Adios Vice-President Hagel

Only about a week has gone by since Senator Chuck Hagel made himself available to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

And now it would seem that an ice-cold bucket of water has been tossed on the idea.

U.S. News and World Report says that Barack Obama-ites shopped the "Hagel for Veep" idea around the Hill and were met with "serious resistance".
Apparently Democrats would like someone who votes like a Democrat to be the Democrat standard bearer. We know, we know -- we were as surprised as you to hear that.

So in the mean time, the word is that Hagel's VP prospects are "plummeting". But that was a fun week, huh?
(Though we would think he is still in the running for a potential Obama cabinet job.)

And here's an interesting question: Will Hagel be attending EITHER party's convention this year? We're curious...

***

"Meet the make-believe strategists of TV"

That's the headline of a long article on the "Politico" website about the talking heads on FOX News, MSNBC, CNN and the like, who have no real expertise or experience in political strategery, yet are dubbed "political strategists".

And who is the poster-girl for this article?
Why it's the cowpoke's cowgirl, Jane Fleming Kleeb!

In the article, Ms. Fleming Kleeb laughs off the titles that she is given, particularly on FOX. She apparently doesn't consider herself a strategist, much less an expert on topics such as global warming. Of course, that hasn't stopped her from going on the shows and giving her two cents. Then again, who could blame her? No one is putting a gun to Bill O'Reilly's head to put her on.

But apparently Washington insiders are steamed that those with little actual campaign experience are spouting off about campaign strategy. Fleming Kleeb, deputy director of the Young Voter PAC, apparently doesn't meet their standards. (Frankly we question how she still fronts the "YOUNG" voters, but that's another issue entirely.)

So get your fill of Jane now, because you never know when the cable newsies may opt for real talking head political vets. Because as Fleming Kleeb says, "If you had a bunch of us in a room and asked if we are political strategists, I think you would get a lot of laughter."

(Of course, some have the same reaction when her husband is mentioned as a U.S. Senator, but again, that's another issue...)

***

With the latest horrific mauling by a pit bull, just down the road from Rosenblatt, should there be a discussion in Omaha about banning pit-bulls?

Currently, there is a ban on cigarettes, but last time we checked, a pack of smokes didn't rip a child's scalp off.
When a mountain lion is loose in the city, we tranquilize it and lock it up at the zoo.

There are numerous cities, major and minor, around the country that have banned pit bulls or other vicious dog breeds.
We're not sure what the solution is to this problem, but one more time something like this happens is probably one too many. Heck, ask any mailman.

And just so you're aware of the political ramifications, the dog-owners' lobby, nationally, is huge. And the enforcement of this is potentially problematic. Cities that have banned the animals have had real issues with getting rid of all the banned animals presently there.

One solution could be to grandfather in currently owned and licensed animals, and simply not allow any other so-called vicious breeds to be licensed. You would, in theory, be pit-bull free in about ten to twelve years, if you wanted to go that route. But that doesn't address any immediate issues.

And there are going to obvious comparisons to fire-arm ownership. We really don't know where the Second Amendment folks come down on the attack-dog issue. And this isn't something we are necessarily advocating here on Leavenworth Street.

But it is worth discussing. And Omaha's elected officials should be prepared for an uptick on this issue.

...

Later morning update: The OWH has done a short piece on this issue. In it a "Humane Society official" says a ban for a city the size of Omaha wouldn't work. Well, tell that to Denver, Cincinnati and Providence, to name a few.

They also go on to quote a "city official" who says people would switch to different breeds (ok...) and wouldn't license their pit bulls. OK, so those people would be violating the law. But those who would want to not violate the law wouldn't get one.

There would certainly be cost issues to address in such an enforcement as well as the general libertarian interests.

But here's a question: How do you feel these days about pulling your toddlers in a wagon as your neighbor walks by with a pit bull (probably named "Lucifer" or "Cerberus" or whatever names pit bulls always seem to have) which has always seemed to be very nice? You comfortable? Just throwing that out there for discussion.

Johanns towers in latest poll

Rasmussen Reports has the latest poll in the Nebraska U.S. Senate race, and it's more good news for Johanns, and of course, very bad news for Scott Kleeb. Here are the numbers:

Johanns 60%
Kleeb 33%

This is a net increase of 16% for Johanns from the May Rasmussen poll. It is in line with the recent poll commission by the leftist blog Daily Kos, which showed Johanns ahead 58%-31%. From Rasmussen:

Johanns leads 59% to 33% among men in Nebraska and 61% to 33% among women.

He earns support from 84% of Republicans in the state, 21% of Democrats, and 57% of unaffiliated voters.

Kleeb’s support comes from just 69% of Democrats, 12% of Republicans, and 33% of unaffiliated voters.

Johanns's favorables are up 8% from last month.
Kleeb's are down 6%.

You may note that Bob Kerrey has given his support to Kleeb recently.

One would imagine that with these numbers, Cosmic Bob's endorsement of Kleeb will have about the same effect that it had for Hilary.

(Btw, the Plains Feeder has an excellent post on Kerrey's Folly.)

***

The same Rasmussen survey shows Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman with a "good" or "excellent" rating from 70% of those polled.

Just 6% say he's doing a bad job.

***

As noted above, Johanns leads Kleeb 61% to 33% among women.

Maybe the ladies find the "Hot Rancher" to be just a little too macho?
Well, this sign-off from Kleeb in a recent "live blog" could melt those female pro-Johanns hearts:

Thank you all...I have to go since I promised my wife I'd take her to Sex and the City tonight and it's starting in four minutes!

(And the male vote for Johanns rockets to 98%!)

Nellie is on top of things

In yesterday's Grand Island Independent, U.S. Senator Ben Nelson called for the formation of a "National Commission on Energy". Nelson says the commission would be be made up of:

"...nonpartisan experts that would advise and assist Congress in its efforts to develop a comprehensive, coherent national energy policy."

Apparently this new commission of Nelson's would be similar to the current "National Commission on Energy Policy".
This is:

"...a bipartisan group of 20 of the nation’s leading energy experts – representing the highest ranks of industry, government, academia, labor, consumer and environmental protection – joined together to form the National Commission on Energy Policy".

It's been around since 2002.

In related news, the Benator is demanding a federal commission to focus on communications and is proposing a day, possibly in July, to commemorate America's independence from the hated British.

***

And the hits from Nellie just keep coming. At the Democrat convention in Fremont, Nelson criticized Mike Johanns for having the temerity to run for the U.S. Senate before his term as Ag Sec had run out. Though in Johanns's defense, it's not like Mike made a pledge, in writing, not to run for another office.

You know, like E. Ben did in 1994 while running for Governor, before he decided to run for Senate two years later.

***

While Chuck Hagel as Barry Obama's VP is all the talk in the salon's of DC, New Yorker Bob Kerrey isn't terribly keen on the notion.

Speaking to Salon.com, Kerrey noted that:

"Chuck is, I would say, a movement conservative," Kerrey, who considers Hagel a friend, said.

The American Conservative Union says Hagel has voted the way it wants on nearly 85 percent of what it considers key votes over his career. Getting him nominated at a convention that may already be somewhat fractious after the long primary battle would be tough.

"It's hard to imagine that (delegates) are going to vote on someone at the Democratic Convention who's anti-choice, anti-civil rights for gays and anti-gun control," Kerrey said. "It's not impossible, but it's bumping right up on the edge."

You know what they say Chuck , keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Now which one is Kerrey again?

Media Friday

It's a media Friday politicos! Here is some video and audio to whet your whistle for the weekend.

***

The commenters continue to argue about the Baron Hill- Lee Terry bill to improve fuel efficiency standards.

We've posted Rep. John Dingell's comments about the bill, and about Hill and Terry on the floor of the House. Some glowing words from the Democrat Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee...



On a side note, Dingell's Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee has decided that Jim Esch's campaign is not worth focusing on...

***

Next, we've dropped in Joe Jordan's interview with David Sokol after the finale of the Fahey Flipout.

Note that Sokol is gracious, even-tempered and answers Jordan's questions. Unlike Mayor No-Comment. And the rest of the Nebraska Dems...

(video embedding issues. click photo for link)

***

Finally, we'll link to the interview of Senator Ben Nelson (a-member him?) on Todd n Tyler.

The aging hipsters glowingly chat with E. Ben about Tim Russert, and the Senator recalls (about 4:15 into the interview) Russert writing Omaha and a little Nebraska map on his whiteboard.

Except Russert never did that. He did mention Omaha recently, but the only place you'd see the map would be here on Leavenworth Street.
You see, sometimes we edit photos to make a point.


So, no Senator, Russert didn't really write that, but thanks for being a loyal Leavenworth St. reader!

Also, for clarification, Tom Osborne didn't really wear a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt...


...and your hair isn't really a loaf of bread.


We think...

***

And former Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorenson was in Lincoln raising money for Scott Kleeb. While in town, Sorenson took a few partisan shots at the President.

It seems that Sorenson doesn’t care for a President who talks funny, blundered an invasion, got American into an unwinnable war and made us less safe vis-a-vis our enemies.

Oh, wait. No, he LIKES those things in a President.

See: Boston-accent, Bay of Pigs, Vietnam and losing missiles in Turkey against the Soviets.

But gee could Kennedy spin a phrase. Golly.

Esch continues to screw up

Jim Esch has YET to file his financial disclosure report with the FEC.

That's right, the same financial disclosure report that was noted in the OWH back on June 1st, over two weeks ago.

So, from today's OWH, here is the sequence of events for why this candidate for the United States House of Representatives, who is running for his SECOND time, keeps screwing up.

(It helps if you play the Benny Hill "running around" music while reading this.)

Esch said he did not receive the paperwork from the clerk of the U.S. House until after the May 15 deadline for submitting it. He said he is completing the report now.

A spokesman for the clerk of the House said Esch was not initially notified that he needed to file the report because he was not included on lists from the Federal Election Commission of candidates who need to file.

The reason for that, according to an FEC spokesman, was that Esch made two mistakes on his initial "Statement of Candidacy." He omitted the election year in which he was seeking office and the congressional district in which he was running.

The FEC sent a letter notifying Esch of the mistakes, but campaign finance director Mary Barrett said the letter went to the wrong address.

After being notified by a reporter of the situation, Esch filed an amended statement May 19 and received the disclosure paperwork.

And after all those excuses, and apparently since May 19th, Esch STILL hasn't filed. And for those of you keeping score at home, this is the same guy who failed to file his required FEC reports for the entirety of the year 2007.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Democrat nominee for Congress!

***

Here are a few of our favorite quotes from "The Mike Fahey Screwup" (we're taking suggestions for other names of this event).

"MECA is one of our more prestigious boards, and there are many qualified and deserv­ing people in our community."
-Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey

"David Sokol has been a tremendous chair. I personally don't know of anyone better than David Sokol to run the MECA board... The damage has been done. I think this is going to reflect negatively on the mayor and our city."
-Terry Moore, Pres. Omaha Federation of Labor and MECA Board member

“David is a very good friend of the NCAA. We turned to him for a lot of advice and guidance in this stadium process. We were very concerned when this hap­pened. We were very concerned about the timing, too, where it would take away from the baseball being played on the field.’’
-NCAA's Dennis Poppe

"Unbelievably bad timing."
- CWS, Inc.'s Jack Diesing, Jr.

"Fahey and the guy who actually runs Omaha, his chief of staff, Paul Landow, felt like they took a pretty good beating from Sokol over the last year. They simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to even the score."
- OWH columnist Robert Nelson

"Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey’s bumbling pow­er play against David Sokol is an embarrass­ment in all regards....The mayor’s effort was an act of shameless opportunism. It fully de­serves the scorn heaped on it."
- OWH Editorial page

"Fa­hey’s act of booting Sokol from MECA for not being a registered voter here was dirty pool. (And re­leasing it after the new NCAA contract was signed? Interest­ing.) This was about the mayor wiping out an adversary."
-OWH's Tom Shatel

"I would have backed Sokol regardless."
- City Councilman Franklin Thompson

"This is petty politics. I really can’t believe it. And I’m disappointed in the mayor."
- MECA Board member David Kramer

“I can’t think of anyone who has done more to progress the modern city we have than David Sokol."
-Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub

"Mayor Mike Fahey was advised this morning that the private funding for the new downtown baseball stadium would be in jeopardy if David Sokol was not reappointed to the MECA board."
-The Mayor's Office

Fahey backs down

The OWH is reporting that Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey is backing down and will RE-APPOINT David Sokol to the the MECA board.

Get a load of this official statement from the Mayor's office:

Mayor Mike Fahey was advised this morning that the private funding for the new downtown baseball stadium would be in jeopardy if David Sokol was not reappointed to the MECA board.

He "was advised"? By WHOM??? Who are these new advisors of the Mayor's? We thought Mike was the Mayor. We thought he makes the decisions. So now we're to understand that there is someone else telling him what to do? Nice, nice.

And we could have sworn that Fahey said that there were lots of other qualified people for the position. It would seem that those who ACTUALLY run the city disagree...

And we wonder if the NCAA honchos that are in town may have given Mike a piece of their mind as well. It was said that the NCAA had been told that the problems with Sokol's address and the board were solved. It's not unlikely that they didn't like the idea of being BS'd right after they inked a new CWS deal with the city.

Well, just another case of Fahey going off half-cocked and the matter having to be reeled in.

You could say that Fahey is lucky that the recall petitioners are done.

Fahey punks Sokol...and Omaha

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey is petty, vindictive and an embarrassment to the city.
At least that what Fahey wants Omahans to think.

Why else would he replace MECA Chairman David Sokol, on the weekend of the beginning of the College World Series?
The CWS is finally in Omaha after all the squabbling that has gone on about the new stadium, and Fahey decides to hang his dirty laundry on the outfield fence at Rosenblatt? (CWS Inc. Pres Jack Diesing Jr called it "unbelievably bad timing".)
Nice job Mike. Because that's what Omahans want to show the national press.

Sure, Sokol blew it by messing with his residency and voter registration. But he isn't the first very rich Nebraskan to own multiple homes and move from house to house. He chose not to lie on the election commissioner notice while selling and buying an Omaha residence and in the mean time has always called Omaha home.

So could Fahey throw out Sokol? Maybe. There are conflicting legal views that may be fought in the coming weeks.
But the real question is SHOULD have Fahey done this?

Well, Iron Mike Fahey says hey, no big deal throwing out Sokol. Why...

"MECA is one of our more prestigious boards, and there are many qualified and deserving people in our community."

Oh really Mike? Is that right? Let's look at Sokol's qualifications:

• He built a stadium in his business before coming home to Omaha
• He sits on the NCAA Leadership Advisory Board of Directors
• He served on the MECA board to build and run the Qwest center
• He was a leader in the Donor's Trust to raise the millions for the Q
• He continually puts his money and reputation on the line for the betterment of the city and state

Yeah, people like Sokol are a dime a dozen.

Guess who has the back-channel contacts at the NCAA? Guess who really gets things done with people like the CWS board?
If you thought it was Mike Fahey, guess again.


Remember that without Sokol and the MECA Board, the stadium would have been nailed down in Lot D, and the Qwest would have been potentially wrecked because of it. Fahey gave no thought the consequences of his actions on that.

Heck, to realize the importance of the set-up of the Q, look no further than the Olympic Swim Trials coming up. The pool builders have raved about how easy it has been compared to other facilities. And those qualities go to other functions as well. Fahey was willing to risk that (or probably simply had no clue about it). Sokol stepped up, and put everything on the line to make sure it didn't get F'd up.


There is also a question as to when this came up and who knew. Reportedly, this matter was brought to the NCAA's attention and they were promised that Sokol would NOT be removed. This was supposed to be solved some time ago. Instead, Fahey gets this sudden legal decision from Paul Kratz. Why are we just learning about this now? Who else has known about this issue? Has the Omaha World Herald been sitting on this story, instead of letting Omahans know about it?

David Kotok's COPYRIGHTED front page, top fold, Sunday story leads you to believe they've know for quite some time, but decided to wait until it hit the fan. Was that the honest thing to do? The responsible thing to do? The journalistically truthful thing to do? (You tell us...)


Oh, and who do you think was going to be heading up the private fund raising for the new stadium? Paul Landow? With Sokol being rudely shown the door, one has to wonder how the fundraising will go.

Will donors and leaders put the good of Omaha ahead of their petty political squabbles? Even after all this, one would hope so and one would think so.

You see, Omaha is lucky that most of its city leaders are above that sort of thing.

Well, all except its current Mayor...

Chuck Hagel is at it again

While out selling books Nebraska's senior Senator, Chuck Hagel, took to bashing the President, as is his m.o., but this time threw out this little gem:

The problems facing America today are “far deeper and wider and worse than what FDR faced.”

Yes that's right, back in the 30's and 40's FDR may have had to deal with Hitler and Fascism and the extermination of the Jews, and the rise of Japan and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Depression and rationing and engaging in a world war.

But that's nothing compared to today.

You know, the today where we drive SUVs to the gourmet coffee shop while buying computers on the internet via our mobile phones.

We're reminded of The Simpsons episode where Bart took over the camp and reporter Kent Brockman said,

"I've been to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and I can say, without hyperbole, that this is a million times worse than all of them put together."

***

Oh, and remember the Hagel quote from a a few days ago where he said, "I don't intend to be and don't expect to be on any ballot this year"?

Well, while Leavenworth Street cleared up what he really meant, yesterday, Chuck went ahead and spelled it out further.

He said he could not rule out the possibility of being Barry Obama's vice-presidential nominee, the same as “any responsible citizen who cares about his country.”

Yes, that's right. We're psychic.

***

As reported in the OWH a few days ago, an extensive survey was done by the Hal Daub for Mayor 2009 Exploratory Committee.

We had learned a few weeks ago that polling was being done by a firm asking questions related to the Omaha Mayor's office. And we remembered as well that Daub had done an extensive benchmark poll soon after he got in the Senate race back in November 2007.

There has also been some talk, unconfirmed, that Daub has been sharing his poll results with other candidates, possibly with the hope of keeping them out of the race. Of course Daub is familiar with this strategy as it was one used to get him and others out of the Senate race last fall. Of course, whether or not that "phantom poll" was accurate, the reality of the cleared out GOP primary became evident.

We've also heard rumors of Daub filling out his campaign staff and particularly looking at a high-profile campaign manager -- possibly one who has been successful in recent elections. We would add that there has been no confirmation on this, but it does show Daub will be going full-bore into this race. As he said after dropping out of the Senate race, "I don't want to make another concession speech."

***

Scott Kleeb actually took a position on something. The other day he expressed his support of the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill and the recent energy bill. Of course it's been pointed out that that passage of those bills would lead to higher gas prices, higher utility bills, and higher taxes. And even Democrat Ben Nelson said he was considering voting for an alternative to Warner-Lieberman.

We would guess that Mike Johanns will enjoy the opportunity to compare and contrast with Kleeb where the "Hot Rancher" has decided to take a stand.

Wing-It Wednesday

Things have been verrrrrrrry busy here on Leavenworth Street, and unfortunately we haven't the time to post right now.

So we hand it over to you today, intrepid commenters.

Comment as you must, but please try to keep it to Nebraska politics. And keep it clean and non-personal. We hate using the delete button, but will if we must.

And to show that we're not totally abandoning you, here's a little SAB to tide you over.

Democrat nominees Scott Kleeb and Jim Esch and the boys.

Johanns vs Kleeb at Boys State

So I've been up late watching the Senate debate between Mike Johanns and Scott Kleeb on the KOLN/KGIN website. And here's what I've learned.

That Scott Kleeb is one fiery speaker. He's all cadenced and breathy. But he's something akin to eating the new "Fiery Habanero Doritos". (Wow, that's some kind of zing!)

You get done eating the whole bag, and you realize, "Hey, except for some riboflavin, there wasn't a lick of nutrition there."

Mike Johanns, on the other hand, is a little like that plate of broccoli. You're not pumped about it, but you know it's good for you and it is going to be a zillion times more nutritious than that bag of fried corn.

And that was the debate. Kleeb up there talking about pioneers (again) and getting into a froth and using that voice where he's speaking loudly, but sort of whispers at you. You know, so it sounds like he's really sincere? Yeah, that one. And then Johanns actually answers the question.

Well, I'm guessing you really don't want to take the time to watch. So here's the rest:

Kleeb's prepared "zinger" was,

"You can't send the same people back to Washington and expect different results."

And Johanns's reply was,

"I was in Washington less time than Barack Obama has been in the Senate."

My favorite exchange was when Kleeb finished off one of the questions about critiques of ethanol with:

"We have got to start asking ourselves the bigger questions and challenge ourselves to meet those new horizons."

And then Johanns steps up to the mike and says to the questioner:

"Let me answer your question directly. It was about ethanol..."

And that's pretty much the way it went. Kleeb being breathy and passionate about his feelings. And Johanns getting down to brass tacks. But then, what did you expect?

My final favorite was the following: A Boys Stater asked how the candidates felt about the strong successful conservatism of Ronald Reagan. Johanns gave essentially his support of the Reagan years. And here's how Kleeb responded:



And that's how liberal Democrats, like Kleeb, think.

There, now you don't have to watch.

Esch late again?

Did you read Joe Morton's story in the OWH about Nebraska's Members of, and candidates for, Congress and their outside assetts and income? Morton made some quips about Jeff Fortenberry, and noted income and assets for Lee Terry, Mike Johanns, Scott Kleeb, Ben Nelson, and Chuck Hagel.

And who was absent from this info?

Jim Esch!

(and Fortenberry's Dem opponent as well...)

Was the OWH just unable to reach Esch? Or is Esch late, again, in making the necessary filing statements in order to be a Member of the House of Representatives?

You may remember that Esch was late for nearly the entirety of 2007 in updating his statements, and it was only after he decided to make another run for Congress that he updated the required information.

This is the same candidate, by the way, that also does not have a campaign office. So maybe Morton was just wandering the streets knocking on doors and couldn't find him.

***

Don Walton of the LJS reports that Jake Thompson, formerly of the Omaha World Herald's Washington bureau, will be the the new communications director for...Democrat Senator Ben Nelson. He'll be able to swap stories with Nelson staffer Jim Fagan, formerly a reporter from WOWT in Omaha.

***

For more discussions, rumors, videos and more on Nebraska and national politics, be sure to visit the kids over at the Objective Conservative blog.