A War of Rhetoric: 'New York Democrats' vs. 'Washington Republicans'

In 2006, the Nebraska Republican Party grasped desperately to the idea that 3rd District Congressional candidate Scott Kleeb was not a true Nebraskan - focusing on the years Kleeb had spent at Yale University and his successful out-of-state fundraising because their candidate - Adrian Smith - couldn't compete on the issues, by reputation, or with personality.

Now, looking to the 2008 Senate race, we already see the same sort of attacks revving up against potential Democratic candidate Bob Kerrey for living in New York City the last six years while serving as President of New School University.
What's funny is just how much hypocrisy it will require of Nebraska Republicans to attack Kerrey on this basis. For starters, Kerrey would be running to replace Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel - who was first elected in 1996 after spending two decades living in Virginia and Washington D.C.

Even more ridiculous, though, is the fact that two of the best-positioned Republicans hoping to replace Hagel have also recently declared Washington D.C. home. As most readers know and as cartoonist Neal Obermeyer has pointed out, Mike Johanns has been living in Washington D.C. since becoming Secretary of Agriculture for the Bush Administration in January 2005. In fact, Johanns is even reported to have gone house-hunting last weekend to reclaim his Nebraska residency.

Less well-known and less remembered is just how recently Hal Daub also called Washington D.C. home. The Omaha World-Herald (11/27/05) reported:

In July 2004, [Hal] Daub took a full-time job in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Mary, sold their Omaha house and purchased one in the Georgetown area....

Daub never really put Omaha behind him during his 14 months leading the Washington-based American Health Care Association. Originally, Daub expected to spend three to five years with the national nursing home organization.

Of course, Daub didn't have a whole lot of say on his early return to Nebraska because he'd managed to alienate the AHCA leadership to the point that they couldn't wait to get rid of him. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who remembers Daub's relationship with city officials when he served as mayor of Omaha.
 
Regardless, both Daub and Johanns have proven quite willing to adopt homes outside of Nebraska when it served their career ambitions. It's not my place to say whether these choices make them any less Nebraskan, but they make it downright absurd and hypocritical for the Republican Party to attack Kerrey on similar grounds.

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Daub To Join The Race

By: Dave Sund

The World-Herald has it:

Hal Daub, energetic and sometimes combative former Omaha mayor and former congressman, is hoping he scores a win in his third try for the U.S. Senate.

 

Daub is widely known in Omaha and in state GOP circles, particularly from his years as mayor of Nebraska's largest city, where he was praised by some for his willingness to take on tough political battles and criticized by others for being too aggressive and divisive.

"Aggressive and divisive" may be an understatement. But, hey, if Daub wants to lose another election, who are we to stop him?

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Bob Kerrey & Chuck Hagel: Best Friends Forever???

In Nebraska politics, we've all seen how ambition for higher office has driven Attorney General Jon Bruning from declaring himself "a Hagel guy" to making Sen. Chuck Hagel a target of any attack he could think of in just a matter of weeks. Unreported has been the similar flip-flop by Hal Daub, who went from announcing in December that he would not consider a U.S. Senate bid if Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel seeks a third term to now declaring "I don't care who runs." And, how can anyone forget the August fundraiser for the Nebraska Republican Party where praise for Hagel by the night's keynote speaker was met by nothing but silence from his party's faithful. With responses like these, you might expect Hagel to be feeling a little bit lonely. A little bit isolated. A little bit betrayed. But, then, of all people, there is Bob Kerrey - the lone voice in Nebraska politics defending Hagel, praising Hagel, and even encouraging him to run for re-election. What might distinguish Kerrey even more than the respect he continues to show towards Hagel, though, is that he's actually been consistent regarding his friend and former colleague. Well, if the following article from the Omaha World-Herald or the above picture are any indicator, it looks like Kerrey is still the one leader on whose support Hagel could actually count:

Sen. Chuck Hagel and former Sen. Bob Kerrey appeared together Wednesday, following the same script: Both smiled and both sidestepped questions about which, if either, of them may run for the Senate next year. The Vietnam veterans teamed up at a Capitol Hill press conference to voice support for the Omaha-based Wounded Warriors organization, which hopes to build a retreat for wounded service members, their families and relatives of those killed in combat on 80 acres near Crawford in northwest Nebraska. But neither Kerrey nor Hagel had much to say when the subject turned to next year's U.S. Senate race....  Before Wednesday's press conference, the two met behind closed doors in Hagel's office in the Russell Senate Office Building. Loud laughter could be heard outside....   "I just told him I knew it is a tough decision, since I went through the same thing seven years ago, and I told him I hope he goes for third," Kerrey said in an e-mail sent later in the day. "It will be a big loss for Nebraska and the nation if he leaves the Senate," Kerrey added. Admittedly, the New Nebraska Network has not always been so praising of Hagel, but I certainly appreciate his leadership and insight in foreign policy matters going well beyond his outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq. More importantly, it is heartening to see a politician of Kerrey's stature disregarding party lines and political games with the same independence and integrity for which he's always been known by the people of Nebraska. Of course, it's understandable why ambitious Republicans like Jon Bruning and Hal Daub would turn their backs on Hagel, hoping to appeal to all those silent Republican activists who don't care to face the truth about President Bush's failures. One wonders - one might even expect - that they will change their tune if Hagel announces he won't be seeking re-election - an effort to create a false united front, as if they hadn't just been preparing his political destruction. It shouldn't matter. However Hagel ultimately chooses to position himself politically, the people of Nebraska have seen these men's true colors for themselves - pandering to their party's extremists. At the same time, the people have seen Kerrey stand by Hagel, reflecting Nebraska's tradition of nonpartisanship. In doing so, Kerrey is also representing the vast majority of Nebraskans who overwhelmingly elected Hagel in 2002 and - looking to 2008 - have concerns far greater than protecting President Bush and the Republican status quo. Bob Kerrey is a man for all Nebraskans. He was as Governor. He was as Senator. Let's hope he'll again be the candidate for all Nebraskans very, very soon.

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Don Walton On Hal Daub (maybe "Gets On" would have been more correct)

The Lincoln Journal-Star's Don Walton goes above and beyond trying to make the ever-unlikeable Hal Daub seem like a legitimate contender for the Republican Party's 2008 Senate nomination. Restrain your gag reflex and read for yourself:

Ideaman. That's Hal Daub. Intensity is the first word that comes to mind when describing the former Omaha mayor and former four-term Republican congressman. Usually, the body is in restless motion; last week in Lincoln it was the mind. At the end of a workday, Daub sat down in a semi-circle with about a dozen people in a meeting room at the Cornhusker Marriott to exchange views about the country's challenges and concerns....  

For two hours, Daub poses questions, seeks opinions, raises alternatives, proposes solutions. It is a tour de force. If Daub decides to enter the 2008 Senate race, he'll take the debate deeper than most candidates will want to go. Below the safety of the surface where many candidates prefer to float in consultant-tested life jackets, down into dangerous waters. Hal Daub is a deep sea diver....

You'd have to be a deep sea diver to wade through the remainder of Walton's Daub-loving drivel. Frankly, I don't know what Walton's talking about describing Daub as an "ideaman" known for his "intensity". To most people, the impression of Daub that usually comes to mind is "asshole" ("slimy politician" and "arrogant prick" are tied for second).

And, seriously, what sort of "tour de force" involves sitting around and talking with a dozen like-minded Republicans who weren't going to challenge a damn thing Daub had to say - not to mention the Journal-Star reporter looking around for a bigger spoon just so he could get a bigger bite of Daub's BS. Eat it up, Don. And, by all means, enjoy it while it lasts.

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Hal Daub Finishes His Magical Mystery Tour (w/new poll)

Former Congressman and Omaha Mayor Hal Daub wrapped up his statewide listening tour with a couple of events in Omaha this week, leaving the door open to his third campaign for the U.S. Senate.
 The Associated Press reports:

Daub said he's found overwhelming support across the state for Bush and his decisions about Iraq.... 

Daub wouldn't say Friday how much money he's raised for a possible run, or how much of his own money he's spent on the listening tour. He also won't say whether he'd run against Sen. Chuck Hagel, a fellow Republican whom Daub says he considers a friend...

But Daub did say he "won't be dissuaded by whoever the candidates might be."

If he decides not to run, Daub says he'll return the money he's raised with interest and will pass the ideas he's gathered along to elected officials.

Boy, I'm sure Nebraska's elected officials can't wait to have Hal Daub tell them what the people of Nebraska are thinking. I still refuse to accept Daub's exaggerated and illegitimate claim that Nebraskans support President Bush and his war policy. This demonstrates nothing more than that the kind of people who'd attend a Hal Daub event are just as fringe-worthy and out of touch with the mainstream as Daub himself. I'm curious what others think of Daub's claim, though, so please answer our latest NNN poll.

As far as Daub actually running for Senate, I'd love to see him get the Republican nomination, but that's just not going to happen. I know it's said that "the third time's the charm", but we saw how well that worked out for Don Stenberg in 2006. No, as proven by the choice of Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Republicans might still nominate a candidate who is a total loser - but not a proven loser like Hal Daub.

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'Stay the Course' Alive & Well in Hearts of Nebraska Republicans???

In the same Omaha World-Herald article covering Hal Daub's statewide listening tour, what was far, far scarier than the prospect of Daub in the U.S. Senate was the feedback he reported from Nebraska Republicans - particularly on the war in Iraq: During the Fremont stop, Daub listened as those in a largely Republican gathering told him they hoped America would stay the course in Iraq. Two said they did not want this country to experience another Vietnam. Daub said that was typical of the response he's gotten from the more than 2,200 people he has talked to since May. Seriously, where is Daub finding these people? Is he just totally full of crap, or is there really such an impenetrable shell protecting Nebraska Republicans' ignorance and obliviousness? I don't believe in easy solutions to America's Iraq problem, but I thought we might finally be getting to a point at which we could all agree that 'stay the course' is nothing more than an empty slogan promising expanding chaos and more bloodshed. There is no strategy at its heart. It carries with it no purpose but to protect our president's foolish pride, making us a nation of proud fools.  Is it possible that Nebraska Republicans are really telling Daub they want our nation to 'stay the course' to even further disaster? Even if we believe recent reports of "military progress" in Iraq, these still offer little hope for the peace and political progress that are supposedly our ultimate objectives. 'Stay the course might' sound good coming from John Wayne in Rio Bravo, but it's the height of lunacy in terms of military strategy - as if resolve alone could guarantee success. To stand by so obnoxious a statement more than four years into this idiotic exercise in egotism and insecurity is a virtual embrace of outright insanity. Are Nebraska Republicans really so desperate and out-of-touch that they imagine different outcomes from our repeating the same mistakes? I can't believe that - even of the ones who would actually take time out of their day to listen to Hal Daub speak. Of course, there might be a few who have traded their reason for their Republicanism - and I suspect these folks would be well-served by either Daub or Jon Bruning. But, 'stay the course' is not a strategy - it's suicide in the name of partisan loyalty that confuses supporting our troops with letting them be slaughtered. If that's "typical" of the response Daub got on his listening tour, he would have been much better off staying home and paying attention to the actual news coming out of Iraq rather than surrounding himself with such a sorry bunch who've lost the ability to separate Bush's fantasy from our reality.

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Three-Time Loser Hal Daub Still "Undecided"

by: Dave Sund

When last we saw Hal Daub, he was embarking on a 93 County "listening tour" of Nebraska. Evidently, after 87 counties, he's still undecided. As he considers a run for the U.S. Senate, Hal Daub is winding down his listening tour across the state. The former Omaha mayor and congressman said that after visiting 87 of Nebraska's 93 counties, he is still undecided about whether to seek the Republican nomination, but he plans to make a decision this fall. "I may not be a candidate," Daub told 16 people gathered Thursday at a Fremont coffee shop before presiding over discussions about the Iraq war, illegal immigration and rural economics. It's been difficult from the outset to figure out what, exactly, Hal Daub's motivation is in seeking this Senate seat, and why he's going about it in this way. Everyone in political circles has assumed that Daub's going to run if Hagel drops out, but Daub's "listening tour" seems to be his way of running without really running - to seem like he's running against Chuck Hagel when in actuality he has no intention of doing so. Daub, known as someone who loves to talk, has been crisscrossing the state for the past few months with a blue pen and notebook, asking questions and scribbling down voters' comments. He said he is interested in hearing voters' concerns and, even if he does not run, he will sit down with Gov. Dave Heineman and Hagel and discuss what he's learned. Is Hal Daub the de facto establishment candidate in this race? Is he hoping to gain the favor of Hagel and - more importantly - Heineman to take the Republican nomination? Or is he the stalking horse for the only candidate the Heineman faction can count on to beat Bruning - Mike Johanns? Time will tell - Hal Daub gave himself a Labor Day deadline to make a decision. I suspect we'll know a few more things by that date, as well.

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