Anne Boyle? Really?

After Anne Boyle personally capsized the gubernatorial campaign of fellow Democrat Mark Lakers, we suggested she be the one to replace him as the candidate.

Well, she sort of did.

Kinda.

She gets to ride shotgun on the Goober Express -- show her face at the Elks Club, and such -- without having to drive.

Because, c’mon, who knows the name of the current Lieutenant Governor -- quick! No Googling! (Or looking at the photo with this post.)

OK, a few of you hard cores knew Rick Sheehy. But does the average voter? (Sorry Rick, but not likely.)

So, we’re to understand that Boyle motivates...who?

Well, will this excite Democrats to give the Meister campaign money? Away from Tom White?

Will it cause Heineman to “defend himself”, to soften him up in case he runs in 2012?

Nah.

This run by Boyle is all about Boyle. Dems were pissed at her, frankly, for making Lakers quit the race. She had to save face by “stepping up” and taking one for the team.

Only problem is, all the shots are going to be flying at Meister, not her.

And she knows it.

***

By the way, in the first story on this announcement that went up with the OWH, Paul Hammel described Boyle as a "super star".  In the LJS, Don Walton says that Boyle "blisters" Heineman.

Always reminds me of the Simpsons episode where TV anchorman Kent Brockman was reporting on Bart taking over Kamp Krusty.

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

Tom White on the air

Democrat Congressional candidate Tom White has his first TV spot up on YouTube, apparently ready to air next week. See it here:



The spot is pretty generic, bio/intro spot, frankly not that different from Lee Terry's new spot. The tag line of "...Washington may not get it, but Nebraska does" is very similar to Terry's "...we need some Nebraska common sense in Congress."

It reminds me of one of those Food Network shows where two chefs are given the same ingredients, they come up with the same dish and at the end one chef says, "Did he just copy me?"

Anywho, one thing that cracked us up was, check the audio at about the :23 mark, where the fifteen people in the room are clapping. The overlaid audio is of a stadium of people whistling and cheering. Maybe tone that down just a touch, eh guys?

In any case, the Terry camp responded to this spot saying, White has supported the Democrats' "massive federal stimulus bill and federal health care overhaul, while opposing during a special legislative session last year to balance the state's budget a measure that froze state aid to schools."

Oh well.

***

Congressman Lee Terry's camp also released a statement regarding the recent report on economic indicators with hosing housing sales plummeting.

“The so-called stimulus program was supposed to jumpstart the economy, create jobs and
keep unemployment at eight percent. It has done none of these things. Yesterday’s
troubling report on collapsing home sales should be a wake-up call to my opponent that
his policy of just throwing a Hail Mary of trillions more in spending and debt is not going
to solve the problem,” Terry said.

Terry also noted that a recent report by the Obama administration’s budget office now admits that the new healthcare program will not save any money through 2020 and actually increases the nation’s debt by another $51 billion over the next two years.

***

And on the 2nd District campaign front, it was recently announced that Terry and White have scheduled a second debate for October -- the 19th at Bellevue University.

The first debate will be October 14th, noon, at the Omaha Press Club sponsored by the Press Club and League of Women Voters.

MayorSuttleRecall.com

The folks who plan on “forming a committee” for a recall of Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle held their first presser today and fleshed out, a little, their plans for the recall.

Jeremy Aspen, an Omaha property management company owner (who also hosts a Saturday real estate show on KKAR) stood up as the group’s spokesman (sort of).

Also joining were Nicole Jesse, owner of LaCasa Pizzeria (oh yeah) and Rod Tevis, who described himself as a “lifelong Democrat” and spoke very briefly.

The man behind the curtain, it seemed, was John Chatelain, who was the spokesman along with Tom Jizba of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Assoc (MOPOA -- pronounced “moh-poh-uh”, we discovered) when they released their poll recently.

One nugget that Chatelain gave up during the presser was that one questions was left out of the public release of the MOPA poll:

“Considering the Mayor’s intention to raise property taxes by nearly 10%, and his proposal to raise restaurant sales tax by 4%, would you be willing then to go along with a recall?"

Poll showed people would be willing to go along with it.

Now along with the people at the presser, who are apparently on the committee, Aspen stated that they have two political consultants involved -- Jim Cleary and Pat McPherson.

Also, Mayor Suttle Recall has filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, and shows Chatelain as their Treasurer.

Also on the form are Aspen, Pam Greer (local floral company owner, and active in Republican politics) and Acela Turco (co-owner, with her husband Jay, of an auto repair business -- Jay was part of an ad last December urging Ben Nelson to vote against the Health Care bill), listed as “Controlling Individuals”. In the group, but not speaking, Republican activist Lee Ann Chinn.

But again, from the presser we got the feeling that while Aspen is the spokesguy, Chatelain is the one running the show.

But we could be wrong.

***

In any case, they set out four to six questions for whether to go forward with a recall campaign:

1) Does recall make sense before waiting until 2013?
2) Can the city otherwise survive under the mismanagement of the current Mayor and his governing against the will of the People?
3) Can they reach the level of funding needed for a campaign?
4) Will they have adequate volunteer support?

Well kids, as they say in the courtroom, you only ask the questions you already know the answers to.

1) Sure.
2) They wouldn’t be there if they thought Suttle was OK.
3) We’d say yes. (Note our earlier post listing, for starters, Mike Simmonds as a seed money guy.)
4) Probably yes. (Though Joe Jordan asked a relevant question regarding whether they will use paid petitioners to get the required signatures. We’d guess the answer is “probably”, but maybe not. )

They said they will announce more in September.
We’re guessing that the September announcement will work towards getting the majority of signatures on Election Day - November 2nd.

***

A few other noteworthy points:

Hal Daub was asked what his thoughts were on a recall.

He noted that back in ‘87, he was against the recall of Mike Boyle.
However...

"But today is a very different story," said Daub. "Whether or not I sign a recall position, I just don't know right now. I have never seen it this bad. It's about leadership."

Nonetheless, the Mayor Suttle Recall guys say they are not a front for Daub, or Nabity, or the Republicans or Democrats.

And they may as well throw in, or Vokal or Stothert or Festersen or many others who would be interested in jumping in the Mayoral campaign waters, if and when it would come to that.

By the by, note that if Suttle is out, then the City Council President (Gary Gernandt) would become acting Mayor, and then the Council would vote on the new interim Mayor.

So, until a special election 90 - 150 days later -- could it be... Mayor Pete Festersen?

Could very easily happen.

And could strengthen someone like Festersen.

Now there’s a discussion for ya.

Have at it kids.

***

Oh, and by the way, yes we saw that recall applications were filed for Councilpeoples Festersen and Stothert. While those may slightly throw some mud in the waters, lets not get too excited. Get back to us when the signatures are in.

Nelson-Meltdown: Donnnn!!!

If you haven’t seen the recent article by Don Walton in the LJS, you really need to read it:

Heineman, Nelson clash heats up

Basically, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson had himself a little fit, and rang up Walton to bitch and moan about Governor Dave Heineman.

And, of course, all the points he tries to make are wrong.

Nelson complains to Walton, “I’ve run out of patience.”

He then goes on to say,

Heineman inaccurately portrayed the federal education aid, Nelson said, when he suggested it could require $30 million in additional state spending...

Uh, no. You see, that was according to Jake Thompson, Nelson’s spokesman, in this OWH article.

Nelson continued:

...and that it could not be used in the next biennium when it is most needed for budget purposes.

Well, only problem is Heineman NEVER said that. He said he wanted to know if it could be used in the next biennium and that he is seeking clarification.

We will keep going.

Nelson said:

More recently, Heineman suggested that governors and states had no choice whether to accept the money.

Nope. Again, this is according to Nelson's spokesperson, Jake Thompson in same OWH article.

"Wrong. Dead wrong. Wrong again," he (Nelson) said.

Now, as we pointed out, it is Ben Nelson who is incorrect here.

But hey, what’s with the weird repetition?

It’s getting a little...desperate. Kooky.
Heck, it’s a little like he’s riding in a grocery cart and Don Walton just told him he couldn’t have the Double Stuf Oreos.

But he continues:

Either Heineman is "intentionally mistaken or he just doesn't know," Nelson said.

But hey, note that everything that Nelson is saying Heieneman is wrong about came from Nelson's spokesman. So...who’s the confused one here?

In the mean time, Heineman responds with two points:

1)

Heineman said he never stated the funds would need to be used this year instead of when they are most needed the following year.

And, he said, the federal law clearly states that the funding shall be provided to the state through another entity if the governor does not apply for them.

The question of whether a governor formally applies is "not really the issue," Heineman said.

and

2) (and you can bet this will REALLY burn Nelson...)

"It appears to me Senator Nelson wants to pick a fight," Heineman promptly responded.

"I think we all know the facts out here," the governor said.

"Senator Nelson is in deep trouble with the citizens of Nebraska.

"Senator Nelson embarrassed the state with the Cornhusker Kickback. Senator Nelson did not listen to Nebraskans when he voted for the health care reform law."

Zingggg!

And, of course, Governor Heineman is right.

Oh, and some have suggested Governor Heineman might just challenge Senator Nelson for his Senate seat in 2012.

So there’s that...

But this all gets back to Nelson, calling Don Walton, to...whine.

We get the feeling this won’t be the last time Don gets called when the Senator wants...no needs...to whine.

Maybe offer a little cheese next time?

Recall!

Omahans have been talking about it since the week Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle took office.

Anthony Fasthorse thought about it real hard, then gave up a week ago.

But folks, it looks like the real deal will be announced on Thursday.

The report we have is that the Campaign to Recall Mayor Jim Suttle is in full gear.
And it is being lead (as reported by Joe Jordan the other day, after we hinted at it) by :

1) former Omaha Mayoral Recall chief Jim Cleary;
2) Omaha Burger King mogul Mike Simmonds; and
3) Tom Jizba, owner of Atlas Engineering, and more recently of the Omaha Property Owners Association, which paid for a poll showing Omahans were not gruntled with their current Mayor.

It is our understanding that Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector spokesdude, Dave Nabity, will not be and/or is not directly involved with this effort.

There may be others involved as well who may be the faces of the effort, much like Cleary was back in the Recall Mike Boyle campaign in 1987. The name of the Cleary’s group back in that day was, “Citizens for Mature Leadership”, and they succeeded in ousting Boyle on a vote of 56% - 44%.

No word yet on what this group will be called, or the exact focus of their effort. (We would note that RecallSuttle.com, RecallJimSuttle.com and RecallMayorSuttle.com are all taken and reserved anonymously.)

Joe Jordan noted that, “In order to recall Suttle, the Mayor’s opponents would first have to acquire the signatures of 26,642 registered voters in the City of Omaha. Those signatures must be gathered within 30 days.”

It is our understanding that this group will focus on Election Day, November 2nd, to collect the required signatures (also recently noted by Jordan).

Of course our information is very fluid at this point, and much of it could change.

But keep your ears pressed to the internets over the next few days.

Politics in Omaha could be blowin’ up.

**UPDATE**


From the folks at... MayorSuttleRecall.com:  Their newser will be at 9:30am on Thursday on the,

"... formation of a committee to explore the possibility of a petition campaign to recall Mayor Jim Suttle."

**UPDATE 2**
WOWT.com streaming the presser live on Thursday morning at 9:30am.

Terry on the air

Congressman Lee Terry has his first TV ad up of the 2010 campaign, and you can see it here now:



Terry has used the $13 Trillion theme for a while now -- differentiating his stance with that of of his Democrat opponent. It has allowed Terry to define himself, and define the opposition long before Election Day.

We note that Terry is going up with ads before Labor Day -- like he did by going up in the third week of August in 2008. Again, taking the upper hand and defining the race early.

So when will Terry's opponent will go up? Third parties have been emailing for dollars with a plea to give another ten grand to help him do so.

Two years ago you could ask most voters who the Democrat in the race was, and they'd tell you Jim Esch.

This year? Meh.

**Update**

The ad featured now on Congressional Quarterly.

***

While we're at it, here is Governor Dave Heineman on FOX Business:




Enjoy.

Don't tease me Bro!

This is a tease.
Leavenworth Street is conducting a tease of an announcement (possibly very big) likely scheduled for this coming Thursday in Omaha, that will affect (mainly) Omaha politics.
This is only a tease.
This concludes this tease on Leavenworth Street.


**UPDATE 7:30 pm**
Small town.  Cat's (RRRrrrrr!) out of the bag.

(But whomever can deduce the clue given in the picture to the right wins a L. St. silver dollar.)

***

Oh, and the NEGOP will be holding a presser Tuesday morning.

Omaha-area State Senators Bob Krist, Beau McCoy, John Nelson, and Rich Pahls will join NEGOP Chair Mark Fahleson to discuss their opposition to Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle’s proposed tax increases.

***

And former Senator Chuck Hagel was sort of in the news today.

Seems he is endorsing Democrat Congressman Joe Sestak for Senate in Pennsylvania.

Of course, our first reaction was, "Well, that’s one way to get on Democrat Senators’ good side for any potential SecDef confirmation hearings next year.” Seeing as they’d need something to get them over two GOPers in a row for that spot."

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizia echoed our sentiment calling it the “Me Me Endorsement”:

The simple fact is that Sestak won't gain anything of significant substance from the endorsement; he may get some residual benefit from the perception that Hagel, like Bloomberg, is independent-minded or the expectation-turning that a Republican not backing former Rep.Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) creates.

On the other hand, there could be genuine benefit for Hagel -- albeit symbolic. Hagel is rightly understood as trying out for a Cabinet job and the more he can show a willingness to put party aside to do what he believes is the right thing, the more attractive he will be to President Obama and his inner circle.

The irony is that the list of major legislation that Sestak favors is almost the exact opposite of what Hagel fought for in Congress.

Well, maybe now Mayor Suttle can get Hagel to come out in favor of his budget...

(We know he’s not going to get any help from Fahey...)

Who paid for the Cornhusker Kickback?

Well, new news on the Cornhusker Kickback! You thought it went away? Oh, it will never go away...

But we’re using the term “Cornhusker Kickback” to describe the entire process of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson’s vote for ObamaCare just before Christmas of 2009.

Now you may remember, but let’s go back to that chilly Saturday of December 19th, 2009...

Ben Nelson decided to vote for ObamaCare -- after he said he’d been listening to Nebraskans who didn’t want it. But something convinced him to back his Democrat President and Democrat colleagues.

One thing was the promise of a Cornhusker Kickback on Medicaid only for Nebraska.

But the other thing was cover for his vote.
Political cover.
Political cover in the way of TV ads.

And then you saw the TV ads, most clearly during the Holiday Bowl on December 30th when the Huskers beat Arizona.

Here it was:



And while it’s a little fuzzy in this version, you can see at the end that the ad was "Paid for by the Nebraska Democratic Party".

Well, not really.

You see, the Nebraska Democrats may have made the initial layouts for that ad and for the ones forthcoming in January. But the real money came from some where else.

Where?

Well, the Hotline on Call tells us:

On Jan. 11, just after the Senate voted on Christmas Eve to pass the bill, the DNC transferred $809K to the NE Dem Party, according to reports filed with the FEC. A month later, on Feb. 11, the DNC transferred another $169K to the party.

Wait, what was the cost?

NE Dems used the money to run ads defending Nelson's reputation. The state party bought $779K in airtime in Jan., enough to blanket the state with pro-Nelson ads for weeks at a time. The party spent about $95K to produce those ads with Dixon/Davis Media Group.

Wait but couldn’t the Nebraska Democrats have just paid for the ads on their own?

Uh, no.

The money was a huge influx for the NE Dem Party, which historically hasn't been a major fundraising powerhouse. The party raised just $190K during '09, according to FEC reports, and only $206K during '08. Aside from the DNC transfer, the state party has only raised $29K this year.

Now that alone should tell you that Nelson had to have been offered the cover of these ads right around the time negotiations went down. (You'll remember his hug to Senator Barbara Boxer to seal the deal.)

Sure he didn’t see the blow up over the Cornhusker Kickback coming. He thought he would be praised for that deft move.

No, he knew that Nebraskans wanted him to vote “No”.

So he got the cover from the national party to give him the funds to make these ads happen.

Oh, and by the way:

We have it on good account that feelers went out long before the Holiday Bowl to be sure that air time was available on ESPN for the spots.

When?

Round about December 19th.

The day Nelson decided to vote with President Obama and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

Quid pro quo? You be the judge, kids.

All we can say is that the Balgojevich trial was based on quid pro quo offers.

And it didn’t even have a catchy moniker.

***

Oh, and by the way...

“ ...a new state study that estimated federal health care reform will saddle Nebraska with $526 million to $766 million in unfunded Medicaid costs over the next decade.”

Well, how about that.

Who woulda thunk it?

NRSC ad - "Extreme"

The National Republican Senatorial Committee put together a great ad.

Thought we'd share.



Happy Thursday, everyone.

Terry on the 'Tube (You, that is)

Congressman Lee Terry has a new web-ad up on YouTube.
See it here:



It would be easy to see how this 40 second spot could be trimmed down to a 30 second spot for broadcast over the air.

These type of ads are usually good, cheap and effective. Looking forward to see who uses them after Labor Day.

***

On the Lee Terry for Congress front, he has a new flyer going out to seasoned citizens:

Note each point contrasted to his opponent’s position.

***

And to continue on the theme, here are a couple of web articles on, and related to, Terry.

The first, a bio/campaign review, more or less at Human Events.

The second was sent to us by a reader who noticed Terry’s name lumped into an article on Gateway Pundit.

It is based on that survey in May of 2009 from The Hill -- asking Congresspersons which Members they found to be the most partisan or the easiest to work with from the opposing party.

Terry, you may remember, made the list from Dems as to one of the better Republicans to work with.

Now this article goes on to slam the GOPers who made that list as turn-coats of some sort.

They say:

By marking which Republicans that Democrats think are “easy to work with” we can see which Republicans are not Republicans but are instead an ever hated RINO (Republican In Name Only).

There is only one reason why Democrats would love these folks: it’s because they are reliable votes against their own party.

Which is stupid.

Here’s the goofy thing about the analysis of this year and a half old list:
Terry is a main target of the DCCC this year.
And he consistently votes conservatively.

So now because he’s not also an asshole, Gateway Pundit thinks he should be voted out?

Well, if they are looking for someone who no one likes, that will vote consistently with the Democrats, we can think of someone they should support...

***

By the way, MSNBC recently came out with a list of 64 House seats likely to flip.

Nine of these were Republicans.

Lee Terry's seat, was not one of them.

***

And for those of you outside of Omaha, we see that 3rd District Democrat candidate Rebekah Davis is just itching to debate Congressman Adrian Smith everywhere.

And Smith, in the mean time, is keeping up a busy schedule throughout the (huge) district.

But only problem with Davis is that she hasn’t proven herself to be a credible candidate by any means tests.

Her FEC report shows that she has raised a measly $30K and has only $2,000 COH.

If she can’t get some decent support from within her own party, there is no reason for Smith to take the time to debate her. Heck, the other guy who wants in the race can probably scrounge up two grand. Should he be in the debates as well?

Is there going to come a day when some Democrat from the third wants to work their way up the political ladder before running for Congress?

***

Finally, you noticed that SecDef Robert Gates announced that he will retire next year.

And our Chuck Hagel news feed just went off again...

Poll: Omahans NOT gruntled

A poll out yesterday showed that Omahans are not gruntled with city government. Not gruntled at all. (Oh, it’s a word.)

You can read the entire poll commissioned by the MOPOA -- you know, the Metropolitan Omaha Property Owners Association (moh-poh-uh...) --  here.

A few highlights:
(400 registered voters, in Omaha, by phone, August 2nd-4th, 2010.)

City of Omaha, “Right Direction” or “Wrong Track”?
Right direction: 19% ( uh oh)
Wrong track: 70% (yowza!)
No opinion: 11% (Really, 44 registered voters had no opinion on this question? How can you not at least pick one?)

Approve or Disapprove way Jim Suttle handling job as Mayor?
Approve: 23% (ugh)
Disapprove: 67% (holy crap)
Undecided: 10% (really, you must have just caught them in the middle of a “So You Think You Can Dance” marathon)

When you look at the details of the DISAPPROVAL for Suttle you see this breakdown
Democrats: 57%
Indepdendent: 66%
Republicans: 80%

That is a lot of people un-gruntled about the Mayor.  Not even his fellow Democrats are gruntling.

So how do Omaha residents see their own Councilpersons? (Councilpeople?)

Here’s the list: (Approval / Disapproval)

District 1: Pete Festersen - 50/24 (only 50% Pete?)
District 2: Ben Gray - 42/41 (uh oh...)
District 3: Chris Jerram - 57/25
District 4: Garry Gernandt - 56/28
District 5: Jean Stothert - 58/23
District 6: Franklin Thompson - 53/33
District 7: Thomas Mulligan - 49/25 (not great - and that last presser in the road may not have done anything for him)

Of course, as a rule, voters in each district are heavily against increasing either property taxes, or the 4% entertainment tax.

And they aren’t nuts about the Police nad Fire contracts either, so those Councilmen who vote “Aye” may see their numbers tumble.

The Mayor’s mouthpiece, Ron Penzkowski, essentially said that people don’t know what they want, so screw them (we’re paraphrasing here).

But don’t kid yourself.

It is polls like these that start the fires kindling in the bellies of politicians-to-be and wanna-bes.
Expect many drums to continue to bang.

Suttle pressure

Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle continues his sell on higher taxes.

The latest plan is to “raise the city portion of the property tax rate by 9 percent, boost the wheel tax by $23 per vehicle, and add a new 4 percent tax on restaurant food.” 

And while Suttle is taking the battle to citizens at various spots around Omaha, others are fighting back on the airwaves.

Dave Nabity leads the “Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector” against the proposed tax increases.

The OAPS (“oh-pss”? “oh-aps”? oh well...), has produced this spot coming to a television near you. (We got our sticky fingers on it, and put it up on the Leavenworth Street YouTube site.) See it here:



Brief and to the point, with a call-out to the Councilmen. Of course, Democrat Chris Jerram has already called for a wheel-tax for commuters.  So add that to the fun.

It will be interesting to see where this leads.

***

And speaking of Hizzoner, here is a little ditty about Mayor Suttle from Matt & Ben at “Twister 93.3”.



A riff on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” -- though we’re a little unclear on how this song fits Twister’s demographics.

(You can download this yourself from their iTunes page.)

***

Calling all Democrats...again.

Looks like Mike “Goober” Meister (hey, he ASKED us to call him that) is looking for a #2 on his ticket.

Seems he has until September 1st to find a Democrat -- ANY Democrat -- to join his team as the Lieutenant Governor candidate to take on Dave Heineman in November.

And really, if you’re a Dem with ambitions, why the heck not? You get your name out there. You meet the Elks clubs. You go to the Husker games. And if lightning hits you four or five times, you get an uncertain job in state government.

What’s not to like?

So step it up Dems! Get yourself a #2 already.

Oh, and BYOSsS (Seersucker Suit).

***

And kids, while we tough our way through the dog days of August,...just remember that while football season is a good two months away, Labor Day is less than 30.

And what happens on Labor Day?

The REAL start of the campaign season.

Fasten your seatbelts. (Especially those of you in NE-2.)

Meister: Call me Governor Goober

You’ll remember that after Attorney General Jon Bruning joked that Democrat candidate Mike Meister, “puts the Goober in Gubernatorial” , Meister demanded an apology!

Well, maybe not so much.

Now, instead Meister is embracing The Goob. That’s right Meister says that he will be making his own campaign buttons with the logo.

Well, we here at Leavenworth Street always wish to be helpful in such matters. So to assist the nacent Mesiter campaign in their design costs, we give you our version.

Note the authentic “Goober Pyle” hat. It’s classsss all the way.

***

And just so Governor Goober (hey, he has asked to embrace it) doesn’t feel like he has been left out in the cold, Leavenworth Street Democrat contributor Brian Osborn even stepped up to the Attorney General recently. See it here:



It seems that BTO hadn’t received the message yet on the Meister campaign’s plan for the new slogan. Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.

***

Governor Dave Heineman (you know, the one who doesn’t embrace the Goob) recently stepped further into the fray on the immigration issue.

Heineman stated that he is looking into the idea of a Nebraska version of the Arizona immigration law. Heineman stated however:

What Nebraskans do not want is law enforcement walking down the street in Lincoln or any other community, and walk up to you and say, 'Prove you're and American citizen.' That would be racial profiling in a magnitude we would not agree to.

But then Governor Dave took it a step further. Calling out...oh...certain member so Congress:

They need to do their job, every single one of them, from the President of the United States to House members to the Senate. They ran for office. We pay them big bucks. Make a decision.

Um, we’re guessing his remarks weren’t exactly directed at Mike Johanns...

***

And now onto our final topic for the day: Paid Stalkers.

It seems that at the Nebraska GOP convention in Fremont last weekend, a certain liberal Democrat faction took it upon themselves to...infiltrate the convention!

Oh, they were sneaky.

They’d seen all the great Chevy Chase movies, and sneakily placed a video camera...in a fake arm sling!

Yup.

(And here's another shot of her with her boss.  She's the one with the nose-stud.)

Said stalker then reportedly followed around Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and demanded his position on pressing current issues!

So here is our suggestion for the next time said stalkers want to play Russian Spy to get the low-down from the Party of the Capitalist Regime:

First, go to the Senator’s web page, and we’re guessing he’ll give you all his positions.

Then, instead of paying a staffer to work on a Saturday, spend money on a video and suffer the indignities of pretending to be injured (or maybe just put the camera in your pocket?)...try waiting a day, and note that the whole thing is up on Fremonter.com.

We linked to it earlier in the week.

***

Oh, by the way, Dick Holland, are you pumped the way your hard-earned money is being spent? Facebook posts and a huge staff to get grainy video of a speech.

And then website domain names such as “markfahleson.com” and “daveheineman.com” purchased and then (with the added expense) hidden using DomainsByProxy, so no one knows who bought them? (Ooh, and re-direct them!)

Really? That’s the plan huh?

Why, Democrats will be running the roost in no time with that game strategy.

Rock on!

What I saw at the GOP convention

Again, Leavenworth Street recruited a correspondent for the state party convention over the weekend -- this time the Republicans in Fremont.

We hand it over to Matt Pinkerton, who was recently elected Chairman of the Nebraska Young Republicans.  Take it away, Matt!:

8:30 AM – Governor Heineman draws large applause when he calls out Democrats for their over spending, over taxation and contributions to a huge deficit. Meister was not safe either, especially for his support of amnesty of illegal immigrants.


More from Dave Heineman:


- We are the party of ‘yes’! YES to lower taxes, YES to lower spending and YES to quality jobs.


9:00 AM – Mike Meister is not safe from Jon Bruning. As if they didn’t know already, Bruning tells the crowd that “Meister puts the ‘goober’ in gubernatorial."

[Apparently Meister didn't like this characterization from Bruning and has asked -- Nay, Demanded -- an apology.  Meister and the Dems think Bruning, Nebraska is more cosmopolitan than Scottsbluff?  Look, it ain't the town.  It's, well...just take a look at THIS photo.... -Ed.]

9:30 AM – Let the Lee Terry show begin! Richard Carter, co-chair of the campaign, draws the significant difference between Lee Terry and Tom White: $2 trillion! $2 trillion representing the amount of spending White would have supported in Congress if he was there this year.


Terry enters the stage, flagged by several members of the Blue Crew and to the music of Tom Petty, “Won’t back down.”


Terry delivers an very energizes speech, telling the delegation that as a party, we must pay down the debt, balance the budget, and put people back to work. This year he put up an amendment for a balance budget. You can guess how that went over. Terry says that we have seen $1.5 trillion added to the deficit this year for a total of $13 trillion, which our country cannot sustain.


More from Lee Terry:


- Tom White would have voted FOR Cap & Tax
- Every new bill by the Dems this year includes a new tax.
- Lee Terry is 1 of 9 GOP representatives targeted by Nancy Pelosi.




12:00 PM – Senator Scott Brown arrives and greets the delegation at lunch. He is well received. So much so, Bold Nebraska even sent a minion. Question: How do you smuggle a camera and recording device into a convention you’re not invited to? Answer: Fake a broken arm with a very over dramatic cast! ‘A’ for effort!

1:00 PM – Back from a much needed lunch, the crowd gears for Senator Scott Brown.


Senator Mike Johanns set to introduce Senator Brown. Johanns discusses his work in the Senate since his election. He draws large applause for his bill to block Cap & Tax and a bill to give tax breaks to small businesses. Not to mention, his work to block funding for ACORN.


More from Mike Johanns:


- Johanns says that Nebraskans are a tough bunch of people but the Dems are more destructive than any tornado or storms this state will ever see.
- Johanns greets the crowd as fellow owners of General Motors.
- A debt that is 60% of GDP is not sustainable.


Johanns introduces Scott Brown as the 41st Senator to a large applause.


Scott Brown says that he is still driving that same pick up truck, but to the Dems dismay, it’s now parked in front of the Capitol! He warns Fathers in the crowd to never say on national TV, that your daughters are available.


Delegation roars when Senator Brown fired back at critics, “It’s not Kennedy’s seat, it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the PEOPLE’S seat!”


Senator Brown is happy to be the party of “No” when you’re putting people’s interest over special interest. He says that Republicans offer many bills to participate, but only one Amendment has been accepted.


Senator Brown talks about how Nebraskans helped him get elected by sending him checks and making phone calls. He was happy to get here and meet some of those people.


Senator Brown says the best way to help the soldiers in battle is to help take care of their family left at home. He says the little things count the most. Help with yard work, offer to take them out for an evening, treat them for dinner. He says in most cases the soldier isn’t as worried for themselves as they are for their family.

[See the entire video of Scott Brown speaking, via Fremonter.com by clicking here.  -Ed.]

1:45 PM – Adrian Smith from the 3rd District takes the stage. He says that the delegation has to be happy when Congress is not in session. He goes on to say that the people of this country continue to signal the alarms on spending, but Nancy Pelosi continues to hit snooze.


More from Adrian Smith:


- American conservatives are clearly in the majority and we’ll prove it in November
- He has a bumper sticker that reads, “We survived Carter, too!”
- No bigger affront to freedom that removal of the secret ballot in regards to card check.


2:00 PM – 5:30 PM – The afternoon finished with several breakout sessions, committee and standing reports and resolutions.


In my opinion, the hangover from the 2008 elections is gone and the Republicans have their winning swagger back. It’s going to take quite a bit of work and effort, however the energy is there. We know 2010 is going to be a good year!

Thanks Matt!