http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1673&u_sid=2257157&u_rnd=6421419Published Sunday
October 8, 2006
Nelson gained expertise - and wealth - in his earlier field
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Campaigning for re-election, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has touted his long political career and jabbed at the experience of his Republican challenger, former TD Ameritrade executive Pete Ricketts.
Nelson's campaign has chided Ricketts for accepting bonuses at Ameritrade while the company was laying off 450 employees in the 2001-03 recession.
Ricketts fired back that Nelson received $59,000 in 2001 as a board member of Behlen Manufacturing Co. in Columbus, Neb., which laid off 500 employees in the same recession.
Both men had ready explanations. But the campaign crossfire drew attention to Nelson's sometimes overlooked life before politics.
In about a dozen jobs in the insurance industry, Ben Nelson, 65, took calculated risks, mediated conflicts and dug into details. That provided the springboard for his political career and, he says, taught him lessons that guide him as a senator.
"I have the experience of having been a CEO," Nelson said. "I know what it is to manage an operation, to require a bottom line and to get results. . . . I've found a way to make things happen."
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