| First off, if we get really lucky, Bob Kerrey will run for the seat. When he retired, he indicated he might someday return to public life. His support of both Jim Webb and Al Franken in their respective runs for the Senate indicates he still knows politics. He was popular as an elected official, and it was never clear exactly why he left. And Bob, we need you... Of course, if you're a long time reader, you know I pine for Tom Daschle. Americans have short memories, so I'm thinking his taxes are in order by now, and he won't repeat past mistakes. Either would be a strong candidate, especially in this watershed year. I cannot think of any other first tier Democratic candidates from Nebraska, maybe someone else can think of one. In January, I'll be up with my forecasts for the Senate, and we can start to look at whether or not we hold it. Holding the Senate matters, but I have a history of vacillating on the idea of sell-out Democratic Senators, of which Ben Nelson is certainly a poster child, along with Max Baucus. "Holding the Senate" matters in terms of having a Speaker who controls what gets to the floor and a number of other important facets. But in terms of the vote, Ben Nelson hasn't been with us in, um, forever. My thought always is: what good do they do us if they vote against us anyway? But I know the prevailing thought always was "it's okay, they'll be with us when it counts." At least, that was the argument I was given in 2006 when I felt I couldn't vote for Bob Casey because of his stands on abortion and, by extension, women's rights. But as we've seen in the past few years, party hasn't matter when that party has a "D" in its name. So I say good riddance, Ben. I want you to put up a blog and point out every single time you use Medicare, Social Security, government pension and every other benefit you get with my hard-earned tax dollars that you have worked so hard to insure I never see. |
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