Another Nebraska political blog ( Esch does WHAT? endorsed ...Tony Raimondo)

[Omaha Steve]

http://leavenworthstreet.blogspot.com/

Leavenworth Street - the talk of Nebraska politics

http://leavenworthstreet.blogspot.com/2008/05/esch-does-what.html#links

Thursday, May 08, 2008
Esch does WHAT?

On Thursday, Jim Esch, candidate for the Democratic 2nd District Congressional nomination, went out of his way to endorse ...Tony Raimondo over Scott Kleeb for the Democratic Senate nomination!

Yes, you heard that right.

"Esch says he's convinced Raimondo is the most qualified candidate."

For the life of us, we can't figure out any politically sane reason for Esch's boneheaded actions.

Esch most likely has the Dem nomination locked up. For his own sake, why would he do anything to risk that? What could possibly be in it for him? A promise from Raimondo for $2,300? Were there Raimondo supporters out there who WEREN'T going to vote for him? If Raimondo by chance wins on Tuesday, does he think he's part of the bandwagon?

And please, don't tell us that he felt he "should" endorse Raimondo because he really feels that Tony is the best. We're sure there are lots of things in Jimmy's head, but that doesn't mean he should blurt them out. For instance, Jim also shouldn't say, "And by the way Tony, I think your wife is really hot."

So let's look at what Esch could/should have done:

1) Kept his freaking mouth shut. How does this hurt him in the least bit? Everyone will figure he's just for which ever Dem wins. Or maybe they figure he's really a Kleeb-guy -- fellow 2006 loser, and all that. That only helps him.

2) Endorsed Kleeb. Hey, guess what? If you were a betting person in this race, your money is probably safest on Kleeb right now. Sure Raimondo might make it close, could even win. But even if he DOES win, would endorsing Kleeb really hurt him? Heck, he could probalby even get some of Kleeb's sweet-ActBlue money out of the deal.

Now, all those potential donations may dry up when they find out Esch is a Raimondo (hint-Republican) guy. He has now pissed off loads of Kleeb volunteers who probably would have carried Esch's yard-signs and stickers around for the summer and fall. He hasn't really gained any "Independants" if that was his hope, because none of them will care/remember/pay attention come November.

This is a lose-lose for Esch.

He could have tried to run on the Obama-Kleeb-Esch ticket in November. Now he's betting on Raimondo (as if that does anything for him) or some independant streak that people won't remember anyway.

Wow.

Now, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop with Richard Carter's endorsement of Kleeb.
And would Kleeb endorse Carter? (We're guessing Mrs. Kleeb is smart enough to steer him away from that...)

posted by Street Sweeper @ 4:35 PM
16 Comments:

[joeglow3]

1. I think it was a smart move for Esch...

Him, you and I know the progressives in the state will vote for him no matter what. Unfortunately, that is not enough for him to win. He HAS to pander to the moderate rights in this state if he wants to win. Frankly, this is the intelligent politics that has been lacking in the Democratic party in Nebraska for years.

We will never be California, so we should not be trying to nominate candidates as progressive. To do so is to ensure a Republican victory. We need to try and elect the most progressive candidate that we can, which is currently a moderate-Democratic. While this will not ensure a true progressive voting the right way on every issue, it WILL get us a better candidate than we would otherwise get and would help Democrats keep control in Congress.

We all need to know our role and fight the battle that we can win, allowing the country to win the war.

[residentfan]

2. In many ways

I agree with you, but I will say once again: Esch was a Republican who knew he couldn't beat Johanns in the Republican primary, so he carpetbagged to the Democratic Party to try to win there. It didn't work. The real question now is whether or not he'll endorse Kleeb, and remain in the party. I don't think he will, but we shall see, won't we?