New Senate Poll

Oh sure you want the latest numbers on the Senate race between Mike Johanns and Scott Kleeb.

But first, a Separated at Birth, suggested by intrepid Leavenworth Street reader, Eric:

Daily Kos Idol, Scott Kleeb and American Idol, Taylor Hicks!

And now onto the polling numbers, as reported by Rasmussen Reports:

Mike Johanns: 56%
Scott Kleeb: 31%

When "leaners" are factored in, the numbers are:

Johanns 60%

Kleeb 34%

These are in comparison to the June 2008 Rasmussen poll which showed:

Johanns: 60%
Kleeb: 33%

Essentially unchanged from a month ago.

Johanns still going strong.

Omaha's next Mayor...

We've seen the various lists of those who might run.
Here is ours:

In (most likely)

Hal Daub
Former Mayor, former Coungressman, former MECA board member, current attorney







Jim Suttle
City Councilman, former Omaha Public Works Director, former board member HDR, Inc.







Van Argyrakis
Attorney







Thinking about it:

Jim Vokal
City Councilman, commercial real estate broker








Dan Welch
City Councilman, attorney








P.J. Morgan
Former Mayor, commercial real estate developer








A few outside the box

Scott Hazelrigg
Director Northstar Foundation, Westside school board, former Executive Director & President of the Board of Trustees of the Strategic Air & Space Museum






John Ewing
Douglas County Treasurer, former Deputy Chief of Police, (at the Fahey retirement announcement)







Shane Osborn
State Treasurer, decorated veteran








Who did we miss? Who has a shot? Who has no shot?
Comment on...

Fahey is out

In a SHORT speech...Fahey is out.

"Promises have been fulfilled...

I have decided not too seek a third term as Mayor of the City of Omaha...

It's time for a new Mayor to take up where I left off."

Fahey Announces... part 1

On the online feed, KMTV's Joe Jordan says,

"Oh he's not running. I know he's not running...99.9% sure."

More as it comes...

Chambers pummels Esch

On July 19th, various activist groups staged a march in North Omaha to bring awareness to violence in the community and to the abrupt end to the Juneteenth celebration parade.

The march ended at Miller Park, where (former) State Senator Ernie Chambers took to the stage. The Omaha World Herald described part of Chambers's statement as follows:

(Chambers) asked black voters to be wary of white politicians who use them during campaigns and then disappear afterward.

But a recent article in The Reader fleshes out what Chambers said. It went like this:

Chambers attacked politicians who pledged support for the event but did not march. He had especially scathing words for Jim Esch, the Democratic candidate for the House from the Omaha-dominated 2nd District.

“I could get an axe murderer, I could get a serial rapist and put him up here and say ‘this is Jim Esch, vote for him, he’s here with you.’ and everybody would clap,” said Chambers. “They don’t know what he looks like. Is Jim Esch here now? How are you going to vote for him? They sent a flunkie because black people are so dumb and so easily tricked that the white man sends his flunkie.”

Esch was present at the initial gathering but left before the march began.

Ouch!

Esch has tried to make himself out to be a man concerned about North Omaha, but Chambers calls him to the mat here.

And this after some strange rumblings about Chambers thinking of running in the 2nd Congressional District race as an Independent. With Chambers having nearly 100% name ID, think how that would shake up the race.

Our guess is that Chambers has other fish to fry, but whenever you toss in Ernie's name, things get much more interesting.

***

And speaking of Esch, Jim's campaign came forward with a counter to the Lee Terry campaign's "Truth Squad", led by Esch primary opponent Richard Carter.

But the name of Esch's group? The "Dare Squad". Something about daring Terry to talk about energy policy (presumably about Esch's recent endorsement of Terry's energy plan ).

Of course, the Esch campaign clearly missed the irony of calling it the "Dare Squad", as opposed to the D.A.R.E squad -- you know, the one that teaches school age kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol...

***

We're still taking guesses here on what Fahey will announce tomorrow. KMTV's Joe Jordan says he "can't find anyone" who thinks Fahey will run for re-elect. The OWH seems to think so too. And frankly that's the way we've felt for awhile.

But all that being said, we've heard that Fahey has told numerous people he IS going to run. So we don't know what to think.

Maybe he's just going to pull a Hagel. "I'm here to announce that I'll make my announcement at a later time. Feel free to enjoy some cake and punch."

Fahey update

Leavenworth Street has heard now from a number of sources that Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey has decided that he WILL run for re-election.

Fahey is scheduled to make his announcement on Tuesday morning at Hanscom Park.

While there seem to be convincing arguments for and against him running, the word is that numerous people have heard, from him, that he plans to run. At this point, it would seem to be an awfully big punk to a number of people if he decided against running in 2009.

To top it all off, we've heard that Fahey has sent out invitations to Tuesday's shindig. Not the sort of thing you usually do for a retirement announcement.

But then, who knows? Maybe the Real Powers That Be in Omaha will change his mind for him...again.

Fahey to announce next week

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey told WOWT Channel 6's John Chapman that he will announce next week his decision on whether or not to run for re-election.

The money quote from Fahey was:

"I've thought long and hard about it, again, without making a decision here and now, I'm very comfortable with the decision I've come to and I've enjoyed this job and I continue to enjoy this job. I look forward to working with all the people here for the time that I'll be in office."

First, we have been saying here for a while that we don't think Fahey will run again. We just don't think his heart has really been in it for a while and the whole stadium thing has worn him out.

And while he states there is more to do in East Omaha, and Chapman points out he'd like to cut the ribbon on the new stadium, we don't think he'll run.

Reading his quote, he talks about being "comfortable" with his decision and has "enjoyyyyyyed" the job. Not usually the words of someone gearing up for another campaign.

He could always surprise us, but the money here is that he does not run.

While you're commenting, be sure to put in your opine on who will get in the race besides Hal Daub (and Van Argyrakis).

Suttle? Vokal? Morgan? Welch? Anyone else we're missing? Give us your thoughts and we'll be talking more about it next week.

Parading (part 5)

In our final 4th of July Parade Award of the day, we give Best Overall Entry.

This pretty much comes down to two (that we have pics for).

The Mike Johanns for Senate campaign, which was at three different parade stops and concluded the weekend with Mike driving a tractor in the West Point parade on the 5th. That's a lot of organization and volunteers.


But we give our final parade props to the Jim Esch for Congress campaign for their appearances at JE George and Ralston.

They had a great number of volunteers and a good entry with the addition of a Statue of Liberty float. While we deduct points from the campaign's dopey decision to spend six grand to pass out bottles of water (why not just dollar bills next time?), the volunteer presence and the extra effort (if not expense), made it a nice and effective parade entry.

Thanks to everyone who provided photos, and if you have others, we may do another post of pics in the near future.

Parading (part 4)

Our next 4th of July Parade award is for Most Grueling Schedule.

A number of the Omaha area candidates did both the JE George and Ralston parades. And we're sure that there are others that did a couple around their districts as well. But the award for Most Grueling Schedule easily goes to...

The Mike Johanns for Senate campaign who hit...

The Ralston parade...

Fourth of July town, Seward...

Central City...

And driving the tractor in West Point (on the 5th).

That's a haul -- with volunteers to organize at every stop.Kudos to the staff for putting it together and Mike (and Stephanie) for hiking (and driving) all the way.

Next up, the final award, for Best Overall Entry.

Parading (part 3)

Our next 4th of July Parade award is for Largest Float Presence (and by "float" we mean the parade entry).

We have a number of group shots to choose from:

Scott Kleeb for Senate in Seward

Mike Johanns for Senate in Ralston

Mike McGowan for MUD Board in Ralston

Lee Terry for Congress at JE George in Omaha

But the largest group of the day, that we have, has to be the Jim Esch for Congress gang in Ralston

The pic here has somewhere around 65 peeps in it.
Nice turnout and good entry.

Next up in an hour, Most Grueling Schedule.

Parading (part 2)

Our first 4th of July Parade award is for Most Creative Float.

Most parade entrants go with the candidate simply walking behind or in front of a banner. That's OK and all, but we like, and think it's much more enjoyable for those sitting on the curbs, when an parade entrant has something else going on other than just a candidate and stickers.

With that in mind, we liked these three:

Mike McGowan for MUD Board, who added a Chrysler Prowler into his entry. A cool car is always a good addition, and props too for Mike walking in the parade, as opposed to in the car.

Kudos to Jeff Fortenberry for Congress in Seward for the red covertible in his entry (hey don't walk so fast!).

Next we recognize the Jim Esch for Congress camp for the addition of a Statue of Liberty. It's a little awkward in the back of that pickup, but that's better than nothing.

But our award for Most Creative Float has to go to the Mike Johanns for Senate campaign in West Point.

(We deducted points from this, since the parade was actaully on July 5th, but added points, because the candidate was driving a freakin' tractor.)

Not only do they have a tractor, but Johanns is driving the tractor. While it may take away kissing hands and shaking babies, the Senate candidate at the wheel is an excellent touch.

Next up: Largest Float Presence.

Parading (part 1)

We are here to give our awards for the 4th of July parades!


We received a number of pics, and then we went ahead and took some from a couple campaigns who didn't send them in (we found 'em online -- if any campaign wants them taken down, please let us know).

The categories are:

Most Creative Float
Largest Float Presence (most people walking, etc.)
Most Grueling Schedule (by an individual candidate or office holder)
Best Overall Entry

First however, we're going to show a few uncategorized pics.

We have Mike McGowan for MUD Board, walking (on a surgically repaired knee) in the Ralston parade. Nice touch with the hats (on the volunteers) as well.





Next we have Charlie Janssen for Legislature from LD #15, running through the Hooper parade. Like many candidates and staff, Janssen is hustling to shake every hand and pass out every sticker.



Into the Congressional races...

1st District Congressman Jeff Fortenberry in Seward.




2nd District Congressman Lee Terry at the JE George Parade in Omaha.



2nd District Democrat challenger Jim Esch in Ralston.



3rd District Congressman Adrian Smith in Geneva.



Democrat Senate candidate Scott Kleeb in Seward



Republican Senate candidate Mike Johanns in Central City



These are not all the photos we have -- you'll be seeing more soon.
(And, in theory, if your campaign has another or a better photo to add, we'll take a look.)

We'll break down the awards at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00 Central today, so be sure to check back!

Conventioning

Greetings to all of you Leavenworth Street regulars, as well as those who came here via Don Walton's column in the LJS.

As mentioned in Don's column, Leavenworth Street has received press credentials for the 2008 National Republican convention in Minneapolis. We will be providing you with updates on the goings-on there, the pomp and circumstance and hopefully some reports on Nebraskans in attendance.

As many of you know, we here at Leavenworth Street have to (for various reasons) keep our anonymity. Because of that and other reasons, none of the Leavenworth Street "staff" (as it were) will be able to attend. However, a local and trusted politico will be there in our place.

That person is local political consultant, Jordan McGrain! Jordan is extremely knowledgeable about the Nebraska political scene, and we are honored that he accepted our offer to represent Leavenworth Street in Minneapolis.

Now before you go asking, no, Jordan is not "Street Sweeper", he has not written for Leavenworth Street, and he does not know our identities. We only communicate via email and IM , and Jordan is not able to post directly to our blog. He will however be writing to us during the convention (and hopefully sending photos). Jordan is a great writer himself, is quick and, as you can see above, the camera likes him (that 5 o'clock shadow is permanent -- just like Clooney's).

When September rolls around, we look forward to Jordan's reports.

And if you're new here, please feel free to comment. (You don't have to sign-in to speak your mind on Leavenworth Street...)

Esch's water play

Jim Esch recently crowed about his fundraising prowess. What you may not know is just how Jim Esch is SPENDING the money that people have given him.

For instance Jim apparently likes a good parade.
He took part in July 4th's J.E. George parade and the Ralston parade.

In both of those, Esch's campaign staff and volunteers handed out stickers and candy and...full bottles of water.
You may remember that Esch did this in 2006 as well, and was criticized by many in his party for wasting money.

Well guess how much the water cost for those two parades.
Go ahead guess.
You got a number in your head?

Well, when we took a look at his FEC report we found that this cost...

$6,541.
SIXTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! Handing out bottles of water!

We crap you negative. Here are the line items in the report.

And the funny thing is, that's not even the end of it. Not counting the cost to sign-up for the parades, and the stickers and a banner -- all of which you gotta have, Team Esch went ahead and gilded the lily. They spent over $700 on t-shirts, so that every one of their many volunteers could wear one (instead of, say, wearing a white shirt and slapping a sticker on it). Another $96 on candy. Then an additional $780 on "misc" parade supplies. And that's not counting additional amounts in their report which mixed parade supplies and office supplies.

So, to give you an idea, Jim Esch spent around $7,500 on two parades on July 4th (and that number is probably a little conservative).

We certainly don't begrudge a campaign spending money for a parade. But when you're (supposed to be) counting your pennies so you can make solid media buys, this is blowing money.
So, for those of you donating, or thinking of donating, that's seven to eight grand that WON'T go to radio or TV ads, or direct mail, or get out the vote programs or any other valuable campaign method for garnering votes.

You could very literally say it's money down the drain.
(And it gives you a good idea how Esch would spend money if he ever got into office)

***

And speaking of Jim Esch's "expenditures", note that he took $6,000 away from his cash-on-hand in order to pay himself back for the $107,000 he "loaned" his campaign back in 2006.

Of course, this is just taking money out of one pocket and putting it back in the other.

You see, of that $219,465 that Esch says he raised since April 1, 2008, $48,850 of it has come from someone with the last name of "Esch". Take THAT Nancy Thompson!

But to drill down even further, $10,700 of that take since April has come from members of the JBDHSK Partnership -- the "business" of Jim's little brothers and sisters. Jim "earned" $10,000 from that partnership last year -- doing what exactly we don't know. So when Jim's siblings max out their donations, realize where that money is coming from in the first place, and the purpose: it boosts his fundraising numbers, then goes right back into Jim's pocket.

***

And you are probably tired of hearing about it, but Esch has still not filed this FEC reports correctly.

It essentially comes down to him amending his April reports, without amending the previous ones as well. He said he had raised a certain amount in April, but then changed it to say, no, he actually raised that money in last reporting period. Except he never changed those previous reports.

So they're all wrong. Are you still reading? Well, the FEC will be...

***

Jim Esch and his buddy Dem chairman Matt Conneally were trying to make a point the other day beside the McCain fundraiser.

They wanted to be cute by serving hot dogs in comparison to the John McCain fundraiser (which brought in over $700,000 at the SAC museum, to now eclipse Obama's Nebraska fundraising totals).

People paid good money to see the Republican nominee for President of the United States at a museum filled with really awesome aircraft, while dining on smoked salmon and glazed chicken.

And what were the Dems doing? Making "supporters" pay to get into the park, stand out in the heat and then charge them FIVE BUCKS for a hot dog! Rosenblatt and Memorial Stadiums don't make that much of a profit from their wieners. That's a 1000% markup!

Way to stick it to the little-guy Dems...
(chortle)

***

And hey, how about the Lee Terry campaign's new senior economic advsior and "Truth Squad" leader -- Richard Carter!

We had heard that Carter would be working with Terry, but we didnt' realize he'd be in the campaign office as well.

Rich, lookin' sharp on KPTM!

***

And finally, we suspected Chuck Hagel had no chance to be Obama's VP nominee, but Ben Nelson has finally slammed the door on it.

You see, Nelson recently said he has no problem with the concept of Chuck on Obama's ticket. If Nellie is ok with that, it's crystal clear that it ain't gonna happen. (And thanks to a loyal reader for pointing out that the G.I. Independent ran this story...on the obituary page...)

The Yellow Rose of Kleeb

Oh, Scott Kleeb is-a-sight
In-Austin's-lights
(clap-clap-clap-clap)
Deep in the Heart of Texas!

That's right politicos. Scott Kleeb just got done touring Carhenge and Chimney Rock, and now that he's done with all that, what's he gonna do? He's goin' ta TEXAS!

Why would a candidate for the United States Senate from the Cornhusker State be leaving his presumed supporters to spend the weekend in the Lone Star State?

Well, because his REAL supporters, the ones he has the true bond with, are all in Austin for this year's version of the "Yearly Kos" conference -- now known as "Netroots Nation". Its "premier sponsors" include MoveOn.org and the ACLU.

Scott will be rubbing elbows, literally, as he tends bar at the Celebrity Bartender party with:

Markos Moulitsas Zuniga -- ultra lib and founder of the screeching ultra lib website, Daily Kos
Matt Stoller -- super lib, and main writer of the liberal blog, MyDD and founder of liberal blog, Open Left
John Aravosis -- nationally renowned liberal activist

When Kleeb won't tell you his position on things like whether he is pro-life or pro-choice, or that he'll consider off-shore drilling, just take a look at his supporters and the events he attends. You rarely hear the local press talk about Kleeb's out of town fundraisers, like the one a reader pointed us to, as written up on the Politico website.

But take a listen to the shrill screechings of the Kleeb national supporters, and you can get a nice idea of where he really stands.

***

There was much hooting and hollering the other day about Mr. Kleeb's new fundraising prowess, since the word is he took in more than his opponent, Mike Johanns for the quarter. Kleeb taking in $698,000 was good for his campaign, and all that. But it should also be put in perspective.

The last quarter should be considered the first real quarter of fundraising for Kleeb. He first needed cash to compete in the primary, and then once he won it, supporters then feel they can give money to the nominee for the general election.

In other words, this is what's known as low-hanging fruit. It's the stuff he's supposed to get. To make a comparison, Jon Bruning made an initial decision to run for Senate last year (remember that?), against a sitting incumbent (who had yet to opt out of re-election). In the second quarter of 2007, Bruning raised $721,000! And of course when you get back to comparing Kleeb's money to Mike Johanns's, note that Johanns still has a cash-on-hand advantage of $750,000.

Also one other note. When the Johanns camp announced their fundraising numbers, they noted that 81% of their individual contributors are from Nebraska.
We haven't heard any of that sort of info from Camp Kleeb. Once the information is online, it will be interesting to take a look to see just how much came from Kleeb's out-of-state super lib buddies. We'll wait and see.

***

And a final note on the pure political stuff that we love to look at: The Kleeb camp has a new website design !
And what color scheme did they decide to go with?
Husker red?
Democrat blue?
A USA flag motif?

No, the answer would be...brown.

That's right, a brown website. (We could describe the shade of brown they chose, but this is a family blog.)

Now we find the layout to be an improvement over the old one, which was a bit cluttered. But the old site was at least bright and sunny, if not laden with corny photos.

But now? It's a bit like something you'd scrape off your boot.

The Jim Esch Record - Part II

First, in our review of the Jim Esch for Congress campaign, we welcome those who found Leavenworth Street via "a MSM Omaha blog (Joe Jordan)". (No link Joe?)

As we noted in our last post, we are looking at Jim Esch's record to learn more about him. Esch recently submitted his personal financial disclosure report that all candidates for Congress must file. Mike Johanns, Scott Kleeb, Lee Terry, Jeff Fortenberry and the rest of the Congressional candidates all filed theirs by the appropriate deadline, May 15, 2008 (you can find the office holders' reports on Open Secrets ). The OWH wrote a story about it.

Jim Esch, however, failed to file his on time. Esch's finally-filed Financial Disclosure report, which you can read here, has a date-stamp of "June 30, 2008".

In any case, we wanted to find out more about Esch by looking at his employment information for 2007.

It seems he did some work for Creighton Prep for which he earned a salary of $4,011.38. And then he earned a salary of $10,000 (flat) from JBDHSK Partnership -- doing what, we don't know. So for the entire year of 2007, Esch earned $14,011 (and thirty-eight cents).

Can that even pay the rent?

We don't want to knock those of you who are scraping by, but you can make more than that that by serving french-fries for minimum wage.

So should we assume that Esch didn't work a forty hour week, for fifty weeks in 2007? OK, we'll assume he took some time off after the campaign. But when he did get back on the horse, what did he do?

His profile on LinkedIn.com (which we'll assume he or his campaign put up) indicates that he has been the "Managing Partner" for "Esch Agriculture and Energy" since 2006. In an April 2008 interview with the OWH he says he "joined a real estate partnership owned by his family and began learning the ropes of real estate law" and "worked with an uncle trying to develop a wind farm in southeastern Colorado." On his financial disclosure, he says he's the President of James Esch Farms, Inc. (Farmer Jim?)

Did he make any money doing that? Was it a pro-bono gig? We don't think it is the same entity as JBDHSK.

In an case, it seems the wind-farm biz isn't all it's cracked up to be or the Esch family biz doesn't pay much (salary).

We don't know what Esch made back during his run in 2006. But we're just a little worried that the thirty-three year old President of James Esch Farms, Inc. and General Partner of JBDHSK Partnership and Managing Partner of Esch Agriculture and Energy, who has made only fifteen grand in the past three years, with somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 in "school loans", may have trouble paying the electric bills.

Of course he did give his campaign $107,000 in 2006.
Maybe that wind farming does pay off...

The Jim Esch Record

On Friday, February 16, 2001, at 1:30 AM, Jim Esch was arrested for driving under the influence after running a red light. He had no proof of insurance and blew a .223 on the Intoxilyzer 5000.

You can see the two of the pages of his arrest report below.


We here at Leavenworth Street provide this information and the accompanying arrest report to you for a number of reasons.

First, no one else has presented this information to the public -- well, no one other than the Omaha Police Department. You will remember that Esch ran for Congress back in 2006. Was his arrest for driving drunk five years prior relevant in that campaign? Well, we'll never know, as no one, primarily Esch, provided that information in any public forum (to our knowledge).

Should Jim Esch have provided this information when running for Congress? We think so.
When putting yourself up for a vote for one of the highest offices in the country, your background is important -- especially if you do not have any other prior history to judge you by.

When Michael Scott ran for Congress as the Democrat nominee back in 1998, his history of drug use certainly was an issue in the campaign.

When State Senator Danielle Nantkes rammed into a snow plow and was arrested for drunk driving in Lincoln, it was a public issue, and will always be a point of consideration when she runs for re-election or for another office.

When Pat Flynn announced he was running for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, one of the first things he did was discuss his prior arrests for drug possession. We kidded him for placing it so prominently in his announcement, but not for stating it. He was up-front, put it out for any consideration, and moved on to other issues.

Jim Esch never put it out front.

As a matter of fact, when the issue of drug use was introduced in the Democrat primary this year, Esch had a prime opportunity to level with the public about his past indiscretions. Esch instead laughed off a drug test with the line, "obviously I have nothing to hide".

So, instead of getting out in front of the issue, Esch and his campaign followers will have to respond to it. But there is one other item Jim could provide, which we do not have.
The arrest report talks about a "D.U.I. supp". This document, as we understand it, is the record of Esch's field sobriety test. We are told that in order to procure this, a subpoena must be filed. Or Esch could simply provide it to the press. We are wondering what this document says. In how bad of shape did the officer observe Esch to be? Was Esch combative with the officer? What was said?

Providing this document would allow Esch to show that he is willing to take some responsibility for this, even at this point. Otherwise, frankly, it's just more stonewalling.

And one of the questions at the end of all this is, does a DUI seven years ago matter?
We're not sure. To some people it may. Did Esch's behavior change after that incident? Did he take steps to address his problem then?

But Esch clearly didn't level with the public when he ran back in 2006. When he had the chance in this year's primary, he didn't level with the public.
There is little else by which to judge Jim Esch.
Except his Record.

**UPDATE**
After reviewing a 4/25/08 OWH article, Esch did finally admit this year to drunk driving. The article however did not note that he blew over twice the legal limit. And we await the information from the D.U.I supplemental report...

Richard Carter: Nebraska can't afford Esch

In a shocking move this morning, former Democrat candidate for Nebraska's 2nd District Congressional seat, Richard Carter, endorsed Congressman Lee Terry in his race against Democrat Jim Esch.

Carter's announcement came at Saturday morning's Nebraska GOP Convention in LaVista. Carter said:

I'm here today to tell you that this is one Democrat who is voting for Lee Terry.

I know both candidates for Congress very well. But only one candidate is advocating and proposing for the kinds of change that Nebraska families need, and that candidate is Lee Terry.

On economic issues, the difference between the two candidates could not be greater. Congressman Terry wants to cut taxes and reduce spending. His opponent wants to raise taxes and spend more.

Nebraska families cannot afford Jim Esch.

When Carter first decided to run, we noted that his economic positions were certainly more Republican-centric than Dem. And while he hit Terry on Iraq issues, his positions still seemed closer to a McCain than an Obama.

We wondered aloud here on Leavenworth Street why Carter didn't endorse Scott Kleeb while Jim Esch was endorsing Tony Raimondo. While to our knowledge Carter hasn't come out for Mike Johanns (yet), it's clear now that Carter may have realized where he could find the most common ground with his views.

While many Democrats have openly regretted not choosing Carter as their Congressional candidate, many Republicans may see him as a Republican choice in future races.

Where to put Chuck?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel will be accompanying Senator Barack Obama on a tour of Iraq -- date unconfirmed. This is on the heels of rumors the past week that the two were possibly going to Afghanistan together, which got canceled for whatever reason.

This trip is further fueling the talk of Hagel in a job in a potential Obama administration.

But what job exactly?

When you hear (non-Nebraska) Dems talk about Hagel, they glow with a radiant aura about Hagel - a Republican! - who doesn't like the war in Iraq. Then in reverential terms they talk about how intelligent he is. How knowledgeable. How well credentialed.

Until, of course, you suggest that he be Vice President.
And you let them know that he's pro-life, anti-gay marriage and generally votes conservative on a host of other issues.
Then Veep is out.

So the next plumb admin job they suggest is Secretary of Defense! Republican Senator Bill Cohen was Bill Clinton's SecDef, so presumably another, anti-war, Republican could do the job.

Except that Hagel's not really qualified. Oh sure he was in the Army, but few would argue that that alone qualifies you for the top Pentagon job.

Hagel's Senate experience is on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He's well versed in the discussions of diplomacy, economics, state to state relations, and such. But that's not really the job of the SecDef. That job entails formulating battle plans, choosing defense systems, manging troops, etc. It's the job of a warrior. It's the Pentagon. It's not Foggy Bottom.

So let's say that Hagel IS qualified to be a Secretary of State. That's where his experience lies, and Hagel is the first to tell you that the Iraq War needs a diplomatic, not military solution. So Hagel the diplomat -- the lead diplomat -- right?

Well hold on there cowboy.

Like V.P., Secretary of State is a PLUMB job. It's arguably the rock-star job of the administration. Veep -- State -- Chief of Staff -- maybe Treasury -- then maybe Defense is arguably how you could rank administration jobs.

But we've already ruled-out Veep. Treasury is usually for financial types, which he also wouldn't fit. Chief of Staff is a little too mundane probably. Above we argue that he's not really qualified for Defense. So for a top job, visible as a Republican in a Dem admin, you'd look at State.

But is the first Democrat in eight years going to give that high level of a job to a Republican? How do you think Joe Biden, or Bill Richardson, or heck even Al Gore or Hillary would feel about that? You'd hear a LOT of grumbling. Enough grumbling to keep him out? We think so.

Then where to put the venerable Chuck Hagel?
Ambassador to the U.N? (Meh.)
Veterans Affairs? (Feh.)
H.U.D???

Is there an empty chair at Barack's table for Chuck?

Quakes at Camp Kleeb

The Scott Kleeb campaign seems to be in a bit of disarray.

As reported by the AP, campaign manager Jeff Jacobs is on the way out and spokesguy Joe Zepecki is in his place.

This isn't exactly Earth-shattering news. Word has it that this was finalized quite a while ago, but is just making it to the press now. Of course, transitions, even at the top, happen in campaigns all the time. The difference is that the successful campaign usually isn't the one making such a move.

Zepecki worked for the short-lived Chris Dodd for President campaign in Iowa. After that he briefly worked for a House campaign in Wisconsin before coming to Nebraska. It's not clear what his chops are for running a statewide campaign in Nebraska. But maybe at this point it doesn't really matter.

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Speaking of the Kleeb campaign, feel free to take a look at the latest Kleeb commercial, disguised as a "MTV Street Team" report by Kleeb's wife.

A few things we noticed were:

1) Scott won't be replacing Joe Ganz at QB any time soon. Maybe Scott's really left-handed?

2) My, Nebraskans love their hoedown music! Right! Right? Well, that's apparently what Ms. Fleming Kleeb seems to think. At least that's the message that is sent across the internets to the MTV viewing audience. Thanks for furthering a goofy stereotype there Jane.

3) Scott is shown speaking, presumably to the campaign staff, in that low, slow, husky, stunted whispery voice, about "what the campaign is really about". Do you think someone will just throttle him and scream, "speak like a normal human once in a while!"

4) That's quite the look Zepecki is sporting in the parade walk. We'll just leave it at that.

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The Chuck Hagel for Veep talk just won't quit.

The latest is that Hagel may travel with Barry Obama to Iraq later this summer. There had been word that Obama would be travelling to Afghanistan with Hagel in tow, but apparently that has been scrapped, or possibly delayed. In any case, if the two are chatty on the plane it will increase press jabbering about a possible hook-up between the two.

But we just don't see it happening. What's more likely is that Obama will make himself look all bipartisan by holding hands with Chuck, hint that Chuck is his kind of guy, then eventually go with a veep candidate that the party bosses can tip their hats to. Then he may hint real big that Hagel would be part of his administration.

That's our guess anyway...