Getting the Parties Started

As Obama starts out campaigning and McCain starts out his convention -- and we await McCain's pick (Sarah Palin?) -- a few thoughts from last night. (Regular readers know we mainly concentrate on Nebraska politics, but we can branch out a little today.)

Feel free to throw in your two cents (we're sure you will) -- this is ours: weren't impressed with Obama's speech. The location looked very cool and was impressive on the wide shots. The build-up was magnificent. But the speech itself? No flow. Very choppy. More negative than we've ever heard him.

We expected one of his soaring Hope and Change vision things and instead got bogged down in how horrible McCain is and the standard list of Democrat bitches. Oh, and his grandparents are from Kansas. (And wouldn't you feel slighted if you were from Hawaii? He was born and raised there, but if you asked someone, they'd probably say he was from either Topeka or Chicago.)

A few reasons for our disappointment in the speech probably had to do with the fact that it had to follow the great Hillary and Bill speeches. You can either like or hate their messages, but the delivery and flow of both speeches hit the mark. And another problem had to be the setting. Obama got lost amongst the 80,000 people. When they showed a wide shot, you never knew where it was he was standing.

As far as the stuff he said, none of it was a surprise (of course partly because we heard about half of it from Keith Olbermann before Obama even got out there...). Bush is bad, McCain will be Bush, McCain doesn't "get it", I'm young and hip and I do.

A couple of our favorite lines afterwards came from the NRO's "The Corner":
Instead of "I Have A Dream", it was "I have a grievance."

After Obama's "This election isn't about me, it's about you" line:
Is Obama breaking up with us?

And if you were wondering, don't expect much out of McCain either. The guy gives a terrible speech and is rotten with a teleprompter. But hopefully you'll be able to see where he's standing in the hall.

[Update, Friday afternoon: Hey, former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan agrees with our assessment. See her "flop-a-lini" review here.]

***

As we mentioned a while back, Leavenworth Street will be represented at the GOP's gig in the Twin Cities next week. While Street Sweeper will not be attending, L. St. part-time correspondent, and full-time political consultant, Jordan McGrain will be sending us updates on the goings-on.

He will have camera in-tow, so if you're there and see him, be sure to show your him your mug and maybe get your face on the blog.

***

As you may have seen, Omaha City Council President Dan Welch announced his retirement (is that the right word?) from the City Council the other day. Millard School Board President Jean Stothert -- who lost her campaign for the legislature to Governor wanna-be Steve Lathrop by 12 votes -- has already announced she is running.

Attorney Jon Blumenthal also told us he will announce next week whether or not he will run.

But Welch also creaked the door open just a smidge wider on his decision whether or not to run for Mayor. He has said he is 50-50 on whether or not to make the plunge.

Our take on all this: Hal Daub is running hard for his old job and is already raising money. Councilman Jim Suttle has all but announced his decision to run. But many of the monied interests in town don't think Suttle can beat Daub.

So those many, who still want someone to take Daub out and can supply the cash to help do so, are (we'll say "probably") whispering in a number of candidates ears. How much cash will it take?

Dan Welch? Jim Vokal? Scott Hazelrigg? Shane Osborne?? Who could take out Daub?

And with all the above Republicans, you know they have to walk on eggshells around Daub, who is the patriarch of the Nebraska GOP these days. It's a tricky dance. But with the obligation to raise money very very soon, we should know how this is all going to shake out before the November election. After that could be too late.

Party Crasher

We will start today's edition by giving a shout-out to a Leavenworth Street friend who has taken it upon himself to party-hardy in Denver -- sporting a John McCain t-shirt.

That ballsy man is Dayton Headlee (pictured at right with you-know-who), U.N.O. student and author of his CrashingBothParties.com blog. Dayton blogs about his time volunteering at the McCain HQ in Denver and hobnobbing with the reps of both parties, including Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Ben Nelson and Scott Kleeb.

Kudos to Nelson and Kleeb for taking pictures with McCain-garbed Headlee, while perennial grump, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, refused.

We will be following Dayton's vagabonding in Denver and Minneapolis -- where he has a guest pass to the GOP's shindig (he came that close to being an alternate delegate from Nebraska). Be sure to take a look.

***

We mentioned in our last post about Scott Kleeb deciding to take Mike Johanns head-on in the "global warming" debate (and how has your August been?). Well Kamp Kleeb has taken it a step further by posting Johann's closing debate comments on their YouTube site and crowing about it on their Daily Kos blurb.

(Of course, shouting it for Kleeb's chief liberal constituency on Daily Kos and yelling about it on KRVN radio are two different things.)

In any case, it would seem that the Kleeb and Johanns campaigns have a genuine issue that they can battle on:

Should Congress spend people's money and force them to change their everyday life with the hope that it will change the weather?

(If there is another or better way to phrase that, please comment on.)

By the way, the UNL "Center For Applied Rural Innovation" recently conducted a survey of "rural Nebraskans" on global warming, and 53% of respondents said the government needs to respond immediately to global warming. Interesting info for both sides to to chew on.

(In this mail-in survey however, 6,200 mailers were sent out and the survey is based on the 40% that were returned. Were "global warming needs to be fixed now" believers more likely to return this survey? You be the judge.)

The Johanns campaign has expanded on the subject of the Environment here. You may have to try to nail down Kleeb on this in his policy "book". We will take any better links.

[Hey, and don't say we're not fair on the subject: A draft plank in the GOP platform apparently has the following language:

"Increased atmospheric carbon has a warming effect on the Earth. While the scope and long term consequences of this warming effect are the subject of ongoing research, we believe the United States should take measured and reasonable steps today." ]

***

And speaking of Kleeb, he gave an extended interview to the Hotline on Call, published yesterday.

In it, he continues the claim that he lost his first Congressional campaign against Congressman Adrian Smith just barely (a full 10%), and that at some point in the race he was "winning" but lost because of George W. Bush's visit.

(By the way, we've mentioned it before, but be sure to read Stuart Rothenberg's summary of Kleeb's Third District loss, and the full debunkization of the claim that it was "close".)

Just so we don't let those kind of comments sit out there, No Scott, you were never "winning". There is no halftime score in a campaign. And your own push-poll doesn't count either. Further, since we've never heard the end of how horrible George W. Bush has been, how on Earth could he have helped Adrian Smith's campaign?

But the part that really cracks us up in this breathless interview is where Kleeb says the only thing that is preventing him from doing great in Omaha (just like he's doing in the 3rd???) is to meet more people there. Of course that's real hard to do when you're busy meeting with your ultra liberal constituency in Manhattan, Dallas and Washington D.C.

***

Finally, for those fans out there of MSNBC's "Morning Joe", you should watch this clip from the other day of host, and former Republican Congressman, Joe Scarborough GOING AT IT with liberal reporter David Shuster. It gets really heated when Shuster tries to claim that he's an "Independent". Hilarious. They were ready to come to blows...

Debatable

This past weekend saw a couple of debates (and a 3 AM text message...).

Let's review.

*** We did a full-on running diary of the Terry - Esch debate on KFAB on Friday. Not that much really notable, though.

Terry rattled off all the things he has done for the district and showed a mastery of the issues. Esch said things are bad and if you vote for Terry they will get badder.

But the radiothon did have one actual dialogue, and if this campaign is remembered for anything, it may be this:

Jim Esch apparently doesn't know the difference between a bill and a resolution.

Now there can be some quibbling about whether the "Hill-Terry Bill" is a "bill" or is an "amendment" to the overall energy bill.

But here's the thing: it was introduced as a bill, and was given a bill number -- "H.R. 2927".

Here is what it is NOT: A "resolution", which would have been listed as "H.Res 2927" (or other number).

A resolution is something like "a sense of the House that we should support trees".

Jim Esch walked into the debate --his SECOND go around at running for Congress -- STILL not having basic knowledge of terms and process for the job he is applying.

That is astounding.

***
Then there was the meet in Lincoln on Saturday for the Senate candidates.

First off: Can we put this in a sound-proof room at some point? Seriously, should you be able to hear the band go by when you are trying to decide who should vote on the next Supreme Court nominee?

And we will also ignore the fact that the Super-Loving-Trees Party candidate was included. As if that really helps us.

So in case you missed it (what, you didn't tune in at 11 AM on a Saturday? What do you have, a life?), it was about as you'd expect.

Mike Johanns was hyper-educated on the issues and Scott Kleeb spoke in his standard Zig Ziglar-esque style. But unlike his 2nd District counterpart, at least Kleeb can deliver his spin in an effective manner.

For instance, after a detailed question about flood insurance in the Farm Bill, Johanns gave an incredibly detailed response directly to the question, that would leave anyone saying, "it would seem to me that he is familiar with this issue...".

When it came time for Kleeb's response, he vaguely addressed the question that was asked, then smoothly segued to his attack on Johanns (about vetoing the Farm Bill -- which Joahnns then slammed back in his closing remarks).

But here was the interesting political tact that Kleeb made that makes you go "hmm".

As they were bantering back and forth about Global Warming, Johanns pointed out that most Nebraskans continue to question the science on the issue that most Dems take as the Gospel According to Al.

In his post debate comments Kleeb then said this: "It seems like the only person who doesn't believe the science is in (about man's role in global warming) is Mike Johanns".

Now.

We have news for Scott. We understand that he has been locked in an Ivory Tower for some time, and is surrounded by a giant staff of yes-men. But many many Nebraskans still feel that, 1) NOT all the science is in on global warming, 2) if there is global warming, not all the science is in on man's impact, and 3) even if there is global warming, not all the science is in on man's ability to have any real effect to change it.

Now, you can argue (and we have no doubt the commenters here will...) about the truth or not of the above listed arguments. But the fact remains that many, and we'd venture a majority, of Nebraskans feel that way. And Mr. Kleeb just looked down his nose at them.

As we said, interesting political move by the Democrat...

***

Finally, we don't know if Chuck Hagel looked at his cell phone for his 3 AM text message, but we do know this:
Chuck is more than happy about the pick.

Terry vs Esch - Round 1

In the tradition of ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, following you'll find a running diary of the KFAB debate between Congressman Lee Terry and Jim Esch this morning. So away we go...

10:00 OK, it's Street Sweeper, sitting here LIVE in the Leavenworth Street Bunker. I'm on my second cup of coffee. I'm hunched over my keyboard. And I have KFAB and The Scott Vorhees Show fired up. LET'S DO THIS THING!

10:01 First, the news. Apparently Barack Obama is going to send out word of his veep pick via text message. You know because press releases are so easy to read on your phone. Or will it just be "my kewl vp piks JB - TTYL!"

10:03 There's a 2nd van to clean up Omaha graffiti. Is it like a Hinda Odyssey, or is it one of those with shag carpeting and wizard painted on the side? I need more info.

10:06 Was that a Helen Ready tune? Turns out it was a Guardian Generator ad. Who's the target market with that music?

10:07 OK, finally! Here's Scott. Stevie Wonder -- "All Right" intro. That's gotta fire everyone up. Stevie's the balls.

10:08 Esch wins the toss, and defers. (Terry will receive the kick?) Therefore Esch gets the last word. (Did they use a quarter, or like a Commemorative Debate Coin, like they have at the Super Bowl. Peter Hoagland's picture on one side and Jon Christensen's on the other.

10:08 The issues: Energy, Economy, War (which, btw, was never gotten to), 2nd Dist.

10:08 To start things light, Scott asks about how many houses the candidates own. Lee Terry says he owns one house. Esch says he owns no houses. (Wait, doesn't Jim own a condo above the Slowdown? Or is he renting? And what happened to that house he was going to build after the election? Oh well...)

10:09 Terry's opening statement: Gives his thoughts and appreciation to injured Officer Paul Latchar. Then says that his goal is for the US to be "energy independent" and that "everything has to be on the table" -- hey wait a minute! That's Esch's line! Jim has to be scrambling for a new slogan now...

10:11 Esch -- Comes out angry. No hello. No acknowledging the host, the wounded cop, the opponent or anything else. Obviously nervous and a little over-prepared.

Jim begins with an attack on Terry saying he's glad Lee signed-on to some congressional energy plan. Says it's too bad that everyone (meaning Terry) only thinks about their next election, instead of being bipartisan. Jim then pulls out a 2000 OWH OpEd piece by Terry where Terry said the US needs 1) new drilling, 2) sell US oil in US, 3) Clinton admin should use common sense. I'm not sure why Jim thinks this "nails" Lee with this.

10:13 Jim says that last year he worked to build windmills in Colorado, but there's no infrastructure to transfer the energy.

So here's what I don't get about all that: Esch keeps talking about his work and investments in "wind energy", but then says if elected he'll work to help the wind farmers and give them tax credits and all that. So, how is that different than an oil-man saying he wants to go to Congress to give tax breaks to build oil-wells? How is that not just a self-interest? And a little outrageous? Has anyone else asked that?

10:16 As expected, Terry thanks Esch for quoting his 2000 OpEd and then goes into the bipartisan bills he has worked on and passed. Hill-Terry was bipartisan. Worked with Dems, Hill and Dingle. He worked to set the future for hydrogen in the '05 energy bill. Kind of hits the bipartisan issue out of the park. Or at least a ground-rule double.

10:18 Break #1 - LeafGuard Gutters. Does anyone have these things? Are they worth it? They sure spend a lot on radio ads.

10:23 And we're back. From Vorhees to Lee: when will results on energy issues start to happen? Lee says that 13 new pilot pads for other cellulosic fuels sources will go into effect next year, which were originally from the '05 Energy Bill.

And here's where Terry has a huge advantage over Esch. He can rattle off info on stuff he's worked on, because that's been his job and is his main concentration. Esch has lots of statistics memorized, but he hasn't been living it. That's one of the real incumbent advantages.

10:26 Esch asks Lee, that if he's trying to be bipartisan, why is he taunting the Dems with gas receipts and the shadow Congressional session?

I know this is all just rhetoric, but does Jim think that politicians hold hands with the other party member all the time? I don't think he does. And while the shadow session was a stunt, it was an EFFECTIVE stunt, that got Pelosi to change her mind on drilling. Anywho...

10:27 Our first dustup! Jim says Lee didn't do anything for eight years and (says with a snide tone in his voice) that the Hill-Terry Bill wasn't even a bill!
Terry: Yes it was
Esch: No it wasn't
Terry: I'm sorry you don't understand the process, but yes it was. It was a standalone bill incorporated into the energy bill.

All I know is that the Demcratic Chairman of the Energy Committee calls it a "bill".

10:30 Terry says that 70% of Floridians used to not be in favor of drilling offshore, but that now they are in favor of it. $4/gallon will do that.

10:31 Esch says there's no leadership to stop people from driving and saving gas. And then he says that we didn't sacrifice anything after 9/11.

I've heard this before, but my question is: so what did YOU do after 911, Jim? How did you sacrifice, and what should the government made us do to sacrifice? I'm sure he can come up with an answer to this, but it's a legitimate question. And just what would he have proposed then, that couldn't be proposed now?

10:33 And another break. (So the sessions last ten minutes...)

10:37 A parody song, "Traffic Sucks" to "Love Hurts". Nice ad there KFAB. And we're back.

10:37 Lee talks about tax credits for home buyers and then says, "That's what I was harping on during the break." Hey! Were we gypped out of the discussion? Can Scott give us a summary, or something? Anyway, Lee wants to make the Bush tax breaks permanent, unlike Esch

10:40 Jim says that Congress needs to focus on middle class, but that they haven't been doing that. He says that people know that when they look at their paycheck. (Uh, how would you know about looking at a paycheck Jim? Just a question.)

10:41 Esch wants more windmill tax credits. (See note above.) Says that we need to have system in place to allow the next Microsoft and Google to rise up. Uh, but didn't Microsoft and Google do that on their own? Isn't that why it's the "private sector"?

10:47 The second dustup. Jim and Lee get into it about what changes to "the AMT" did. Lee talks about the cut and patch and that Jim knows what it did. Esch says that it was all for "big oil", or somesuch. Frankly, while I think they're talking about the Alternative Minimum Tax, I really have no idea what the gist was. And I gotta think the average Joe (who probably isn't listening anyway) doesn't know either...

10:47 Vorhees to Esch: Does govt need to be involved in health care? Esch: yes.
10:48 Terry says he is opposed to nationalization of health care.

10:49 Last break.

10:52 HEY! The OWH already has a story up about the debate, and it's not even over yet! Geez Joe, ya have a tee-time ya gotta get to? Tell us who wins.

10:53 In Terry's close, he rattles of about a dozen items he says he helped get funding for in the district -- sewers, Dodge Street, Offutt, the VA. Asks you to vote for him.

10:55 Esch's close: are you better off than you were 10 years ago?

(That's sort of a funny question, but, personally, yes Jim, I am better off. I'm not sure I attribute that to anyone in Congress though...)

Finishes off saying that we're going to have to come together and make sacrifices. Just what sort of "sacrifices" Jim would have in store for us, he doesn't say. And while I'm not really interested in hearing what Congress is going to GIVE me, I am curious just what Jim plans on TAKING AWAY from me for a "sacrifice".

But maybe that's for the next debate.

10:58 Rush Limbaugh is next...

Esch's 2nd District poll

Don Walton alluded to it and Swing State Project got more info. But now Real Clear Politics seems to have the most updated, albeit incomplete, info on the latest 2nd Congressional District poll done by Anzalone Liszt Research for Jim Esch's Congressional campaign. (Note in the RCP story he is referred to "businessman Jim Esch". We'll have to get info on just exactly what his bizness is...)

In any case, here is the breakdown of the Esch for Congress poll provided on RCP:

Lee Terry 47%
Jim Esch 38%

RCP then gives these Esch poll numbers as well.

Generic GOPer 42%
Generic Dem 37%

McCain 46%
Obama 42%

One should note that there are NO cross-tabs presented with this. We have already heard evidence of the "push for" and "push against" questions Esch used in his poll, so who knows what to make of these numbers.

One interesting note is that when the poll-ee gets Lee Terry's name over "generic GOP", he goes up 5%. When they hear Jim Esch over a generic Dem, he goes up just 1%.

RCP closes with this observation:

National Democrats have yet to name Esch to any of their top challengers programs, while Terry has already raised about as much as he did in the 2006 cycle.

***

".pdf him, Dano"

When is a book not a book?
That would be when it is a .pdf document of bullet points and repeated sections.

Kamp Kleeb put out Scott's manifesto to make glorious these United States. But instead of calling it a plan or a policy, Kleeb calls it his "Policy Book".

Oh sure, there's no actual cover, it hasn't been published anywhere, you certainly can't buy it on Amazon.com, and of course it is really just a .pdf document -- but calling it a book sounds much more like he put out "Faith of My Fathers" or "Profiles in Courage" or something.

***

But it is not the fact that it repeats sections verbatim over and over or that it wasn't exactly proofread before it went out ("paid for by Nebraskans for") ("give farmers the piece of mind they need") that made us snicker upon its release.

No what made us chuckle was WHERE the "Man of the People" unveiled his "book".

At Omaha's... The French Cafe'.

Hey Scott, did you pass out free samples of their famous Les Escargots Bourgignons with every copy? Did you and Jane share the Chateaubriand for two? We wonder if the members of the press got out of there for under $100 apiece.

***

Then in the AP story on Kleeb's "tome", the reporter asked him about Johann's experience and Kleeb's lack thereof. And Kleeb replied thusly:

"There's such a thing as bad experience."

Wow.

That is a pretty ballsy thing for someone who just started his FIRST "full-time" job less than a year ago. And to say it about an attorney, former City Councilman, former Mayor, former Governor and former Cabinet Secretary. We're sure Mike would have been much better off finding himself riding around in a pick-up waxing nostalgic on the history of cow-punching.

And then Kleeb claims that Mike Johanns's positions were "flown in from Washington". This from someone who has been sitting drinking Rolling Rocks with his ultra-liberal confidants in Manhattan and pouring beers with the liberal blogger elites in Dallas. Oh, but wait, look at his real dusty boots!

Well, at least this race may get interesting now...

Lee Terry on the air

New Lee Terry ad up. We are told it is a solid two-week buy (unlike the spot-buys by a certain Dem Senate candidate).

Nice piece by a very tanned LT. Clean, clear, good visuals. Talking right to the camera. Name and office. This is a solid, text-book ad.

Your thoughts?

***

In his Monday morning LJS column (which you should ALWAYS read), Don Walton shared this nugget:

New 2nd District Democratic poll shows Barack Obama and John McCain virtually even in measurements of approval and disapproval.

The figures for Bush tip substantially toward disapproval.

That seems to point toward an effort to tie McCain securely to Bush as Obama seeks a presidential electoral vote in the metropolitan Omaha congressional district.

Jim Esch trailed Lee Terry by a single digit in the poll.

We received further clarification on this. First, note that it is a Dem poll. We don't know who took the poll or the sample size.

We do know that there were at least five negative "push" statements against Terry and five positive push statements for Esch.

Also, a "single digit" does not (necessarily) mean 1%. The info received is that the Dem poll found Terry ahead of Esch somewhere between 0% and 10% -- hence a single digit.

If this info were better, we have a feeling there would be muuuch more crowing going on than a leak to a reporter in the 1st Congressional District...

***

We will get into the whole business about the lying "Nebraska Matters" group soon, but in the mean time take a look at the New Yorker article about that certain "Hot Ranch Hand".

Kleeb has a fundraiser at a loft in the Chelsea section of New York City, hosted by ActBlue.

Now, if that's not Kleeb in his element, we don't know what is.

But then the cheese just starts dripping like someone overturned the fondue pot.

First, the reporter (who obviously reads Leavenworth Street) describes Kleeb thusly:

Kleeb stood off to the side, his thumbs hooked in the front pockets of his Wranglers. He had on a striped cowboy shirt and dusty boots.

Gee, did he also have a piece of straw in the corner of his mouth and a cowchip in his pocket?

And where did the dust on his boots come from ? The New York subway?

But then get a load of cowchips he's shoveling to these dewey eyed Manhattanites:

A cowboy is somebody who’s concerned with things in the world in which he lives. The creak of leather as you’re riding a horse. The shadows as the sun sets. Dew on a cow’s back. The smell of rain. The smell of cut hay.

...as he spit some chewin' tobaccy into a bottle of Perrier. And then the New Yorkers just opened up their checkbooks for Louis L'Amour as their knees buckled a little.

A-freaking-mazing...

Dog day politics

For those of you who missed it, Senate candidate Scott Kleeb has a new ad up -- on YouTube at least...

As you can see, it's pretty much a repeat of his "1884" ad that he ran during the primary. From our critical eyes, here is the main problem with the spot:

His name, and the office he's running for, FLY BY in the first couple seconds, then you never see them again. You've got the "scottkleeb.com" tag, but you don't know what it is you're supposed to do at that website.

For a guy with relatively low name ID, he should be putting name and OFFICE anywhere he can. Oh, and by the way, you can't read the print on the stupid "cow brand" logo. After it's over, Jim and Judy from Omaha will likely say, "Who the hell was that?"

Then it's the standard bio stuff that doesn't do much for anyone.

The image that really kills us is:


As in, "OOOH! He's married AND has a job!"

Our question is, how come back in 2006, his "Thank You" ad didn't look like this?

Oh wait, that tag has already been taken for the 2008 campaign season. Never mind.

***

And speaking of Jim Esch, he has dived head-first into the Social Security issues for campaign fodder. Esch wants to raise Social Security taxes to make it more solvent, while claiming that Congressman Lee Terry is in favor of "private" Social Security accounts.

Esch appears to be stealing a page from the Ben Nelson campaign textbook. You'll remember that Nellie used this tact against Pete Ricketts back in 2006, claiming Ricketts wanted to "privatize" Social Security.

Since Lee Terry responded that "all options should be on the table," don't be surprised to see that snippet in an Esch ad, or pasted onto a water-bottle, or something.

***

After Gunga Jim's Big Adventure to Afghanistan, we have been sort of waiting for his BIG REVELATION to come out of his campaign website blog. Apparently we will just keep waiting. Jim's three-part travelogue contains zilch on absolutely anything of substance that he may have learned.

Here's what Jim shares from his trip:

Kabul Airport construction!

I arrived at the Kabul International Airport at 8:40 am. The term “international” is a bit of a stretch. The one and only runway is new, but the taxi lanes are in great need of repair and the grounds are unkept. There is one terminal which was built probably in the ’60s and has not been updated. Though, a new terminal is under construction.

What happens in Kabul, STAYS in Kabul!

The halls look like something from Fremont Street in Las Vegas, gaudy all glass structures with fake neon palm trees and thousands of colored lights.

What's on Hotel Cable!

While old, it is clean and the rooms are simple but comfortable. They are air conditioned with satellite television, which is mostly channels from India, a third of which are in English.

Keen Insights

The on-the-ground impression I got was that this region is in a very difficult place right now.

This is all interesting stuff to hear from your bud who backpacked across Asia -- but from a Congressional candidate? What are we getting here that isn't in a Lonely Planet series? Maybe Jim's trying to get a gig writing for "Let's Go!"

And again, let's reiterate that Esch didn't meet with any troops, and didn't meet with anyone at the U.S. Embassy. But hey, Jim gained, "first hand knowledge about the situation on the ground."

And what Jim found on the ground was a dusty gum wrapper. He put it in his pocket to show the gang at the Barleycorn...

Gunga Jim

According to the OWH, Jim Esch just returned from a trip to Afghanistan. He spoke to a massive rally of thousands and declared "Ich bin ein Kabuler!" (Oh, wait, that was someone else...)

Esch did not meet with any American troops or with anyone at the U.S. Embassy. He said there were guards posted at his hotel.

There was no word on whether or not his hotel stay came with a free breakfast. We can only hope he was at a Holiday Inn Express, for obvious reasons.

Esch paid for the trip with personal funds, which one assumes, would include the $15,000 he made in 2007 and 2008.

***

The OWH also reported that Scott Hazelrigg is considering running for Omaha Mayor.
Hmmm. Where have we heard that before ? He wasn't listed in their original list...

Hazelrigg's forte for the campaign will be fundraising. He lead the fundraising for the SAC Museum in Ashland and continues in that vein today.

While that's maybe half the battle, the other half will be developing his name ID. Outside the Westside School District, that is probably nil.

***

Out in the Third District, Rep. Adrian Smith got a little attention while taking part in the "Shadow Session" in the House. The gang at MoveOn.org decided to get all fired up and SEND A PETITION to Adrian! That'll show him.

Of course, the petition, linked here, is interesting in itself. First off, there are no last names on it. So, you know it's "Bob Z. for Sidney" and "Mary Y. from Grand Island".

Oh, and when you read on you will find "Bobbi V. from Tel Aviv, NE" -- apparently there are new Israeli settlements going up in the third.

And of course, there is "Stanley M. from Lyon France, NE". It's nice to know that our French fried friends have finally established an embassy in the Third.

Extreme campaigning

Much talk these days about a couple issues. Let's take a look.

First, Jim Esch gave an interview to Jim Minge of the Omaha City Weekly. It was frankly a glowing interview, and gave Esch the opportunity to speak to his supporters who are the more likely Weekly readers.

And speak he did! So when the abortion question came up, Esch told them he is Pro-Life, but...you know...wink-wink... not THAT kind of Pro-Life. You know, the ones no one likes. No, he's a good Pro-Lifer. And then he used a word to describe "them": "Extremist".

Here's the full quote:

The other thing that frustrates me with that issue, is you have two sides and really both, I think the Right to Life side is a little more extremist, but they think it says something fundamental about that person, because they look at it as a strictly moral issue.

Now.

The Lee Terry camp has jumped on it, and gotten a little bit of a news story out of it. (And on KETV, Jim's Dad is their spokesman?) Over at another blog, Julie Schmit Albin of Nebraska Right To Life even commented on the issue, calling out Esch for lumping pretty much every Pro-Life group into the "Extremist" camp.

Who are Esch's Extremists? We don't really know. Sure we can guess he's talking about those who blow up clinics or carry aborted baby photos. But we really don't know.

Of course, many Pro-Lifers were offended no matter who he was talking about. Without taking sides here, we are sure that many Pro-Lifers consider killing innocent unborn babies to be Extreme. That's a perfectly reasonable argument, if you're going to use the Extreme term.

But what this really gets down to is that Esch is trying to play both sides of the issue. He is in a relatively conservative district, and plays up his Catholic school credentials, so he's gunning for that Catholic, Pro-Lifer vote.

On the other hand, he's still a Democrat, and he is breaking on one of their litmus issues. So he's trying to let them know while he's a Catholic Pro-Lifer, he's not one of...THEM.

Problem is, you can't really play both sides of this issue. Scott Kleeb is finding this out with his refusal to admit that he's Pro-Choice. And Esch is finding it out with his ham-handed attempt to be politically adept on the issue.

In the end, he is not really pleasing anyone concerned about this issue. And by the way, those people tend to vote...

***

Lee Terry has also been out politicking. To show how this is effectively done, you need only take a look at his recent "Energy Relief Rally". He stood on a street corner, had a pretty decent crowd show up, and had people honking support as they went by in rush hour.

And then, he got featured in the OWH, and pretty much all the TV stations. That is FREE media there, kids.

And the Esch campaign's response? A counter rally? A pick-apart of Terry's policy?
No, they simply called it a "gimmick".

Nice. That's right up there with, "I know you are but what am I?" and "Oh yeah????"
How's that D.A.R.E. squad working out for you...

***

We had read in the papers that Scott Kleeb is GOING ON TV for the general.
We waited with baited breath for word on this mass media buy.
Well, we now have word from our sources:

And it's...$6,400. For one ad. During the Olympics.

Now that's a choice time, and all that. But ONE ad? Hope you're not in the bathroom when it comes on...

(And here's our prediction: a husky voice, a great deal of forehead creasing and squinting, and him using the word "we" when he means "you" as in "we need to sacrifice". But we'll see...)

**UPDATE**

See the new Kleeb ad here (on YouTube). Yep, we nailed the prediction. And is this the most gratuitous use of one's child? Possibly. Funny how back in 2006 you never heard him talking from his bachelor pad with mood lights, during his single days...

Be the Blog

It has been crazy here on Leavenworth Street lately, Politicos. Unfortunately, we have not found the time to properly post here on the wiiiiiide variety of topics. So we're just going to throw out a few, add a few links and let you commenters have at it. We hope to update with proper posts soon...

***

First, while we've been meaning to give an update on all things FEC report-wise, Uncle Wiggly at the Heartland Notebook has done an outstanding job of crunching the numbers on his spreadsheet to give you a view of the Scott Kleeb finances. The OWH did that as well this morning, but they don't use nearly the outstanding prose of U.W.

One thing we haven't seen mentioned however, when the Kleeb camp was tooting their horns about "out-raising" Mike Johanns in the second quarter was the effect of the Millionaire's Amendment. When this, now unconstitutional, amendment was invoked because of Tony Raimondo's self-financing in the Democrat Primary, Kleeb was able to raise TRIPLE the usual amount of $2,300 from donors. (Our analysis of his fundraising notwithstanding.)

Therefore, the likes of super-liberal zillionaire George Soros (above) were able to donate $6,900 to Kleeb in the Primary, thereby inflating his numbers, by oh, say $24,000 -- when Kleeb bested MJ by around $16K. How about that...

***

We had just sort of a chuckle when we saw Nebraska's chief left-wing liberal blogger coming down on the Kleeb campaign after the latest poll showed him still getting crushed by Johanns.

But then KMTV's Joe Jordan jumped on it, and led a story about the "attack" by the blog. Molehill, meet mountain, and all that. Nonetheless, it's interesting that the lefties are just itching for Kleeb to go negative.

***

On "Meet the Press" yesterday, NBC political director (and sometime Leavenworth Street reader) Chuck Todd made a startling prognostication:

TOM BROKAW: Who's going to be the keynoter at the Democratic convention?

CHUCK TODD: Oh, my money's on Chuck Hagel. And I, I think it would be a Republican. That's the message that Obama wants to send. I mean, the whole idea of the Democratic convention, I think, is going to be two parts. One is you are going to see them be more aggressive on McCain than John Kerry was on Bush. I mean, I talked to an Obama person, and I asked them what they thought of that 2004 convention as a whole, was it too soft on Bush? And immediately said, "Oh, absolutely." So expect--in fact, don't be surprised if Obama starts ratcheting up rhetoric against McCain this week. Forget the convention. But I've always--my money's always been on Chuck Hagel as the, as the keynote. But it's not--you know, technically Hillary Clinton may dominate that night because she's, she's the, she's the big speaker that night. But you send a message with your keynote, and I think we may have seen the other keynote on this, at this desk.

Place your bets commenters! Place your bets!

***

Finally, we went beyond a chuckle to a full-on SNORT, when we saw Joe Jordan's suggestion that the loser of the 2nd District Congressional race become the de facto Omaha Mayor. Obviously this wouldn't be beyond Lee Terry's realm (though he'd have to lose first...), seeing as he was on the Omaha City Council and has now extensive legislative experience.

But Mayor Jim Esch??? C'mon Joe. That's fire and brimstone, cats and dogs living together, Hal Daub becoming a Democrat kind of talk. Get back to us on those odds...