World-Herald's Partisan Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

Another Omaha World-Herald editorial targeting the Democratic Party ran yesterday. They make a big stink about an entirely legal complaint being made by the Dems against an Omaha City Council Republican for violations of state campaign laws. The party's playing watchdog, that's it - and the OWH wants to make this action seem like some gross violation of the public trust. What utter nonsense. If anything, the Democrats are actually protecting the public by aiding in the enforcement of state laws, I dare say doing no more than their civic duty. For this they are maligned?

Meanwhile, the OWH taps the Republican Party on the wrist for endorsing one Republican over another in the primary, when in Lincoln they have already committed much more heinously partisan acts with their outrageous attack on City Council candidate Dan Marvin. How dare the OWH complain about meddling by political parties without reserving their ire for this most insulting and grievous example, which they do not even mention? How could a newspaper have any less credibility? The people of this state deserve better.

Oh, but they're not done yet, folks. Look at the unnecessary and childish mockery of the Democrats, followed by an utterly inane demand that reveals the World-Herald's true agenda in all this:

For the staff of the organization formerly known as the Party of Jefferson and Jackson, the opportunity to have something to do is additionally crimped by the lack of Democrats holding statewide partisan office. So sticking their nose into nonpartisan elections may provide relief from the long, empty days.

But there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. If the parties want to be a player in the governance of the city, they should complete a two-step process.

• Persuade the public that some legitimate reason exists for partisan elections - that, for instance, there is a Republican position on caring for the parks and streets and a discernibly differing Democratic position.

• Petition the Legislature to change the laws requiring nonpartisan elections for the mayor and City Council.

There they go again. No surprise, the OWH is the real party that makes mockery of Nebraska's populist and progressive spririt of nonpartisanship. They want to twist this situation, at the Democrats' expense of course, to fulfill their long-standing desire to make all elections in this state partisan, allowing voters to be just as reliant on party labels and stereotyping as the World-Herald's Ed. Board. The OWH (and the Republicans, as if they weren't one and the same) would just love to make everything partisan because they think it will help them convert their registration advantage into even greater one-party domination.

Do they do any research? NO! They rely on the same old Republican talking points. Otherwise they'd realize that there's absolutely NO NEED to change state law if people want partisan elections at the city level. See Nebraska Statute 32-557:

All elective city, village, and school officers shall be nominated and elected on a nonpartisan ballot unless a city or village provides for a partisan ballot by ordinance. No ordinance providing for nomination and election on a partisan ballot shall permit affiliation with any party not recognized as a political party for purposes of the Election Act. Such ordinance providing for nomination and election on a partisan ballot shall be adopted and effective not less than sixty days prior to the filing deadline.

Ah, but then the OWH wouldn't get their way in the Unicameral, flooding it with lock-step Republicans, would they?