Fourth time the charm in Nebraska Senate race?
(CNN) - Another Republican has announced his intent to run against Nebraska Democratic Senator Ben Nelson in 2012– and he is hoping the fourth time is the charm.
Don Stenberg, the current Nebraska State Treasurer, announced Tuesday that he intends to run for the Senate seat currently occupied by Nelson. The Nebraska Attorney General, Republican Jon Bruning, announced his bid for the seat last month. Businessman Pat Flynn is also running for the GOP nomination.
Stenberg is no stranger to how the Senate race works– he ran in 1996, 2000 and 2006. He was the Republican nominee for Senate in 2000, losing narrowly to Nelson 51 percent to 49 percent.
In a statement regarding his decision, Stenberg touted his conservative credentials and criticized Nelson's ties to earmarks, the stimulus program and President Obama.
"Under President Obama, assisted by Senator Ben Nelson, our nation is going in the wrong direction," Stenberg said. "It is the direction of vast budget deficits and heavy-handed federal government regulation."
Stenberg also attacked Nelson for what critics have called the "Cornhusker Kickback" - a deal that Nelson made during the health care reform debate. Nelson agreed to support the health care bill in return for compromise language on federal funding for abortion. As a part of the deal, the federal government would also pay 100 percent of Nebraska's tab indefinitely for expanding Medicaid for low-income Americans.
"His wheeling and dealing to support the federal takeover of health care in exchange for the Cornhusker Kickback embarrassed our state and imposed a massive new federal mandate on all Americans," Stenberg said in the statement.
get rid of this forth time and fifty time.....shame....Congress if you have brain, pass Senate and Congress term limits.....o.k...didn't you realize these old idiots messed...????? Folks, listen, do not vote these old junk....get fresh candidate...o.k...
Actually, it was the right wingnuts in Nebraska that embarrassed the state. As for kickbacks, the repubes should explain the big oil kickbacks, the big insurance kickbacks, the Koch bros. kickbacks, the Wall Street kickbacks, the too big to fail bank kickbacks, the republican culture of corruption kickbacks, the defense contractor kickbacks and the foreign corporation kickbacks. Embarrassment, thy name is GOP.
Under repubes, our nation is headed back to the 1920s. How did that first republican depression work out?
And Don thinks he has concocted a cauldron of magic potion for leading the country in the right direction, we suppose. There is no dearth of doofuses in this country.
Doesn't matter who gets the Republican nomination – Nelson is TOAST. He should just "retire" and save himself the embarrassment.
I guess old Don doesn't get it. The good people of Nebraska DON'T WANT YOU but run anyway and make a bigger fool of yourself.
be careful the GOP, has the charm of a serpent, look no further than governor Walker
You know, because there is SUCH A DIFFERENCE between Ben Nelson and the Republicans! Regardless of the real chances for victory, I am hoping Democrats will actually run a Democrat in the next election. For those of you who sit and wonder what sort of hicks live out here on the prairie, PLEASE do not judge all of us by the actions of the majority of Nebraskans. Keep in mind, President Obama won the second Congressional district and therefore garnered the electoral vote for that district. A very small victory, but a victory indeed for the "thinking" minority in our state.