The Latest
Kleeb: Undecided voters hold the cards
by George Lauby (North Platte Bulletin) - 11/2/2008
The race for the U.S. Senate has come down to undecided voters, Scott Kleeb said Sunday in North Platte, as he urged supporters to walk neighborhoods and talk to voters.
The Senate candidate stopped in North Platte on a 10-day, 30-city sweep of the state. He spoke to nearly 50 people.
Kleeb, a college teacher, ag-business developer and Democrat hopeful, said he has solid support in Lincoln and Omaha, where thousands of new Democrat voters have registered. He said he is within reach of his opponent, political veteran Mike Johanns. Pollsters show Kleeb gaining with undecided voters.
"And, the good news is that we are down to the undecided," Kleeb said. "The race will be won right here."
"We face almost insurmountable challenges affecting our children and grandchildren," Kleeb said, and he listed the major issues "national debt, a global financial breakdown, a crisis in both health insurance and health care, aging roads, utilities and buildings, terrorist threats, two wars halfway around the world and dwindling energy supplies. "
The Latest
Kleeb says growing dissatisfaction fueling campaign
By ROBERT PORE, The Grand Island Independent
Posted Nov 01, 2008
The story of why Scott Kleeb is running for the U.S. Senate is written all over his Chevy Silverado pickup.
In the past week, more than 400 people across Nebraska (including Grand Islander voters on Saturday) have taken a marker and expressed their frustrations about what's wrong with America all over Kleeb's pickup, along with their support for the Yale graduate and Nebraska ranch hand.
Those voters' frustrations run deep, based on what people are writing on Kleeb's pickup. A sampling of the concerns ranges from jobs to health care, to education, to the way people around the world see the U.S., to crime on the streets. It is a virtual laundry list of concerns Nebraskans have across the state, Kleeb said.
He and his pickup were in Grand Island on Saturday morning as his campaign as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate heads to the finish line in his race against Republican Mike Johanns.
The Latest
Countdown to Change Tour Continues
Profile by CHIE SAITO, 10/11 News
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008
You will not hear Nebraska's Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Scott Kleeb make any promises. That is because he has outlined his commitment to voters instead. However Kleeb has chosen a unique way to display those commitments to voters--on the hood of his 2001 pickup truck.
On his truck, voters will find a list of ten commitments dealing with anything from access to health care for all Nebraskans to transparency and personal accountability.
"This is permanent marker so it's gonna travel with me," Kleeb said.
Kleeb hopes to take the truck with him to Washington D.C. However, the actual road there started at home.
"My wife actually convinced me to run. She said something very simply to me, she said you know you look at our two little girls and what kind of world do we want to pass on to those little girls," said Kleeb.
The Latest
Kleeb vows to decline Senate health care
By ANNA JO BRATTON / The Associated Press
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 - 05:39:27 pm CDT
OMAHA — Democrat Scott Kleeb made 10 promises to Nebraskans Thursday, including that if elected he won’t accept Senate health care until all Nebraskans have access to health care.
Flanked by the Democratic mayors of the state’s two largest cities, Kleeb announced his “commitments’’ to Nebraska with just 12 days until the Nov. 4 election.
He vowed not to accept a pay raise unless the budget is balanced. He said he’ll publish his entire schedule on the Internet and won’t conduct any secret meetings.
Kleeb also said he would have annual independent audits of his Senate office, like businesses do. He said he won’t vote for any new spending unless there is a specific way to pay for it.
“We have a real opportunity with this election. It’s about a new direction for our country,’’ Kleeb said. “It’s about re-establishing some sort of trust with the electorate again.’’
The Latest
Kleeb challenges Johanns in Grand Island
Kleeb pokes at Johanns in final debate
BY DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star
Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 - 11:14:11 pm CDT
Kleeb seized upon this week’s report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform detailing political trips by Bush administration Cabinet officers to help Republican candidates in the 2006 election.
As U.S. secretary of agriculture, Johanns attended 38 events recommended by the White House Office of Political Affairs headed by Karl Rove, according to the committee report.
Most of the travel costs for Rove-generated events were paid with federal funds, the report stated.
Answering a question posed by a panelist during the debate monitored on radio station KRGI’s Web site, Johanns said he believes it would be “a great idea” to ban the use of taxpayer funds by the White House for such activities.
Any trips that were political in nature were not paid for with Department of Agriculture tax funds, Johanns said.
“You had the opportunity to say this is wrong,” said Kleeb, the Democratic nominee.
“Why are we using taxpayer dollars for political purposes?”
The Latest
Ongoing questions about Secretary Johanns' use of taxpayer funds
The recent release of the House Oversight Committee report investigating political travel by White House cabinet secretaries and senior officials has raised sustained questions inside and outside of Nebraska about Mike Johanns' use of taxpayer dollars for political travel in 2006.
The Washington Times reported on the scandal here:
"The Bush administration's political affairs office orchestrated an aggressive strategy to use taxpayer-funded trips to help elect Republican candidates, says a draft House report that recommends eliminating the office in future administrations or revamping laws to prevent such activity.
The office coordinated travel to 326 Republican campaign events in the 10-month run-up to the 2006 elections - more than one per day. It included trips to 35 states by officials from 12 Cabinet agencies and three independent offices, despite Hatch Act prohibitions on political activity by members of the executive branch other than the president and vice president, the report said."
The Latest
Kleeb: I Haven't Been Part Of "Broken Washington"
By Tia Heidebrecht
Kleeb: I Haven't Been Part Of "Broken Washington"
The economy, healthcare and energy; three topics that U.S. Senate Candidate, Scott Kleeb, talked to Siouxland students about.
The Young Democrats at Wayne State College brought Kleeb to Wayne.
Kleeb took questions from the 80 students faculty and community members in attendance.
He says he's the best candidate for the job because he hasn't been part of the "broken system" in Washington.
"I know what it's like to balance a family budget," Kleeb said. "I know what it's like to live through decreased wages and higher costs on healthcare and energy on a whole host of things.
"We need more people to understand what life is like for middle class families all across our state," Kleeb said. "We also need people who understand what the choices for the future are."
Kleeb is running against, former two time Republican Governor and former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns.
The Latest
Kleeb: Johanns hurt Nebraska by closing hospitals
By ANNA JO BRATTON / The Associated Press
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008 - 09:13:15 pm CDT
OMAHA Democratic Senate hopeful Scott Kleeb says Republican Mike Johanns failed Nebraska by closing state psychiatric hospitals when he was governor.
At a health forum in Omaha Tuesday, Kleeb said Johann's plan eliminated funding for those needing mental health care and didn't make sure the displaced patients had someplace to go.
Blog
Senators Ben Nelson and Claire McCaskill support Scott Kleeb
Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) hosted a fundraiser yesterday in Lincoln for Scott Kleeb. The event was held at the Burkholder Project Art Gallery in Lincoln's historic Haymarket District.
More photos below...
Blog
Lincoln Volunteer Blog: Emily Giller
I volunteered at the Scott Kleeb campaign office today and it was so much fun! From the moment I walked into the building I could feel the enthusiasm for the campaign. Everyone was busy working on different jobs to help promote Scott Kleeb. When you walked into the office, you could hear the sounds of all the volunteers making phone calls and talking non-stop about Kleeb. I myself worked on various different projects trying to do what I could to help. I made phone calls to undecided voters and encouraged people to vote for Kleeb. Every worker and volunteer in this campaign is an important asset. This truly is a strong working team that I can proudly say I was apart of.
~Emily Giller
