Some of the most prominent Nebraska Democrats, including the world's second wealthiest man -Warren Buffet- and the mayor North Platte, have announced their intention to temporarily change their party ID in order to vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary between Gov. Dave Heinemen and former Huskers coach Rep. Tom Osbourne.  4/5ths of our state Constitutional offices will be decided by this year's GOP primaries. As recently as 2002, Democrats didn't even field candidates for 2/3rds of our congressional districts.

Slowly but surely, the Nebraska Democratic Party is turning that tide.  We have three excellent candidates running really first-rate Congressional campaigns.  But I must admit the one that excites me the most is running in one of the most solidly Republican districts in America - a man by the name of Scott Kleeb.

The Perfect Candidate

Kleeb is a fourth-generation Nebraskan who was born on a military base in Turkey and attended high school in Italy (where he was valedvictorian of his class and an MVP for both the wrestling and soccer teams).  Upon returning to the states,  he became a professional ranch hand in Western Nebraska and Eastern Colorado.  He recieved a degree in history and political science from the University of Colorado before recieving a Masters in International Relations from Yale.  For his recent doctoral dissertation, he focused heavily on the history American cattle ranching.

Simply put, Scott is all of the best parts of rural Nebraska: he is smart, down to Earth, and has the presence of a rugged cowboy (see: http://www.yale.edu/rumpus/archives/99-0 0/dec/html/scott_kleeb.html ).  In his words, "I know what it's like to deliver a calf and get it breathing at 3 a.m."  He also knows an awful lot about the effect of free trade, of corporate consolidation of family farms, and of the impact this has on Nebraska's ranchers and farmers.  Scott is the real deal, and it isn't likely that we will ever see a better candidate run for this particular office in our lifetime.

The Perfect Campaign

Scott isn't just resting on his laurels, so to speak -he can't afford to.  He's been an agreesive campaigner who's canvassing this massive district (roughly 70% of Nebraska's total area) one county at a time.  When he's not working the land in Dunning, he's on the road, and he's been reaching out to activists at home, online (quickly amassing an online newsletter with over 2,000 subscribers), and out of state (word is he created quite the buzz when he gave a presentation to the Democratic National Commitee Meeting in Phoenix last year , saying "You folks voted for a 50-state strategy. Well, I am the 50-state strategy.")

In addition, he is pulling help from some wonderful surrogates.  Former Governor/Senator/9-11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey has signed on as chair of his campaign finance committee, stating: "I am deeply impressed with Scott's commitment to thinking deeply about the issues facing Central and Western Nebraska.  He envisions a Nebraska with jobs and people flowing in instead of out. If that vision is to be realized, we need leaders with the energy and intelligence to promote fresh ideas. And Scott is such a leader."  

And Nebraska legend Ted Sorenson -former speechwriter and presidential aide to JFK- has joined Scott on the campaign trail, stating "When I think of Nebraska, I think of Kennedy, Kerrey and Kleeb."

The Up-hill battle

This is one of the most Republican districts in the country.  Fortunately, Kleeb won't be running against an incumbant (Osbourne is retiring from this seat to run for governor), nor will he be running on the same ticket as a Democratic presidential nominee (always a drag on down-ticket Cornhusker Dems).  He will have the great fortune of running on the same ticket as Senator Ben Nelson, who is currently the most popular politician in this great state.  The conditions have never been better to take back this district, and it is doubtful that they will get any better.  But is it enough just to have a great candidate running a great campaign in a great year?

Probably not.  But wouldn't it be amazing if a little netroots support could make the difference?  Afterall, it wasn't that long ago (1990) that the Democratic nominee came within 1.5% of winning in this district.  And a little money goes a long way in rural Nebraska's cheap air space.

So why not give the 50-state strategy a true vote of confidence and toss Scott Kleeb a couple bucks before the close of the next fundraising quarter?  Or, to put it in the candidate's own words:

"We have heard a lot of rumbling out there in recent weeks that Democrats seem to be trying to out Republican the Republicans, instead of offering fresh ideas and solutions for the very serious challenges facing this nation.  Well, we cannot out-Republican the Republicans, nor should we try. What we can and must do is talk about how the federal budget is in a shambles, corruption is at record levels, and rural American is falling behind."

"But we all know that the only way our message will be heard is if we hit a certain threshold in fundraising. Please make a small donation today:"

http://www.scottkleeb.com/21/donate.asp? display=5

Addendum: A little about Scott's positions

Below, Downwithtyranny told me that while they were excited by what I wrote about Scott, they weren't willing to donate to the campaign until they confirmed that he wasn't merely a pussyfooting Ben Nelson democrat but rather a populist fighter who would "stand up for the weak and oppressed against corporate fascism". I'll admit that Scott isn't the most progressive candidate running for office this year, but I do think DWT's description pins him well, and I'll try to summarize a couple of his positions briefly. Please visit http://www.scottkleeb.com/21/issues.asp to hear all of this in his own word's.

Agricultural subsidies

This is a guy who's family ranch, a ranch that was in Kleeb hands for generations, was consolidated into a mega-corporate conglomerate right out from under them. This is why he thinks to note that "Back then, government investment in agriculture was an investment in the families, schools, and small businesses of rural America. But today, by-in-large, it is an investment in sustaining the profits of corporate agriculture."

"Under the $249 billion farm bill approved in 2002, two-thirds of farm subsidy payments go to the top 10 percent of farm-subsidy recipients. Meanwhile, the incomes of most farm families remain stagnant, and our rural communities continue to decline."

Scott proposes that we direct this money away from the corporate mega-farms and instead invest more heavily in smaller farming operations on a basis that provides technological support to small farmers, incentives for sound conservation practices, and rewards farmers for investing in their local community. His opponent's agenda for investing in family farms is composed of GOP talking points and non-issues like "the death tax".

Health Care

Unfortunately, Scott does not support universal health care. But he has obviously given a lot of thought to the health care crisis in this country, and he has a plan that would ease the burden it places on the owners of small businesses and family farms by reforming Medicare to allow the government to negotiate reductions in the rising cost of prescription drugs, by making a "one time investment in shifting to a comprehensive electronic record keeping system" to cut down on overhead costs, expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program, and allowing small businesses to band together to buy health insurance plans in bulk... These are just a few of Scott's sound suggestions to expand preventive care and lower the cost of health care for the average working family. In addition to the page I linked to above, he also has an article on the Blog for Nebraska: http://www.nebraskademocrats.org/blog/464/restoring-balance-to-health-care