Esch to run for Congress

Well...beats workin'...

Tony is furious with Ben

Last fall Tony Raimondo was gung-ho on challenging Mike Johanns for the GOP nomination for Nebraska's open Senate seat. But as polling made it crystal clear that Tony could not beat Johanns in the primary, Tony met for some political advice from an old pal.

When Tony met with Ben Nelson, Nelson began to convince Tony to become a Democrat. Ben helped to convince Tony that if he got in the race as a Dem, all other candidates, including Scott Kleeb would likley clear out. And further, if by chance Kleeb did get in, Tony would have Ben's full support (and endorsement).

Well, that's the way Tony felt anyway.

But as soon as it became clear that Kleeb would be entering the race to challenge Raimondo for the Democrat nomination, E. Ben Nelson announced that he would not be endorsing any candidate in the primary. Sorry Tony, no golden-nod for you.

So after all this Tony, reportedly, is LIVID that Ben has left him out to dry.

We're told that Ben has responded to his "good friend" that he would be attacking Mike Johanns whole-heartedly and, why, that is just as good as an endorsement for old Tony (back-slap, back-slap).

But why would Nelson step up and expend any political capital for Raimondo?
It's not as if he has any record of doing so in the past.

He beat Pete Ricketts by a gajillion percent in his last campaign, yet the best he could do for the 2006 Kleeb congressional campaign was a lame 11th hour "endorsement" of his fellow Democrat. There was no coordination with the 2nd District Jim Esch campaign. If he made any effort with Maxine Moul in the 1st we certainly didn't see it. The state Democrats are still arguing about this.

So everyone -- especially Tony -- should know that Ben is in it for one person and one person only: Ben.

Sorry Tony. But feel free to come and shoot some turkeys after you're done in May.

Has Esch tossed his hat?

Jim Esch has had his $40,000 campaign website up ever since the day after the 2006 election. He did one last post entitled, "Not a win, but I would not call it a loss either..." (which we perfunctorily refuted ), then went off to not-file FEC reports for the next fourteen months.

We heard from him a few months ago when he announced he wasn't running because Hillary would be too much of a drag on the ticket. He gave 2008 to Congressman Lee Terry and said maybe 2010 would be good. (In the mean time, Rich Carter jumped in the race, God bless his soul.)

But with the Obasm that Dems are having lately, it would seem that Esch has had a change of heart.

We look at the old Esch for Congress campaign site, which hadn't changed in four hundred sixty-some days, and see this:

We're looking forward to Esch and Carter taking shots at each other, just like...

***

...the Dem Senate race that has finally livened up!

As we noted yesterday, Scott Kleeb jumped right out of the box knocking Tony Raimondo for becoming a Democrat. Apparently that will be Kleeb's main issue for why Nebraskans should send Scott to the U.S. Senate.

And over at the Raimondo HQ? After Tony was done bashing Mike Johanns and remembered that he hadn't gotten the nomination yet, he let this one fly against Kleeb (and his rip off of the Obama slogan):

Scott comes out of education. I come out of business. What has business had to do with the last two decades. Change. Change. Change.

The appropriate political response here is, RrRRRRRRrrr! Cat fight!

(Of course, during all that time at Behlen, it seems that Raimondo didn't have time to do much public speaking. You can take a look at his announcement speech here, just as long as you have a pillow nearby.)

***

In the mean time we'd like to point you over to the very well done Mike Johanns website, where you'll find at least four new videos up. They're short, to the point, and we'd say well-produced.

Johanns campaign manager Chris Peterson is also having fun batting away the Kleeb and Raimondo accusations during Spring training. It will be fun watching them scurry when the Johanns camp marries the Dem nominee to all of Obama's positions. You know, the ones that get a little more specific beyond Hope! and Change!...

Kleeb goes Negative

Scott Kleeb has been in the Senate race for, what, ten minutes?
And he's already gone negative on Tony Raimondo.

From the OWH:

Kleeb said the biggest difference between the two is that he, unlike his opponent, has always been a Democrat.

and...

Noting that Raimondo opted not to compete with Johanns in a Republican primary, Kleeb asked how the businessman expected to beat the former governor in the general election.

So when Kleeb rips off the Obama campaign by talking about "Change", you'll know that it's "change from running the positive campaign that Nebraskans hoped for."

Oh wait, did we say he ripped off the Obama campaign?
Why, yes, we did.

Take a gander at the top mast image from the new Kleeb website:

Now, take a look at the Lord-God-Obama mast image from the Obama site:

Note the blue fade to white? The "Change!" and "Believe!"mantras.
If we don't hear Kleeb exclaim "Hope!" at some point, we'll be severely disappointed.

Oh and by the way kids, you think Raimondo is in this campaign for his health?
You think he's going to take these cracks lying down?
(...even if he does have the dullest campaign website around...)
This is gonna be fuuuun to watch.

**UPDATE**
By the way, we should have noted Kleeb's main altruistic point in his announcement:

There are no Republican issues, no Democrat issues. There are only our issues.

So, Scott, why then do you point out what party Raimondo came from? If it's all about "the issues" that shouldn't matter right? Help us out here Scotty.

What's in it for Kleeb?

As any political observers outside of a rock have heard, Scott Kleeb is planning on announcing his entrance into the U.S. Senate race.

A few thoughts:

First, how about the fact that Kleeb plans on announcing his intentions on Monday? Guess who is also announcing on Monday...Tony Raimondo!

Now it's one thing for Kleeb to get into the race at the 11th hour after Raimondo (via Ben Nelson) went to all the effort to switch parties, hire a staff (like former NDP spokesman, Eric Fought), and arrange and announcement at Behlen. But then Kleeb, knowing his announcement will garner more interest among party faithful, goes and steps on Raimondo's gig!

(Friends, in politics, this is known as a d*ck-move.)

Don't think that the powers-that-be in the party (namely E. Ben Nelson) won't forget about this move by Kleeb.

But the bigger question for Kleeb is...why get in?

For Raimondo, it's easy. He's old and this is his one shot at taking such an office. He's got some money to blow... and switch parties? What the hell. If he loses, he can go back to being the king of the hill in Columbus and spend his retirement sipping pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

But for Kleeb? Sure, if he makes it all the way through, lightning could strike. Everyone could decide that Mike Johanns is the devil and that Kleeb is more than just the Hot Rancher. And on that same day Kleeb might also hit the Lotto and discover a cure for lumbago. It's possible right? Sure it is.

Probable? Not so much.

And there's the rub. The primary will be forgettable (even as all the Dems are getting pumped about it). If Kleeb wins -- big deal, he beat a Republican in a Democrat primary. He loses? His short political career will get even shorter.

But even if he wins the primary, and even if he rides Obama's coat-tails as far as they'll get him, he is much more than likely to lose to Johanns. And probably lose badly. And even if he loses in versus-Adrian Smith style (by 10%), what does he get out of that? It's not as if he's going to ride that loss into a House seat or the Governor's office, or into another Senate seat. A loss is a loss is a loss.

And this will be another loss for Kleeb, no matter how you slice it.

But hey, it beats working for a living, right Scott?

Max factor

People have gotten all hot and bothered about this, and since there's not a whole lot else (politics-wise) to talk about, we'll throw out this little post.

The Nebraska Republican Party decided to apparently have some fun with the nascent 1st District Max Yashirin for Congress campaign. They bought the domain MaxYashirin.com, and put it up with photos of Max Yashirin, from his FaceBook page. The site is now down.

(And while all of this bears some similarity to our recent post on this campaign, Leavenworth Street has no affiliation or connection with the NRP, nor have we been in communication with them on any of this.)

However, MaxCongress.com has been purchased by Matthew Samp of Dem politico firm Clear Communication Partners. That site currently is using the do-it-yourself website program that Wordpress gives you and it looks like a twelve-year-old put it together.

The point of all this? We're not real sure.
There were no comments on the photos. There was no other editorializing. There was nothing "mean" put up there. The only thing that would seem "bad" about this is that Yashirin has one less domain name he can use for his campaign. And by the way, "Yashirin2008" is still available.

Now according to the Dem's favorite blog (you can find it in the list to the right), you would have thought that Dick Nixon and the Plumbers (which would be a great band name) had come back to life and put up this post themselves.

They've described this new website as "really low", "just plain cheap", a "cheap attack", "childish antics", "stooping so low", "fake websites", "low standards", and "Rovian tactics".

Wow guys. Over-react much?

(If they ever show an ad of Max shooting turkeys your head may explode.)

Now "cheap" we'd agree with, only because it doesn't cost much to put up a website these days. A good allocation of the NEGOP's resources? Well...you be the judge on that. Frankly, we don't see how this site is (was) negative, other than it showed Yashirin smoking, but so what? Heck, until a few months ago, the current Dem-demigod, Barack Obama was a known smoker. Shouldn't that be some sort of badge of honor these days?

And in the mean time, it gave Yashirin some face-time that he didn't (and apparently doesn't) have. As one poster put up here recently, it does show that Nebraska Democrat Chairman Matt Conneally ought to give a little advice to a young campaigner like Yashirin before he throws him into the big leagues of running for freaking Congress. But you can't blame Conneally, he's only had, oh, the past fourteen months or so to prepare for this...

In any case, it's made everyone real busy and excited over the weekend, so that's a good thing, right? Keep out of the cold, and all that.

**UPDATE**
We were reminded by an informed reader that if Max needs any other domain names he can use:
daveheineman.com
daveheineman.org
coachosborne.com
senatorchuckhagel.com
kramer2006.com

You see, the NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC PARTY purchased all those domain names back in 2005. You can read more about it in this old LJS story, here.

Why, you might even call that tactic by the Dems..."Rovian"...

Crowded House

Things are finally in motion to make your 2008 more interesting, politics-wise.

As we had noted a few days ago, 1st District Congressman Jeff Fortenberry offically has an opponent for November. He is a 25 year old Lincolnite named Max Yashirin.

We've actaully heard quite a bit about Max at this point, but we're going to hold off on all of that for a while. There's lots of time. Let's just say that about the only thing Yashirin has in common with Fortenberry's last opponent is their first names.

Like many twenty-five year olds, Max is a fan of Facebook and has a page up (or at least did recently, see pic to the right).

***

The ghost of Jim Esch has appeared via the Barack Obama rally, and it is looking more and more like Esch is going to try to ride the Obama gravy-train all the way to Washington.

Of course, if we were part of the Rich Carter campaign, we'd be more than a little pissed that after all the time and effort it took to put together their guy's website and Facebook page and Flickr account, Esch thinks he can just jump back in at a moment's notice.

You may remember that Esch couldn't be bothered to properly file his campaign FEC reports in July or in October of last year. And then he ceded the 2nd District House race to Lee Terry this year, since Hillary was just ruining everything for Democrats. But a few chants of "Esch!" at the Obama rally...er..caucus, and Jim is right back in.

So what has Jim been doing since the last election other than not-filing FEC reports? We're not real sure. Can he afford to loan his campaign another $100,000 for a 2008 try? We dunno. But we have a feeling that we may hear more from him over the next 7-10 days...

***

The Lee Terry campaign is up and running. The campaign will be helmed by veteran consultant and campaign manager David Boomer, most recently successfull in Terry's 2004 campaign against Nancy Thompson.

We're informed that Terry's new and improved campaign website will be up on April 2nd, but in the mean time, they are taking advantage of the internets by posting Lee's announcemnet speech on their YouTube site: youtube.com/terry4congress.

A Gift for Fahey

Omaha city Councilman Jim Suttle gave a gift of thousands of votes to Mayor Mike Fahey yesterday when Suttle presented his kook idea for "saving Rosenblatt Stadium".

Suttle's hasn't been subtle (yuk yuk yuk) when talking about his interest in challenging Fahey for the Mayor's office in 2009. But when he stood out in front of Rosenblatt yesterday, he pretty much guaranteed that he won't be siphoning away any serious votes from Fahey come primary time next year.

Suttle's "plan" for Rosenblatt is to have a five-county wide tax -- including Nebraska and Iowa counties -- to make major improvements to Rosenblatt over the next twenty years or so. So, just to be clear, Suttle's plan is for the people of Herman and Blair, Nebraska and Neola and Pacific Junction, Iowa to pay for Omaha's new baseball stadium.

Got that?

This of course was greeted with laughter and derision by mayors and representatives and elected officials of all types. (Though those standing out in the cold near 13th Street with Suttle started chanting "Yes-we-can!" We're fairly sure this must involve Hope! and Change!)

So the next time anyone gets serious about suggesting that Jim Suttle should be the Mayor of Omaha, a quick reference to Councilman Kookypants' little plan should take care of that.

***

And on the topic of realistic decisions regarding the stadium, it will be interesting to see what happens with the current Hal Daub-initiated plan of putting a new stadium north of Cuming street in the present UP yards. Anyone who has driven by there can see that there is an abundance of space and that it would be easily accessible from the Old Market and beyond.

It does sound like it would be more expensive in the short run, but in the long run, doesn't this seem like a much better solution than jamming it in with the Qwest? The fact that going to an event down there right now can mean up to an hour to park is ridiculous. Spreading things out has to be considered.

On questionable thing is the potential view of the storage tanks just to the northeast, but we would guess that would be addressed in any planning. We doubt that anyone would let ESPN's view of the Zoo's dome be replaced by those.

Nonetheless, it's a good discussion point, and better than simply cramming a Qwest parking lot down Omaha's throat.

What say ye?

Uncle W.

Adjust your bookmarks, Leavenworth Street readers: Uncle Wiggly is back.

Who?

Well, "Uncle Wiggly", the author of the mid-Nebraskaland blog "Heartland Notebook" was on a hiatus of sorts for the past six or eight months.

He has now fired-up the blogging machine and and is gracing us with his prose once again.

Click: wiggilynotebook.blogspot.com. This is without a doubt one of the better written pieces out there. We're glad to have him back.

And while we're at it, we'll also pimp The Plains Feeder who does a fine job day in and out.

A few others worth glancing at (who update pretty regularly):

Joe's Crabby Shack (for all your firearms needs)
The Objective Conservative (political stuff)
Check with Chip (Douglas Co. commish, Maxwell)

Happy reading.

House Party

More waiting on House candidates. Lee Terry said he's going to take this election seriously (so he can apparently win by more than 10% -- which, we keep hearing, was "really close"). Terry has around $455,000 Cash On Hand.

Announced Democrat, Richard Carter, made his first foray in front of the party and on TV. And Don Walton of the LJS reports that who is out of the woodwork, but Jim Esch!

You may remember that a few months ago, Esch conceded the 2008 election to Lee Terry because Hillary was going to make it too difficult for all of the down ballot races. But at his caucus, people started chanting Jim's name when he came up on stage, and, gee willikers, maybe he WOULD run for Student Council...er...Congress again! Well any Esch campaign will have to compete with the fierce Facebook campaign that Carter has already put up. Will he be up to the challenge? Will the internets be able to handle these two in cyberspacians? We wait...

Over in the first District, Jeff Fortenberry says he's in (around $297,000 COH). And the only peep we've heard from the Lincoln area Dems is that a guy named Max Yashirin is considering a run. Max also has a Facebook (or is it MySpace?) page with fun photos. But we'll wait for the Dems to announce and push this one. No reason to jump the gun.

And finally in the third, Adrian Smith says he'll run ($237,000 COH). But, of course, no Dem will make a move until Scott Kleeb announces his decision. The CW these days is that he's going to challenge Tony Raimondo for the the Dem nom for Senate. (Of course, Raimondo endorsed Smith in 2006. Wonder if he'd do that again?) Any day now Scott...

But the latest we're hearing from various little birds is that if no other Dems get in, "SmithWatch" blogger and alleged sometime Smith stalker, Lisa Hannah may jump into the race against Smith. We'll say this: probably no one, not even Smith staffers, has typed as many words about Smith's career as Hannah (and that's just talking about her last post). And she recently introduced Chelsea to the folks in Grand Island. So with the way things are going, Hillary may even have time to venture to the third for her.

***

(Thanks for everyone's patience, as it is officially flu-season here on Leavenworth Street...)

Bloomberg - Hagel...done

The New York Times and CNBC are reporting that the potential Presidential campaign of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel is essentially done-for.

Their source?

Chuck Hagel.

It seems that Hagel is telling any and all that with the emergence of John McCain as the Republican nominee, the odds of Bloomberg getting in the campaign have diminshed greatly -- since McCain draws voters that Bloomberg would seek.

Hagel also, officially, tells that Bloomberg DID offer him the Vice Presidential gig if he ran.
(UPDATE: And Bloomberg now DENIES there was ever any such conversation!)

We always figured that Bloomberg's best chance of getting in were if it was a Giuliani vs Hillary general election. (Why not add another New Yorker in, right?) At least the chances of Rudy have gone by the wayside.

And while one would think that disillusioned conservatives may still be looking for an alternative candidate, it's unlikely that person would be Bloomberg. (In any case, if that's what conservatives want to do, they can simply hand the race to the Democrat nominee.)

So, we all enjoyed this little foray that started at the Palm in DC. But the NYTs suggests that maybe we haven't seen the last of Bloomberg.

And Chuck? You'd think he'll be pushing hard for a spot in either administration that comes along...

Barack Ilyich Obama

So watching Barack Hussein Obama (that's what Nebraska hero Bob Kerrey calls him, right?) in Omaha yesterday, we got the chills! First he came out to the roaring crowd, got up there and talked about HOPE! and CHANGE! and pioneers and Abraham Lincoln and beating the Redcoats at Lexington and Concord! And we were all like, "Yeah! Damn those Redcoats!" And we were pretty pumped up about this Obama guy!

And then he started getting specific, and that's when the chills returned. He talked about implemneting socialized medicine within a year of taking office. He talked about the redistribution of wealth, because those evil CEOs make more money than...poor people. He talked about drug and insurance companies which have the gall to be interested in profits. And we got that chilling feeling that , "Damn, this guy is a pure socialist." The Senate's most liberal voting record? Damn straight.

***

We also clicked on over to the Lincoln Journal Star to watch the video of Chelsea speaking to a crowd of UNL students. And having never heard Chelsea open her mouth before, we were intrigued. Then it started. And Chelsea sounds just like...Hillary! Check out the inflection in her voice at arrund 1:58 or so when she says "all of you" and "on such short notice". Freaked us out man. Hillary, Jr.

By the way, the New York Daily News reports that when she's not campaigning at UNL, Chelsea works for a Manhatten hedge fund! Too bad that will be shut down and boarded up if Barack or her mom get elected...

***

We finally got the internets working here on Leavenworth Street and did a little MySpace and Facebook searching (that's what all the cool kids use these days) for the latest Dem candidates in the first and second Congressional districts. Interesting, interesting. We'll let you dig a little yourself.

Kerrey for Hillary

As much as this pains us to put this up, we do state in our title that we're a blog about Nebraska politics.

So, without further ado, here's New York resident Bob Kerrey, with a particularly bad haircut and EXTREME closeup, mawing on about why you should caucus for New York's Hillary Clinton.



You can go back and eat now.

Nebraska Caucusers: Look at us! Look at us!

While the Nebraska Dems have been crowing about how the Nebraska caucuses are essentially like having ESPN's Game Day come in for the Nebraska-USC game, it has turned out to be more like the Big XII Game of the Week. Think Nebraska vs Baylor. (Barack being Nebraska and Chelsea being Baylor.)

Oh sure there are some TV cameras around, and the TV stations have gotten a little richer by having Obama play his generic 30-second spots But the big free-media is pretty much non-existent, and when you look at the national news, they're already looking past Saturday and to the Potomac Primary Tuesday.

(By the way, MSNBC's First Read is reporting that Hillary will begin running ads in Nebraska today. Oh no, NOW who are you going to caucus with?????!)

So wasn't the point of the caucuses for Nebraska to "be on the national stage" and to "get the candidates (plural) to listen to Nebraskans"? That's what we've been hearing. Unfortunately, with Obama's rise and Hillary's sudden free-fall in the cash department, it's become a one-man-show. So (following the previous analogy) instead of a major feature on Sports Center, it's turned into a 15-second clip of Obama's five touchdowns. Oh, it'll be noted on the scoreboard, but let's not pretend that the rest of the country cares.

But don't feel bad, Democrats. If the Nebraska Republicans had chosen to have caucuses on the same day, it would have been the same result. A few Romney people milling around, a possible fly-over by McCain, a few Huckabee signs -- and Ron Paul supporters running naked in the streets. But no one would have paid it much attention.

We're not bashing your little Saturday get-togethers. (We're arguing in favor of major reform of the Presidential Primary system.) Sure the caucuses are a nice party-organizing idea and you'll give Barack a swell tour of the bowels of the Civic Auditorium. But let's not pretend it's Game Day, ok? It makes you look desperate.

***

And speaking of desperate, how about Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey jumping on the Barack Bandwagon ! Way to be out in front Mikey! Seems to us, you spent some time in Iowa where you could have provided some support for your guy, no? But hey, it's nice to wait for the winner. We bet you just became a Giants fan too. (Puts a lot of confidence in you to get that stadium issue cleared up lickety-split.)

We also chuckle at Fahey's reasoning for supporting Obama: "we need a leader who can build a coalition of all Americans." Yeah, the guy with THE MOST LIBERAL voting record in the Senate. Right, that's who is going to be "building coalitions."

***

It looks like the Dems have someone to challenge Jeff Fortenberry in the 1st District. His name is Max Yashirin, and the only current info we have is that he's a "young veteran" and...that's about it. Sounds suspiciously similar to the guy the Dems came up with in the 2nd District. Hmm, do we see a trend here?

***

And by the way, in the same Sioux City Journal story by Bret Hayworth, Dem Chairman Matt Connealy says he thinks Kleeb will challenge Tony Raimondo for the Senate nomination. Now THAT would be fun to watch! Who's your money on? The party Golden Boy with the geled hair and no experience? Or the 68 year old, two-month-ago-a-Republican, businessman who's best buds with Ben Nelson? We're sitting down and getting a big bowl of popcorn for that one...

Has Hillary quit on the Nebraska caucuses?

Word from various news sources is that Hillary Clinton has essentially conceded the Saturday, February 9th, caucuses and primary, including Nebraska's, to Barack Obama.

In a conference call with reporters, a Hillary campaign official conceded that Obama was "favored" in all three on Saturday, but that she could win both Ohio and Texas! In other words, she still doesn't care about the little states.

In the mean time, Obama will be holding his 3:30 pm Thursday rally in Omaha's Civic Auditorium. Obama couldn't get the Qwest Center (which holds approximately 17,000, vs the Civic's approx 10,000) because of another event there. The last time the Civic was involved in Presidential politics was in 1988's Vice-Presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen. Obama's wife will also make an appearance in Lincoln.

And whither the Clinton campaign? Well, Bill and Chelsea Clinton both made offers to visit Nebraska back when they were humping Nebraska's Democrat Super-delegates, but no word on either of them. Apparently no paid staff, at this point, either. And when you go to Hillary's campaign website, and click on "States" you'll note that Nebraska is nowhere to be found. (Washington and Louisiana aren't either, but Virginia and Maryland, which are up on Tuesday, are listed.)

But that's not to say that there are no events for Hillary in the Cornhusker State. This evening (Wednesday), from 5-6PM, the Hillary partisans will be holding a "Voices Across America" event. And that'll be at...The Qwest Center? The Fireman's Hall? Barrett's Castle? Uh no, you'll have to head on over to the...Memorial Park, Dodge Street overpass. Be sure to wear your mittens...

***

We're still waiting to hear from Democrat Scott Kleeb as to whether he will run for the U.S. Senate, the House, or try to drop into the Nebraska legislature. Kleeb is still playing it coy, stating that it could be any of those three. He says he's trying to figure out the "best place" to contribute. Is he showing his hand for a Unicameral run? He says his decision won't be until after Saturday, so who knows. Didn't we already go through this last summer with Chuck Hagel?

***

Also no more information yet on the mysterious possible 2nd District Democrat candidate Richard Carter. We personally think that Carter's website looks like it was created by whomever put together the Tony Raimondo website (consulted by Paul Johnson), but that's just by eyeing it. We're also still waiting for the first blurry photo of Carter walking through the woods.

Tony's all in

One-month-old-Democrat Tony Raimondo announced today that he is filing for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He said that he will be doing a fly-around tour later this month.

Taking a jab, apparently, at Mike Johanns, the 68 year old Raimondo said he will, "fight against the career politicians who unwittingly stifle innovation, economic opportunity and development." Then agian, maybe he's attacking Barack and Hillary. We're just not sure.
(By the way, he's, surprise!, part of Obamamania. As if Ben would have it any other way...)

On his campaign website, Raimondo2008.com, he states that:
Peoples' paychecks are eaten up by higher energy costs.
Government has ignored energy independence.
He's not slick.

Raimondo did not mention, however, his former interest in drilling for oil and gas in restricted coastal waters. High energy costs were hurting his company, so Raimondo lobbied Congress to change the law regarding such drilling. This is a sentiment that would probably fly in a Republican primary, but where will it, along with his other traidtionally Republican positions, sit with his new Democrat constituency?

And along with those quesitons is, Whither the Hot Ranch-Hand (a/k/a Scott Kleeb)?

Raimondo seemed to have been waiting for Kleeb to make his deicsion, and the past implications were that this would not be a contested primary. The latest word was that Kleeb's recent Washington, D.C. forray was not successful, and that he would not run for Senate. Others have stated they think a contested Senate primary would be valuable to the Nebraska Democrats.

So since Tony's has pushed his chips into the middle, we wait to see if the cowpoke will finally get out of the outhouse and sit down at the table. Many caucus-goers is waiting to hear...

How much for your Nebraska caucus vote?

First to put ya'll in the caucusin' spirit, here's a little Separated at Hat...er Birth for ya... Scotty Kleeb and Barack Obama...

***

Nebraska Democrat National Committeeman Vince Powers represents all that is wrong with our nation's current primary system.

Recently Big Bubba Clinton called Superdelegate Powers (he can vote for whomever he wants at the convention) asking him to support Hillary. Powers responded to Bill that his vote would go to whichever candidate campaigns, personally, in Nebraska. Bubba said he'd come. Powers said, not good enough, we need Hillary on the ground.

And why exactly? Does Powers think that Hillary coming to a steak fry in Blair will make her truly understand the Nebraskan's plight?

Powers, as others have said, is flatly selling his vote.

There's an old saw that back in the 1980 Presidential race, a New Hampshire-ite was asked who he was going to vote for in the GOP Primary. The guy responded, "Well, I like this Reagan fella, but I've only met him twice." So is that the new standard Powers and the Nebraska Dems want to set?

As long as the primary system is set up this way and people like Powers will try to get candidates to suck up to them personally, the system will continue down this ridiculous path. In the mean time, eat up those Obama radio ads. Aren't they swell?

***

Ben Nelson recently spoke energy policy breakfast in DC. The Hill caught Nelson's presentation, where he took time to take shots at ... Mike Johanns! You know just in case you were wondering what the tenor of the Senate campaign was going to be.

Now we knew he was bitter about Chuck Hagel's support of Pete Ricketts lin '06, but we didn't think Nelson would shoot this low, this early on. And what does Nelson try to hit Johanns on? The tired "Johanns left the Ag Dept early" schtick.

The funny thing is, Earl Ben Nelson is the LAST person who should be talking about this. Why? Because, you'll remember, it was NELSON who signed a pledge in 1994 that he would serve out his whole term as Governor -- then promptly ran for Senate just two years later. Gee Ben, we thought Governor was your "Dream job"...

And when pols complain about Johanns nowadays, it's because of the languishing Farm Bill.

But guess where that Farm Bill is languishing?

The Senate Ag Committee!

And guess who sits on that committee???

Yuh-huh, Ol' Bennie Nelson!

At this point we can pretty much guarantee that Nelson will next criticize Johanns for dying his hair...

***

We're waiting for just a little more info on Richard N. Carter, a Democrat who's "thinking" about running against Lee Terry. Of course, the local Dems are all hot and bothered about a veteran running as a Democrat -- except that, at this point, no one seems to know anything about the guy.

But we will say, if his plan is to be mysterious, he's doing it well. We'd expect that he'll be pressing the flesh hard on Saturday. In the mean time, he's Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster-esque. (We'll accept blurry photos here.)

Rest in Peace, Jan Terry

Join us in celebrating the life of the tireless campaign volunteer Jan Terry, who passed away over the weekend. Jan was also known as Lee Terry's wife, and Lee Terry's mom (depending if you were talking about the Sr. or the Jr.).

Jan was involved in most every major Republican campaign in the past decades -- and hardly just those of her husband or son. She knew everyone and everyone knew her.She gave advice, got volunteers organized, set up events, stuffed envelopes, and did all the other things that keep campaigns and party organizations running. She always had her giant rolodexes at the ready and could flip out a campaign op's phone number at the drop of a hat.

If you wanted to get the sense of the party, you could ask Jan. And oh by the way, it was almost always with a smile and a laugh and a joke as well. She was the kind of person who made politics fun.

Rest in Peace Jan.