Monday, October 13, 2008

Jim Esch's Excellent Adventure

First, in case you missed the poll announced Friday at 4pm for Nebraska's 2nd District, here it is again, courtesy of the Daily Kos's Research 2000:

Lee Terry: 49%
Jim Esch: 39%

(just NE-2)
John McCain: 53%
Barack Obama: 40%

(just NE-2)
Mike Johanns: 54%
Scott Kleeb: 39%

***

And did everyone read the OWH's Sunday summaries of the careers of 2nd Congressional District candidates Congressman Lee Terry and Jim Esch?

We learned that Esch quit his job with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce to run for Congress in 2006. OK. But after he lost that race by 9% -- and admittedly had no plans to run again until after the 2008 Spring Dem Caucuses -- what did he do?

Well...
Esch wandered to Kansas. New York. Colorado. Argentina. Thought about going to Belize.
Alas, after all this "research", he was unsuccessful in finding a "tangible project" with which to "build his fortune".

But why would Jim need travel to Bueno Aires, when Uncle Sucker is paying him to do nothin' right here?
Wha-huh, you say?

You see Jim's "James Esch Farms, Inc." owns about 1,800 acres of land in Colorado. And you and your pals in the federal government pay Jim Esch about $34,000 per year NOT to be a farmer on that land.
So really, if Farmer Jim can get paid to be the Un-Farmer, why would he bother with a real job?

But really, you have got to love Esch's "business" plan: "You never know when you're going to stumble across an idea that actually works."

There has to be a slogan in there, right? "Esch: Stumbling across America, for you."

***

Back on the campaign front, Lee Terry has released a new spot. See it here:



This ad basically calls out Esch's last ad regarding Terry's position on Social Security.

Esch's and the other Dem line on this is that they suggest that "privatization" means that the Social Security Trust fund administrators would dump funds right into the stock market.

Terry, however, has never supported that stance.

Instead, Terry has suggested giving younger workers the option of diverting a percent or two of their own payroll tax into funds that would seek higher returns through investing in index funds or market baskets of stocks, mutual funds.

The individual would not be able to trade stocks or change funds except for designated "open season" times.

While Terry is willing to have a national dialogue on this, Esch apparently is not.

***

And finally, this print ad that Lee Terry ran in Omaha's "The Reader" magazine has pulled lots of press over the weekend (New York Times, ABC News, The Politico).

(Yeah, that's right, we have the high-res good stuff. None of that copy of a copy around here...)

Melanie here is an actual person (as opposed to just an actor or model), who happens to be a barista at an Omaha coffee shop.

The national press seems to be making a big deal about an ad that is essentially just a riff on the "Democrats for Terry" concept -- that every campaign does. Not sure why that's special here.

Not to mention, this wasn't in the Omaha World Herald. And it wasn't a mailer either. It's in an arts and entertainment magazine that one could argue has as its base, Obama supporters.

As Terry's campaign manager put it, Terry has "always relied on a fragile, cross-party coalition, making swing voters and more conservative Democrats vital every election year."

Of course in just a few weeks, we will see just how fragile Terry's 10 point and McCain's 13 point polling advantages really are.

** Update at 10:00 AM Monday**

The above quote from Terry campaign manager David Boomer was taken from a New York Times story. However, that version of the NYT story is no longer on their site, nor is it cached on Google. However, we did find the old story uploaded in another location, here.

The full quote in the NYT said:
"Terry's campaign manager, David Boomer, said in an interview that the congressman had always relied on a fragile, cross-party coalition, making swing voters and more conservative Democrats vital every election year."
Boomer emailed Leavenworth Street to note that he never said that. As noted, the new version of the NYT story does not contain a quote from Boomer.

Boomer says that what he told the NYT was:
"1) Terry historically wins 20% of the D vote. These are partisan Dems who do cut for him.
2) Our ad was designed to show D and I voters that a real person is voting for Obama and Terry.—they can do that also. Melanie is a left of center person—but, she likes Terry because he works hard and is honest."
So there ya go.

(The internets kick ass...)

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38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Correction, he quit his job at the Omaha Chamber in June or July of 2005. He wanted to be a "full time" candidate for Congress. He then went on a walking tour of Omaha, in shoes that his mom and dad bought for him I am sure!. This is all in his WH story that ran for the Primary in 06.

Second, as "Managing Partner of his Family Real Estate Partnership", he is responsible for finding good deals in the market place so all his family members can get rich quick. Doesn't that make him responsible for all of their Ag Sibsidies? What is the Omaha Esch Clan Grand Total in Cash From The Government?

AND, he has at least 5 family members that max out to his campaign that run "Infrastructure" Construction Businesses. Is this why he is so worried, all of a sudden, about our Country's infrastructure, roads and bridges, falling apart? He sites this as his reason for wanting to go to Congress. What a self-serving, spoiled little child. I guess we are all suppose to be happy that he is, at least, earning his spending money!

Lee Terry cast a vote this year in support of Ben Nelson's Plan to stop sending money to Iraq to "rebuild their infrastructure" while ours is showing far too much wear. Do your homework before you open your mouth Jimmy.

As a last thought, can you explain to me why all the Libs that are furious that we even went to Iraq, let alone are still there, are so chomping at the bit to run into Afghanistan and invade Pakistan? Or would they just not call it a War" and therefore, would have no problem "engaging" in those Countries?
In closing, how about Jim Esch's idea to NUKE Iran that he sprung on all the Creighton University students, and America, last week?

Jim Esch is a self serving bonehead!

Anonymous said...

My fellow prisoners:

Ten-year House incumbents do not do advertising like Terry has done ("Obama-Terry voter") if they are 10 points up in the polls.

Or five points. Three?

Wake up, people!

/s Ne Voter

Anonymous said...

Just for laughs, you all ought to go on over to the NNN website. Sir Kyle is actually spinning his own constituency's poll to mean that Jim Esch has already won this race. (He must have missed the 10 pt part or confused the numbers, heck, he might even be dyslexic,in the up and down style?) If it had been the L St Poll, he would, undoubtedly, have spun it as biased and flat out wrong.

To NNN, I say "Yeah, whatever."

Anonymous said...

Dear Prisoner, are you questioning the validity of the Poll? Does anyone out there have reason to suspect that the Daily Kos is too stupid to hire a decent polling firm?

Anonymous said...

I'm a little confused....

So Terry doesn't want to privatize social security and has always been against it but only wants to invest one or two percent into the market? Could you provide a link to back this up? How much would that one or two percent cut into current benefits? And just because I couldn't completely understand the Obama-Terry piece, could you explain exactly what or who is a Obama-Terry voter? Is that someone who doesn't trust McCain on the economy? Or doesn't want to vote McCain because they think Obama is a better candidate? Do Terry and Obama have similar policy positions?

Anonymous said...

anon 8:14

Since when do any facts make a difference to Kyle over at NNN. Facts only get in the way.

Anonymous said...

Jim Esch also said at the Creighton debate that the U.S. did not have any allies left.

REALLY? I didn't know that Jim.

Anonymous said...

In 3 weeks Jim Esch becomes irrelevant....Deal with it!!!

Anonymous said...

McCain-Esch voter. After hearing Steve Achepohl on KFAB this morning say that while working for the Chamber of Commerce, Jim Esch single handedly brought in $15 million in new investments and thousands of jobs, I no longer think Jim Esch is a barfly bum living off his family and Federal Ag subsidies. I'm also very impressed that Nancy Pelosi and Rohm Emmanuel think so highly of him that they're spending almost half a million dollars to get an empty suit puppet they can control in Congress. Now if Mr. Achepohl would explain Obama's accomplishments in the same way, I might be persuaded to vote for both Obama and Esch.

Anonymous said...

I wonder what the chamber would say, was it really that amount or did Jim have to go because he DID NOT RAISE that amount? Hmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

Shall we discuss the OWH story about Lee Terry yesterday? I love how they brought to light all the exaggerations Lee and his staff make about Lee's own record. And how he also exaggerates his own importance in the House of Reps. Oh, and when they mention how Lee likes to be "goofy." Good stuff!

Street Sweeper said...

...and how the OWH's "expert" on Terry's influence on Capitol Hill is a UNO poli-sci teacher...

Anonymous said...

So who again is a Terry Obama voter? No one seems to be able to clear that up. Also, back to social security. What would one or two percent of my social security amount to in a benefit reduction? Is there a policy page on this subject?

Anonymous said...

Omasteak, having Rahm Emmanuel and Nancy Pelosi endorse Esch is a huge selling point - for Terry.

But Esch brought in thousands of new jobs? Really? This is the first I've heard of it. Seems to me that if you are a rookie going up against a seasoned veteran, you'd want to get that resume burnished a little and bringing thousands (THOUSANDS!) of new jobs to Nebraska would be something that you might like to play up. Especially if you had the documentation rather than being like Obama and taking credit for others' work. But maybe Esch is a modest guy.

Anon 7:11 ; this is one of my suspicions about why Esch has ANY support. His close backers view him as an investment, and the American taxpayers are the suckers who are going to pay up through earmarks.

Anonymous said...

Does Mr. Achepohl realize that "thousands" means at least 2000? By my simple calculations, the $15 million that Esch brought in hires 2000 people at $7500/year. But maybe they worked on commission.

I patiently await the OWH report on Mr. Achepohl's latest statement.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, well, I'd rather take the opinion of a UNO poli-sci teacher on Lee's record than people who are employed by Lee and their very paycheck depends on them "talking up" his importance.

Anonymous said...

In 3 weeks, Obama will be elected president, the House AND Senate will be owned by the Democrats. DEAL WITH THAT!

Anonymous said...

Bull!

Anonymous said...

Bullfeathers = Lee Terry

Well, that makes sense. Bullfeathers is one of the most popular bars right down the street from Lee's office building/sleeping quarters.

Anonymous said...

Watch out or I might have to beat you up with my alluring geekiness.

Anonymous said...

To Democrat Anonymous DEAL WITH THAT: Great, let's have a Dem house and senate and an Obama Presidency. I see a republican landslide in 2010, just like 1994. Obama is an empty suit and he will have even worse ratings than "W". If the R's lose, we still win!!!

Anonymous said...

Obama will win and the Congress will be owned by the Democrats and everything that goes wrong for the next four years will still be blamed on the GOP.

You sell your freedom so cheap. You really deserve the chains you wrap around others.

Anonymous said...

The quitter and the guy that won't quit;
Johanns and Terry.
Johanns leaves every job he has before it is over and Terry won't leave his job even though he was once for term limits.
Show both the door Nebraska!
And any poll that shows McCain ahead by that much in District 2 can not be trusted.

Ricky From Omaha

Anonymous said...

Someone else was doing a poll this weekend here in CD2 because I took the poll. I'd be interested in hearing the results. I have no idea who commissioned the poll, though. My caller id just said "unknown" and they never said during the call.

It was automated and just asked me if I planned on voting on November 4th, who I plan on voting for for president, senate, and congress. It also asked me my gender, age, and political affiliation.

I said "Undecided, undecided, and Jim Esch." Oh, and I'm female and a registered Republican, but I'm not telling you my age! :)

Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe that you are telling the truth about being undecided in the races where there is the most information about the candidates and then you have already made your mind up on the Congressional Race and chose an empty suit that can't even pay his own bills and relies on the family business for spending money?

I am so glad that I don't associate with you!

Anonymous said...

Anoyn 5:34 - Maybe its because I dont believe any of the candidates running for President.

Why do we get the bottom of the barrel candidates for President?

I don't trust any of them.

Too bad we don't have a viable 3rd party choice.

Anonymous said...

Talk about bottom of the barrel. That describes the only candidate that you are committed to, to a T! I guess that describes your outlook on life, too? Do you have a little Trust Fund of your own or, are you hoping to marry into one?

When you did a great job and your employer was sorry to see you leave, they say so. When a previous employer cites Privacy Laws when asked about your employment, it usually means you left under other than the greatest terms.

I think it is funny that Esch actually thinks that "he" is the one that brought in all those millions for economic development. This is the same guy that went all the way to another country to try and figure out how to make a buck, and still couldn't "stumble" upon a good idea.

Well, here's a good idea:

Quit sucking your spending money out of the family business.

Quit feeding at the trough of Government Subsidies.

Quit, quitting your job that you were "Sooooo, great at" and start earning your own keep in this world.

BASICALLY, GROW UP!

Also, quit trying to tell people you are an attorney. It is nice resume fluff, but you actually need to practice law to cite that as your profession!

Anonymous said...

If you don't ease up on the coffee and take your prozac, you won't make it to election day.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:34 -- I'm the one you said you're happy you don't associate with me. Well, vice versa. Seriously!

Brings to mind a certain quote, "With friends like you..."

Anonymous said...

I would have to leave a conversation that included the topic of Jim Esch being better qualified for elected office than Obama, McCain, Terry, or even The Cat in the Hat!

I would be gone before you could even start. It would be too easy to see you coming.

Anonymous said...

You know, someone did have a good point on NNN about this poll. This poll was done directly after the Palin visit. Of course they all got a bump the 2-3 days right after that. If Lee Terry still only had 49% of the vote after that, he should be very, very nervous.

Anonymous said...

Someone please tell me why Obama is hiding from his past so much? I know more about Jim Esch than I do Obama.

I cannot find details of Obama's thesis. Who were his college friends, roommates that were from Pakistan? Who was fronting him, paying his way as a poor college student to travel to Asia?

Why doesn't he open his past for all to see?

We as voters deserve more information if he wants us to vote for him as President.

Anonymous said...

Who were Lee Terry's college friends? What did he like to eat for breakfast when he was 10? What color shirt did he wear on his first day to kindergarten?

Oh wait, I don't really care. I don't want to know every single detail about his past.

About Obama, I don't know. Have you read either of his books? I haven't read them myself, but apparently they're pretty detailed.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know why John McCain hasn't released his full military records, and has withheld his medical records. I'd like to know about all those women he was a horndog with. What was the details of his divorce from his first wife? Why did he and Cindy get their marriage license before the divorce was finalized?

This is fun. We could keep ripping apart the candidates from both parties for not telling us what their most recent bowel movement was like.

Anonymous said...

According to the MSM, Obama's s*** don't stink. And they should know, with their heads all the way up his a**.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that's nice anon 10:25 p.m. Another super classy post from a Terry person.

Anonymous said...

Not so sure Lee's our man... we had a town hall meeting, Boomer said if Lee couldn't be there, a campaign worker would be. Not a sign of anyone from Lee's campaign... and btw, we had over 50 people in the audience in addition to the 18 candidates present! Too bad Lee... Esch came!

Anonymous said...

I think it is an amazing thing that Mr. Esch has a very legitimate chance at taking the D2 House position. I have add the opportunity to meet with Mr. Terry at multiple events personally, and he is anything but impressive. He clearly caters to the wealthy, elitist voters and largely ignores the average people, as myself.

Personally, I found him shocking uneducated, unaware, and ignorant to the many issues I asked him about, specifically health care, local projects, and high school education. This wasn't a one-time encounter, either.

I have found Jim to be personable, approachable, and educated in all topics I had to ask him about.

It is absolutely time for someone new to be representing Omaha's district, and Mr. Esch provides excitement, energy, and strong background to fulfill the role in D.C.