Could we go purple?

[NEDem]

I posted this in GDP, but I figured it would be OK if I tossed in our forum too.


From the Lincoln paper tonight

http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/doc47d0862f59abb0...

Democrat Barack Obama could win two of Nebraska’s five presidential electoral votes in a contest with Republican nominee John McCain, according to the results of a SurveyUSA poll.

The poll of 623 registered voters in Nebraska showed McCain barely defeating Obama statewide while narrowly losing the two congressional districts that include Lincoln and Omaha.

<More at Link above>


From the Omaha paper on Tuesday


http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2835&u_sid=102740 ...

Published Tuesday | March 4, 2008
Obama could make contest in Nebraska
BY ROBYNN TYSVER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER


Ed Haefele is a Republican but not a rock-ribbed soldier of the GOP.

Click to Enlarge

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois speaks at a town hall meeting with veterans in San Antonio on Monday.
In 1964 he crossed party lines to vote for Lyndon B. Johnson. It was the last time that Haefele and Nebraska backed a Democratic presidential contender.

Today, Haefele is considering another trek across the partisan divide to support Barack Obama. He says he admires Obama's eloquence and intellect, despite some of the Democrat's "hare-brained" ideas, such as gun control.

"I think if I was in a closed voting booth and if I had a choice between (John) McCain or Obama, I would go with Obama," said Haefele, a retired political science professor from Pennsylvania who has lived in Alliance, Neb., since 1988.

"The man is a phenomenon," Haefele said.

Haefele is the type of Republican that Obama says he could attract in the fall, but is Obama enough of a wunderkind to pull an LBJ in Nebraska? Could he woo enough independents and Republicans like Haefele to pick off electoral votes in a red state like Nebraska?

It's not impossible, said several political observers and even some Republicans.

<more at link above>

[TheFarseer]

1. I'm dreaming of not only an Obama win

in the Omaha district, but also a Jim Esch win over Lee Terry. Is Kleeb over Johanns too much to ask for?