Kleeb for Congress (Nebraska)

[MaineDem]

(Not our Kleeb. :D )

This guy seems too good to be true. Does anyone in Nebraska have any info on him?

A cowboy, a Yale graduate degree (he mentions a doctoral thesis), and a Democrat. Bob Kerrey is backing his campaign.

http://www.scottkleeb.com/21/

[XNASA]

1. Where is our Kleeb anyway?

:shrug:

[DaveinMD]

2. I miss Kleeb

hope he's ok.

[Rowdyboy]

3. Now this guy LOOKS like a cowboy is supposed to look!

I've been wondering about our boy Kleeb too. I was offline for about 10 weeks last summer and he seems to have disappeared sometime during that period.

[MaineDem]

4. He is the epitome of what I think a cowboy should look like

But I'm an easterner from Maine; what do I know? :)

He is pretty nice looking though. And smart!

[LocalDem]

5. You're going to like this Kleebshot, Rowdy

The Omaha paper had a good one...


Scott Kleeb discussion @ DemBench.org

[Rowdyboy]

6. Be still my beating heart! Damn, just damn.....

He is one physically beautiful man. Smart and a rancher to boot-this guy really stands out. Hope the district is winnable-its gotta be tough in Nebraska.

[Scout1071]

9. Not just damn, but HOT damn.

That is one fine man.

[jackbourassa]

7. This Kleeb is nothing special

He may look like a cowboy...but he also supports "INCREASING TROOP LEVELS" in Iraq. Opposes Ending the war and thinks that it has been a "success." Although he makes some criticisms about Bush's handling of the war and the faulty intelligence that took us in (stopping short of saying Bush lied).

He acknowledges a crisis in Health Care, but opposes A single-payer National Health Care System.

This guy may be a Democrat, but he sounds a lot like a Republican.

Support him if you want another DLCer in DC.

His other positions sound more like DC double talk. He already sounds like a professional politician. I think the whole Cowboy thing is a ruse.

[ISUGRADIA]

8. a DLCer is about the only type of Democrat that has a hell of a chance

in Nebraska. Any kind of liberal is not going to win there.

[PassingFair]

10. Why?

Seriously, why? Is the the predominance of repuglicans?

[ISUGRADIA]

12. It's a HEAVILY Republican state

66-33 for Bush in 2004

Last two time Dems carried it for Pres were 1964 and 1936

Two of the last three Dem Senators were conservative: Exon (not extreme), Zorinsky (extreme, as he was a former Repub who became a Dem to run for the Senate because Repubs were denying him the nomination).
Kerrey was a moderate in most respects who had a compeling story when he first ran for governor in 1982.

[Daylin Byak]

11. Exactly

Liberal is not a common word to refur to people in nebraska.

A DINO is all we can get, example: ben nelson.

[PassingFair]

13. Ben Nelson!

:puke:

Surely, in all of Nebraska, there is someone better than him!

[ISUGRADIA]

16. I'd love to hear names of viable candidates

under the right circumstances I could see him switch to the Repubs.

[jackbourassa]

27. Why is it an either/or proposition

Why is it a DLC or a stark raving liberal?

Are there not other possibilities?

Like a reform Democrat.

Will people in Nebraska not support someone opposed to the war if they make a compelling case and aren't undermined by members of their own party - who concede the Republican talking point that this position makes you weak?

My prediction: Kleeb loses. Why vote for a Republican-esque Democrat, when you can vote for a Republican?

[Hippo_Tron]

14. Except that DLCers are also not the kind of good Dems for red states

You are right, it would be very tough for a liberal to get elected in Nebraska. It would be much easier for an economically populist and socially conservative Democrat to get elected, because that Dem would truly represent the interests of the common people in a state like Nebraska. DLC Dems are fiscally pro business and either socially liberal or socially conservative depending on the politics of their state. Why not run a genuine populist instead of a DLCer?

[ISUGRADIA]

15. I can see your point, maybe I should not have said DLCer only

but instead someone who has issues and stances that are winnable in the state he or she is running in. I think the type of candidate you describe (economically populist and socially conservative)could win in Nebraska. I'm sure though that candidate would be decried as unpure here by many and a "DINO".

I may be wrong, but Stephanie Herseth of SD seems to fit the type of candidate you are mentioning (if you don't think so let me know). She's been bashed here also on several threads for not being 100% left.

[jackbourassa]

28. Hippo is 100% correct, it's not a zero sum game (as the DLC believes)

People automatically assume that because we oppose the DLC, that we support liberal purity.

I do not.

The DLC = corporate Democrats, no different from neoconservatives on foreign policy with liberal social agendas (ie guns, abortion, etc.) in "blue" states (where most DLCer's actually come from). In those "red states" they take conservative positions on social agendas. Thus making them pro-war, pro-corporate, and socially conservative (otherwise known as REPUBLICANS).

I could forgive their position on social issues, if they were economically populist, and were honest about the war, etc, not just parroting the GOP line (which many "social" conservatives might oppose as well). Social conservatives may have a hard time dealing with immoral nature of a preemptive war. They are not hypocrites after all. They may have a hard time accepting a foreign policy hijacked by think-tank eggheads based on ideology, without regard to the national interest. These are the same people who often reject the ideologies of professors as being "out of touch."

I would argue that social issues is what turns many conservatives away from the Democrats. Not our views on the war or a populist message against corporations and for the economy.

I'm willing to bet you that the majority of people in Nebraska, like most of the western United States, would hold a favorable view of demanding labor rights be included to trade agreements and the like. This is something that most liberals would support as well. Most workers would support. Etc. Then the obvious question becomes, why not make an alliance between these groups on economic populism?

My view is that a corporate Democrats will do no better in these type of states than straight ahead liberals. Maybe worse, because people doubt their sincerity and other Democrats don't like them.

[jackbourassa]

26. Bullshit

DLCer's don't win except for in NY, CT or MA. - Where we could win without them.

How about the Governor of Montana? Brian Swietzer (sp?). He's definitely not DLC (he opposes the war, and the DLC; and is in favor of a national health system), and i'm sure many DLCers argued the same thing about Montana. "Only a DLC type can win Montana." Yet, low and behold, not only did he win - but he won by a lot. And he is the second most popular governor in America.

DLCer's are so full of themselves and full of shit.

[quaoar]

17. A DLCer is preferable to a republican

A DLCer would at the very least vote Democratic in the leadership elections. One more vote to make Nancy Pelosi speaker -- and at this point we need every vote we can get.

[quaoar]

18. Besides

It is an open seat -- being vacated by Tom Osborne.

If we are ever going to win this district, the time is now.

[MaineDem]

23. Exactly, an open seat

The last time it was open the Democrat lost by only a point or two, I believe. Kleeb seems to have a good campaign shaping up, with some big name backing. I'd love to see a Dem pickup here. This guy looks like he'd appeal to the people who elected Ben Nelson and Bob Kerrey in the past.

[Fabio]

20. I think it is ignorant

to call someone like this a DLCer? Honestly.

Read his bio. What about this guy sounds like he has evolved from a corporate background? Military brat? Forestry school? Regard for trade issues?

He is what we should call a middle of the road democrat, or 'worse' a conservative democrat, working to get elected in a red state. And IMHO we should welcome him into the party. Be inclusive.

[eridani]

19. So, how was it that Fred Harris was ever able to get elected there?

Liberal Dem who served right in the middle of all that hippie-era culture war stuff, 1964-1973. Seems like all the Okies from Muskogee liked him anyway. What was his secret?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_R._Harris

[Rowdyboy]

21. Harris was from Oklahoma......

And Oklahoma, along witht he rest of the nation, has changed drastically since 1968. Same with Ohio. They had John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum as senators just a few years ago. They've had two Republicans ever since. Same with Maine.

[eridani]

22. Well, yes. But how?

Is it all about hate radio? Dems abandoning economic issues? What?

[ISUGRADIA]

24. States evolve politically over time

both ways. For example, Vermont used to be one of the most Republican states in the nation. Now it is a reliably Democratic and liberal state.

[ISUGRADIA]

25. Harris was before many of wedge issues

such as abortion and gay rights became big issues. His first race was in the Johnson landlide of '64 (Harris won with 51%) and his '66 race was with 54%. He went more to the left in the late 60s and gave up trying to win reelection.