"Can't Buy Me Love" - 56% Find Pete Ricketts Repulsive
by Kyle Michaelis
Rasmussen Reports have provided the only on-going public opinion polls on the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Ben Nelson and Republican challenger Pete Ricketts. Their figures have consistently shown and do continue to show Nelson with a 20% advantage over Ricketts - the free-spending, self-funded heir to his family's Ameritrade fortune.
What I've found most interesting about these polls, though, is not the head-to-head match-up but rather the curious trend noted previously (July, Aug, Sept) of Ricketts' continued decline in the esteem of voters. Although data from only four samplings may not qualify as statistically significant, the failure of Ricketts' campaign - by the numbers - has seemed to follow a quite simple formula. Since July, when voters' unfavorable opinion of Ricketts first reached 50%, a pattern has been established with each passing month of Ricketts putting approximately $2 million more into his message-free, attack-focused campaign while alienating another 2% of the voters he's supposed to be winning over.
In July, Ricketts had spent $6 million on his campaign. One month later, he'd thrown in another $2 million as his negative rating reached 52%. One more month and another $2 million later, that negative rating reached 54%. Well, guess what, the October numbers are in - probably the last poll before the election. Sure enough, Ricketts tossed in (burned?) another $2 million and, according to Rasmussen, has the following to show for it:
All that for the low, low price of $12 million! What a steal!
Writing about Ricketts' most recent contribution last weekend, the Omaha World-Herald reported:
Ricketts and Moenning's supposed message has been "in front of the voters" for almost a year and Nebraska wants nothing of it. Still, in the last few weeks, we've only seen more negativity from this campaign and more mind-numbing attacks on Nelson. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Ricketts and Moenning seem to maintain belief that enough money and enough mud-slinging can still win this election.
Are they nuts?
Albert Einstein is credited with defining insanity as "doing the same thing and expecting different results." These last weeks of the campaign, that's exactly what Ricketts and Moenning are planning. And, the fact that Moenning even left the door open for Ricketts writing another multi-million dollar check to his campaign suggests their insanity truly has no limits.
I understand that Ricketts has plenty of money and doesn't need me worrying about his finances. But, for the good of Nebraska and for the good of its democracy, someone really should tell these folks to just give it up. To the majority of Nebraskans, Ricketts has become a joke - a cartoon, at best.
That's rather fitting, if you think about it.
What I've found most interesting about these polls, though, is not the head-to-head match-up but rather the curious trend noted previously (July, Aug, Sept) of Ricketts' continued decline in the esteem of voters. Although data from only four samplings may not qualify as statistically significant, the failure of Ricketts' campaign - by the numbers - has seemed to follow a quite simple formula. Since July, when voters' unfavorable opinion of Ricketts first reached 50%, a pattern has been established with each passing month of Ricketts putting approximately $2 million more into his message-free, attack-focused campaign while alienating another 2% of the voters he's supposed to be winning over.
In July, Ricketts had spent $6 million on his campaign. One month later, he'd thrown in another $2 million as his negative rating reached 52%. One more month and another $2 million later, that negative rating reached 54%. Well, guess what, the October numbers are in - probably the last poll before the election. Sure enough, Ricketts tossed in (burned?) another $2 million and, according to Rasmussen, has the following to show for it:
Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters report an unfavorable opinion of Ricketts with nearly one-third (31%) having a very unfavorable view...
All that for the low, low price of $12 million! What a steal!
Writing about Ricketts' most recent contribution last weekend, the Omaha World-Herald reported:
"Campaigns have become expensive, to be able to communicate your message to voters," Jessica Moenning, Ricketts' campaign manager, said Saturday. "We're just working hard to keep our message in front of the voters"....
She said she could not be sure that Ricketts had made his last contribution to his own campaign, but she suspected he had.
Ricketts and Moenning's supposed message has been "in front of the voters" for almost a year and Nebraska wants nothing of it. Still, in the last few weeks, we've only seen more negativity from this campaign and more mind-numbing attacks on Nelson. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Ricketts and Moenning seem to maintain belief that enough money and enough mud-slinging can still win this election.
Are they nuts?
Albert Einstein is credited with defining insanity as "doing the same thing and expecting different results." These last weeks of the campaign, that's exactly what Ricketts and Moenning are planning. And, the fact that Moenning even left the door open for Ricketts writing another multi-million dollar check to his campaign suggests their insanity truly has no limits.
I understand that Ricketts has plenty of money and doesn't need me worrying about his finances. But, for the good of Nebraska and for the good of its democracy, someone really should tell these folks to just give it up. To the majority of Nebraskans, Ricketts has become a joke - a cartoon, at best.
That's rather fitting, if you think about it.
posted at 4:57 PM
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