Fortunately for us Nebraskan Democrats, our party has suceeded in finding fantastic candidates to share the ballot with Senator Nelson this November.  For instance, our gubernatorial candidate David Hahn (www.hahnfornebraska.org) has come out early and vocally against a South Dakota style abortion ban, in favor of expanding broadband access for our rural communities, against a ballot initiative seeking to arbitrarily cap the state budget, and against the legislature's plan to divide Omaha Public Schools along racial lines.  While Hahn, a lawyer and internet entreupreneur for Lincoln who has never before sought public office, has little chance of upsetting a Republican governor with a 70% approval rating whose fresh off of a startling primary victory over Cornhusker legend Tom Osbourne, he is intent on using his candidacy to offer Nebraskans what they have lacked for so many years: a choice.  An outline of how a Democratic administration would differ from the status quo.  In this way, his likely defeat in November may well serve an even greater role in building our anemic party and advancing our brand than would Ben Nelson's likely victory on a platform composed largely of Republican talking points.

Likewise, the candidacy of Scott Kleeb, running fro Congress in NE-03 (the nation's sixth most Republican district), isn't about victory in November: it's about the future of our party in the third district, in Nebraska, and indeed in red state America as a whole.  It's not about tommorrow, not about '06: it's about '08 and beyond.  It's about thinking two steps ahead.  And it's about time that the netroots -we, the great promoters of Dean's "Fifty State Strategy"- stand up and take notice.

Kleeb is right for Nebraska

"I am the Fifty State Strategy" is how Scott Kleeb introduced himself to the Democratic National Commitee Meeting in Phoenix last year.  Kleeb is a fourth generation Nebraskan who was born on a military base in Turkey, attended high school in Italy and returned to the states for his college education.  He worked as a ranch hand while earning his bachelor's in Colorado, and then spent six years earning a Master's and then Doctorate from Yale (his Master's is in International Relations, his dissertion was on the history of cattle ranching in the Western world).  Rather than taking his doctorate and finding a comfortable job in academia or some other white-collar job, Scott returned to his roots in Western Nebraska to work as a ranch hand.  His boots are broken in: he has a good understanding both of this land and its people and of the world outside America's borders. Last October he hosted representatives from Panama, the Phillipines, China and the Bahamas (as part of Yale's World Fellows program) for a summit that included a discussion of world trade and the ranch's fall branding.

Kleeb is a rare political talent who is extremely gifted at retail politics - the kind of politics that still dominates this large rural district.  Former Governor/Senator Bob Kerrey has noted Kleeb's rare gift for politics, recalling that "At an event here in New York City, I was very pleased to watch the audience as he spoke.  When he finished, people seemed to understand and like the people Scott wants to represent. I have listened to thousands of political speeches and know how rare his performance was."  Having had the pleasure to see Kleeb on the campaign myself, I couldn't agree more.

Kleeb is right for today

Kleeb is doing something no third District Democrat has done for decades: running a serious campaign with an eye on winning.  Though the new fundraising numbers aren't in yet, the big news was that Kleeb entered the general election on near financial parity with the Republican nominee -state Senate Adrian Smith, an unheard of feat for a Democrat running in such a red district.  In fact, Kleeb substaintially outraised all of the other serious contenders for this extremely red seat, and his fundraising has reportedly only started to gear up.  As the general election gets underway, Kleeb continues to recieve favorable press and has even apparently nudged this race into the national party's radar.  To quote Tuesday's addition of the Hill:

<quote>"His campaign has all the makings of what could be success," DCCC chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said, adding that if Kleeb continues to raise money and show progress in internal polls the committee might send money his way.</quote>

But this is a district that money might not be able to buy: television commercials would have a difficult time saturating the market, as many communities rely on satellite television, and the radio market (which reaches the agricultural vote working the fields) is cheap enough to allow any candidate to get their word out.  No, Kleeb is relying on his hard work and the substantial amount of (as far as I have seen, universally positive) free press.  Last Friday he joined Kerrey is a three city tour that directly reached around 400 attendees (nothing to shake a stick at in these sparesly populated rural communities) and earned him the front page of three of the district's most widely circulated newspapers.  He's appeared at fundraisers alongside the likes of Ben Nelson, Barack Obama and Nebraskan legend/former JFK speechwriter Ted Sorenson.  He's crisscrossed the countryside, shaken thousands of hands and worked dozens of events.

His performance at the first general election debate yesterday electrified 200 Nebraskan teenagers, as he hit Smith hard for his unscientific denial of global warming, his reliance on the forces of "the free marketplace" to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and his reception of $390,000 from a little group called the Club for Growth, which opposes tax incentives for Ethanol and all forms of agricultural subsidies.  Kleeb introduced a comprehensive plan for reducing America's reliance on foreign oil and promoted his vision of rural Nebraska as a technological center, leading the way in ethanol and biofuel research in an effort to combat the "brain drain" of talented young people leaving the Heartland in search of more exciting oppurtunities.

"We don't have the luxury of waiting for market forces alone to solve this critical problem," Scott said in a statement after the debate. "We have an opportunity now not only to pave the way to energy independence, but to boost markets for Nebraska farmers, expand Nebraska's biofuel industry, and create a new generation of high-paying jobs, so our young people don't have to leave the third district in search of opportunity."

Kleeb is right for tommorrow

Kleeb, like Hahn, is focusing on this plan for promoting Nebraska as a center for energy research as a model for how his vision of the Heartland differs from Smith's conservative status quo.  Kleeb is offering voters a real choice on these issues which are an essential part of their everyday lives, and is illustrating the real contrast between the Democratic vision of a government that works for all people and the Republican vision of a marketplace that serves only the rich.  In Kerrey's words: "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."

Will Kleeb break my heart, as Nelson has done so many times in his Congressional career?  I don't know for sure.  Certaintly I disagree with him on some issues: he is, after all, pro-life and supports the Iraq War.  But this war must be won one battle at a time, and Kleeb is carving a path to victory by taking that first essential step: articulating our core, Democratic principles in a model for the future which is consistent with the goals and the values of the rural voters he wishes to represent.  He has the potential here to upset the Republicans which have now long held the rural vote by appealing to mostly abstact social issues by showing this Adrian Smith for who he and his kind really are: idealogue extremists promoting an economic policy that has Nebraska's population and economic growth in sharp decline.

Can Kleeb win?  Perhaps not this battle, but maybe that's not the point.  Maybe his defeat, like Hahn's, will do more good for the party than harm simply by presenting a contrast of ideas that will remind rural voters why they're fathers and grandfathers were such solid Democrats.  Perhaps Kleeb himself will use his enormous talents to win office in some other form, just as Bill Clinton used his 1974 loss in an extremely Republican district to springboard his impressive career.  If Kleeb comes close in this most Republican of districts, he might be a shoo-in for the Senate seat possibly being vacated by the presidential aspirant Chuck Hagel in 2008.  Any Democratic who can cut down the Republican margin out there in the pandhandle need only to win comfortably in the more Democratic-friendly Omaha, Lincoln and the Indian counties to carry the state.  

But we'll never know if Kleeb doesn't have the resources he needs to compete with Smith's out-of-state dollars.  Please consider making a small donation at http://www.scottkleeb.com/21/donate.asp? display=5  Consider an investment in a better Nebraska, a better party and a better nation.  An investment in the politics of tommorrow.