimondo said.
We're pretty sure he was thinking, "That little..."

Well, at least Tony's on the Esch bandwagon.
"Behlen-Esch-Johanns '08!", and all that...

(Be sure to come back to Leavenworth Street at 8AM CST for our Election Day Odds!)

Kleeb TV: LOTS of info

Scott Kleeb is closing out the primary season with a new ad entitled, "Time". Take a gander:



Wow. Information overload! Quick, what's the theme here? Yeah, we don't know either.

In thirty seconds we see Scott in five different outfits, pushing (at least) six different ideas, with a two different narrators, and twelve -- count 'em -- twelve different screen "subtitles".

For instance, you're supposed to

• read, "The Kleeb Plan - Affordable Health Care", "The Kleeb Plan - New Jobs from Renewable Energy",
• while the narrator is (presumably) telling you the same thing,
• and you are also supposed to take in the visuals as well --
• all in four seconds.

OK, you think you can do that?

Well how about learning that:

1) The Nebraska Primary is May 13th (just in case you weren't sure what state you're in)
2) There's some sort of "Kleeb for Senate" brand.
3) That's "Nebraska's Brand for Change"
4) It, or he, has been "Endorsed by the Lincoln Journal Star"
5) And it was all "Paid for by Nebraskans for Kleeb; Approved by Scott Kleeb"
6) All while learning that he's Scott Kleeb and approves that message
7) And what's with that giant Stetson...

...ALL IN TWO SECONDS!

Not to go all Simon Cowell on you, but this ad is a mess.

There is no defining theme. The message is muddled. The images are all over the place. And frankly, when Kleeb is talking at the camera, we find ourselves counting how many different versions of "beige" there are in the picture.

Kleeb better hope that the voters in this short primary season don't judge him by his TV ads.

If they do, Tony Raimondo has more than a fighting chance.

Richard Carter doesn't "want it"

After Jim Esch's ham-handed political move of endorsing Tony Raimondo over Scott Kleeb yesterday, it seemed there was one obvious move for Richard Carter:

Endorse Scott Kleeb.

However, Leavenworth Street has received word that Carter does NOT plan to endorse anyone in the Senate race.

Apparently Richard Carter's plan of not raising money, not having an ad campaign and being a complete unknown suits him just fine.

Even after Carter got some nice free press out of the Jim Esch's website plagiarism, he failed to close the deal by taking any hard shots. Lucky for him, Lee Terry's manager, David Boomer leveled a swift blow to Esch ("If Mr. Esch was still in law school, he would have been kicked out").

Here's the thing: Carter has no prayer against Esch unless something major happens. That's not going to occur all on its own. Carter may as well hitch his campaign to SOMEONE else's if he hopes to win. Frankly, that's what Esch has decided to do. (Of course, Esch's is an interesting, if not foolhardy, plan.)

But Carter doesn't need to beat Lee Terry right now. He needs to beat Jim Esch. And playing it safe ain't gonna get him there.

Carter's campaign will tell you he had the bravery to fly missions over Iraq and Afghanistan.
But does his campaign have the guts to go for it all?

***
Esch stated that it was Raimondo who came to him with the endorsement idea. An aggressive move by Tony, and frankly it only benefits him. Of course, why he would think that Esch will help him with Omaha Democrats is beyond us. But the stunt does get him some free media for the day, so he has that going for him.

Our favorite though was Kleeb's response to Joe Jordan:

"We are going to be the best person to beat Mike Johanns."

Is Scott from some sort of royal family?
Does he talk like that at home?

"Jane! We are hungry! Food, pronto!"

(see the video link of Esch and Raimondo at the top of Joe Jordan's page)

***

If you're really hankering for info on Esch and Carter, you can take a listen to their "debate" from the Tom Becka show on KFAB earlier this week.

The forum could actually have been worse, as Becka does a decent job of hammering them both and letting them both explain their positions.

We have to say that Carter's lines about not taking PAC money from "corrupt big businesses" like...insurance companies, made us cringe. Way to know your district. Who are you going to attack next Rich? Con Agra, Creighton and Mom?

Of course, Esch gave his standard platitudes of everything that was wrong with Washington and that he would only vote for good things and not bad things.

For instance, he is against, "bridges to nowhere". Now he was, we're sure, referring to the Alaskan bridges. But we on Leavenworth Street would ask Jim to simply take a walk to Heartland of America Park to view a homegrown bridge to noooooooooo-freakin'-where.

Esch does WHAT?

On Thursday, Jim Esch, candidate for the Democratic 2nd District Congressional nomination, went out of his way to endorse ...Tony Raimondo over Scott Kleeb for the Democratic Senate nomination!

Yes, you heard that right.

"Esch says he's convinced Raimondo is the most qualified candidate."

For the life of us, we can't figure out any politically sane reason for Esch's boneheaded actions.

Esch most likely has the Dem nomination locked up. For his own sake, why would he do anything to risk that? What could possibly be in it for him? A promise from Raimondo for $2,300? Were there Raimondo supporters out there who WEREN'T going to vote for him? If Raimondo by chance wins on Tuesday, does he think he's part of the bandwagon?

And please, don't tell us that he felt he "should" endorse Raimondo because he really feels that Tony is the best. We're sure there are lots of things in Jimmy's head, but that doesn't mean he should blurt them out. For instance, Jim also shouldn't say, "And by the way Tony, I think your wife is really hot."

So let's look at what Esch could/should have done:

1) Kept his freaking mouth shut. How does this hurt him in the least bit? Everyone will figure he's just for which ever Dem wins. Or maybe they figure he's really a Kleeb-guy -- fellow 2006 loser, and all that. That only helps him.

2) Endorsed Kleeb. Hey, guess what? If you were a betting person in this race, your money is probably safest on Kleeb right now. Sure Raimondo might make it close, could even win. But even if he DOES win, would endorsing Kleeb really hurt him? Heck, he could probalby even get some of Kleeb's sweet-ActBlue money out of the deal.

Now, all those potential donations may dry up when they find out Esch is a Raimondo (hint-Republican) guy. He has now pissed off loads of Kleeb volunteers who probably would have carried Esch's yard-signs and stickers around for the summer and fall. He hasn't really gained any "Independants" if that was his hope, because none of them will care/remember/pay attention come November.

This is a lose-lose for Esch.

He could have tried to run on the Obama-Kleeb-Esch ticket in November. Now he's betting on Raimondo (as if that does anything for him) or some independant streak that people won't remember anyway.

Wow.

Now, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop with Richard Carter's endorsement of Kleeb.
And would Kleeb endorse Carter? (We're guessing Mrs. Kleeb is smart enough to steer him away from that...)

Tony TV: Reading the fishwrap

Quick post on Tony Raimondo's latest ad, "Endorsement". Watch:



We give the production value on this one high marks. It pulls out good quotes, shows Raimondo with Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson, and makes Tony's best argument:

"the best Democrat to face Johanns"

(once again, the OWH ripping off Leavenworth Street, but we digress...)

That's a pretty strong ad to go into the final weekend of the primary.

We'll see if or when Scott Kleeb counters.

If he does, he has to go negative, right? Tony dismissed Kleeb as an "academic", so Kleeb will have to point out that Raimondo was a Republican.

If he doesn't counter, Kleeb must be pretty confident.

What say you?

Non-Nebraskans for Kleeb

With a week to go in the Democrat primary for Senate, Tony Raimondo has been taking a beating for donating about $500,000 of his own cash to his campaign. Now, forget for a minute that Raimondo said he was going to do that from the start. It's all new news now.

(We'll also put aside for now the fact that Kleeb has been running for office non-stop since 2005.)

(And we'll put aside that Raimondo's mouthpiece, Dem strategist Eric Fought, has apparently decided not to fight back too strongly -- lest he upset his fellow Dems?)

So Scott Kleeb is slamming Raimondo because Kleeb says he has more "grass roots".
So here's a quick question : Where do Kleeb's roots grow from?

For the past few weeks we've been lectured by Kleeb (raised in Italy, educated in Colorado and Connecticut, and a recent Nebraskan) about what "Nebraska values" are. So, like we asked back in 2006, who is supporting Kleeb?

Well, according to his FEC reports, a majority of the cash that he has raised has come from OUTSIDE Nebraska.
55% of the $234,032 attributed to individuals in his report come from places without an "NE" at the end.

And that's not counting the amounts that Kleeb has collected via such sites as ActBlue where low-contribution donors don't have to be identified. This is a favorite method of the Daily Kos types around the country, who have a running love-affair with Kleeb.

So while Raimondo may have had to reach into his own pocket to get attention during this short primary season, his campaign should also point out the cash supporting Kleeb on Primary Day.

And you'll find that more than half of the money doesn't come from those who wear Husker-red on game-day Saturdays...

***

The OWH came out with their endorsements for the Congressional races on Sunday. After their surprise pick of Kleeb over now-Congressman Adrian Smith in 2006, this year they've picked Raimondo over Kleeb for the Dem Senate nom.

The interesting part isn't about Raimondo -- businessman, buds with Ben Nelson, etc. -- but that they completely ignored Kleeb this time around. Nary a mention of his name.

You may remember that in 2006 the OWH's endorsement of Kleeb included gratuitous shots at Smith. But this time, they're silent on the Cowpoke. How fair of them.

***

The OWH also endorsed Jim Esch, apparently over Rich Carter, but you wouldn't know, because as in the Dem Senate race, they failed to even mention Carter's name. So why did the OWH choose Esch over the seemingly just as competent, if not more educated and informed Carter?

Well, as they said it:

"He packages a message of modera­tion around a smartly designed campaign strategy."

So there you go 2nd District voters. Esch is the OWH's pick because he makes a better bus-bench.
Hope you're all more informed voters now.

It's good to be an Esch

Jim Esch filed his FEC report -- on time!
Nice work Jim.

Esch has taken in nearly $80,000 this quarter for his challenge against Richard Carter for the Dem nomination for the 2nd District Congressional seat .

But lets take a look at who contributed.
We see that over $36,000 -- nearly 45% came from someone with the surname "Esch"-- all the primary max of $2,300.

(The list is not unlike the Who's of Whoville...)

There's...
David E. Esch
Dennis L. Esch
Holly Esch (Jim's little sister, listed as a student)
John Esch (he actually shorted Jim $50 of the max -- he's off the Christmas card list!)
Katherine Esch
Kathy H. Esch
Kelly Christina Esch
Luke Esch
Lynette Esch
Paul T. Esch
Sara Esch
Scott Patrick Esch
Timothy Esch
William Esch
Yvonne Esch
Jennifer Esch-Swanson

Whew! That's a lot of Esches! If there was a Cindy-Loo-Who-Esch, we're sure that she would have kicked in her twenty-three hundred bucks as well. Oh, and 12 of those 16 max Esch donations came on April 22nd. Hmm...

So it's nice that Jim has his own family Esch-PAC. And we're sure they're getting ready to pony up another $2,300 each for the general.
That'll teach Richard Carter and his drug tests to challenge the Family.

***

As many of you know, Lee Terry has been running radio issue ads for some time -- the "Lee Terry Minute". All of these have now been put up on Terry's campaign website.

Here's the latest for you to listen to (we've turned it into a YouTube video, because audio's kind of a hassle):

An interesting angle on this. He's taken to spelling out the politics of the Democrat bill which has bipartisan support. We like the fact that it's something different, campaign ad-wise.

***

And if you want to get some down and dirty video from the Senate race, look no further than Nebraska Public Television's interviews with each Senate candidate.

They've broken it down by each candidate, on each issue -- Iraq, abortion, the economy, etc. You can watch the 30 second individual clip to see what Pat Flynn, Mike Johanns, Scott Kleeb and Tony Raimondo have to say.

Be sure to check out the rambling answer that Kleeb gives (again) on abortion. You can then see where the off-camera interviewer tries to nail down Kleeb to get him to admit that he is pro-choice, and Kleeb gets a little testy. Heaven forbid he answer the question...