Omaha World Herald endorses Scott Kleeb

[TheFarseer]

Here is the letter I got from Barry Rubin about this:


On Sunday, the Omaha World-Herald made an unprecedented move. The paper endorsed our candidate for Congress in the third district, Scott Kleeb. Scott is the first Democrat to ever be endorsed by the World-Herald in the third district.

In their endorsement, the paper looks to Scott as the next Congressman representing greater Nebraska:

One candidate, Scott Kleeb, stands out as the better choice. The reason: his fundamental strength - a strength of intellect, a strength of eloquence, a strength of stability.

When pressed aggressively, Kleeb's opponent, State Sen. Adrian Smith, falls back on sound bites and slogans. When pressed under the same conditions, Kleeb draws on different resources - mental focus, breadth of analytical ability and an unshakeable internal steadiness.Such strength could serve Kleeb well in Congress. Such strength provides him the potential to be a lawmaker respected for making a constructive difference.

As many 3rd District voters know, Kleeb has an unusual background as a cowboy/scholar - a real-life ranch hand who also earned stellar academic credentials, above all for his study of how the American West and cattle country in particular are connected to the world economy.

And, they don’t have many nice things to say about Scott’s opponent, Adrian Smith:

Smith has served eight years in the Nebraska Legislature. He has a record in regard to his performance, and he should be judged on it. It is directly relevant to how he likely would perform in Washington.

In the Legislature, Smith is not known as a skilled lawmaker. He is not known for an ability to build constructive coalitions for complicated legislation. He is not known as a skilled public speaker. He has no reputation for making substantive issues the subjects for his priority bills. He is not a lawmaker whom backers seek out to be the prime sponsor of major legislation.

He is not known as a leader.