Statement from Tony Raimondo
Feb 03, 08:49 AM CST
Today I am announcing that I am filing the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission so that I may begin my campaign for the United States Senate. A formal announcement will be made in the coming weeks.
My reasons for running are straightforward:
First, Washington doesn’t work anymore. Partisan gridlock has over taken common sense and our country suffers as a result. It’s time to return to the concept of the citizen legislator, unencumbered by partisanship or the undue influence of special interests.
Second, America’s middle class is being squeezed. People are working harder than ever before, yet their paychecks are eaten up by higher health care costs, higher energy costs, higher taxes and higher food prices.
Third, America’s economic policies are a mess. Our national debt is a disgrace. The budget process in Washington is broken. Fiscal discipline has been thrown out the window along with our domestic priorities like supporting agriculture, energy independence, and responding to natural disasters at home.
Fourth, our national security demands a fresh approach. We face new challenges every day. These new challenges demand new leadership with new ideas.
The pundits say this is an uphill battle; that the special interests in Washington have lined up behind my Republican opponent. That is true.
But I have faced tough battles in my life. When I led the team that took over a bankrupt Behlen Mfg. Co., people told us we were doomed to fail. Twenty-five years later we employ more than 1,000 people; each with families and a future that our company helped build.
I want to take that same “can-do” spirit to Washington to fight on behalf of the people and the state I love so much. I want to work to change the broken system in Washington, end the partisan bickering and get the work of the people done.
This is going to be a different type of campaign.
I am not slick. I’m not a career politician. I won’t pretend to have all the answers. And I will undoubtedly disappoint some people along the way.
I pledge to be a public servant—not a professional politician. I will bring my real world business experience to Washington and fight against the career politicians who unwittingly stifle innovation, economic opportunity and development.
My purpose is to serve our nation, not to blindly seek higher and higher political office. I will put Nebraska first, not my career.
If America is going to build a brighter future, we cannot continue down the same worn and tired path. More of the same is not the answer.
I look forward to this campaign, trusting in the judgment of my fellow Nebraskans and confident that this journey I am about to take will lead to a brighter future for Nebraska and the nation.
On the web: www.raimondo2008.com
– by Eric Fought | Send this to a friend
If Mr. Raimondo wants to run as an Independent, I have no problem with that at all. But having given up his run for the Senate seat as a Republican only because Mike Johanns entered the fray and sucked all the air (and money) out of the room, places him in the category of those that our C&B prohibits us from placing on OUR ballot (Bylaws 6.1 and 6.2).
Mr. Raimondo is an opportunist that believes his personal friendship with Sen. Ben Nelson entitles him to dip into our party’s resources. So long as we abide by the rules that govern us, that will never happen. If we sell out to him then we deserve the ridicule we will most certainly receive.
Any officer in our party that supports Mr. Raimondo’s candidacy will be committing an offense against our party and Nebraska’s Democrats. Don’t take my word for it, read our Bylaws. They were written and approved by the State Convention. Even the SCC, and most certainly the State Chair, do not have the authority to override them.
Brian T. Osborn
Chair Phelps County – SCC Delegate LD38
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 03, 02:52 PM CST #
— Thomas Young Feb 03, 11:54 PM CST #
Take you copy of the bylaws and burn them. They are distracting everybody way too much.
We have party leadership who can decide what our bylaws say. (In case you have not noticed we have an abundance of lawyers who can decide this stuff.)
We need to stop building monuments to trivia.
Brian our leadership can decide what resources may or may not be allocated. This can be discussed at SCC meetings.
The last time I looked there are no litmus tests on joining the Democratic Party. What gives anyone some absurd right to suggest they are the guardians at the gate to determine who is “Democratic” enough to join our party.
Senator Webb of Virginia was a Republican and now is a Democrat. Because the Democats in Virginia did not waste time worry about whether he was born a Democratic the Virginia seat is now occupied by a Democrat.
We have a primary and general election coming up. You can cast your ballot for whoever you want. There are a lot of Republicans who are not satisfied with there party and see the Democratic Party as the Party of vision. Other Republicans will cross over and at least vote for a Democrat. We should welcome everyone.
We need to rid ourselves of the politics of exclusion and start building.
In case you have not noticed we have not been doing real well at statewide elections. There are no extra votes handed out for memorizing the bylaws.
— Tom Havelka Feb 04, 08:45 AM CST #
Burn my copy of the bylaws? Are you freakin’ serious? Would you burn the Constitution of the United States as readily? Are the rules that are supposed to guide us merely a “distraction” or “trivia” for you? What you propose is anarchy.
I, for one, believe this party belongs to the people, not just a few from the ruling class. The NDP Constitution & Bylaws was written, argued over, and approved by the delegates to our State Convention, our party’s supreme governing body. That body was comprised of a cross section of Nebraska’s Democrats, not just a pack of lawyers. You would subvert their will to those few who you consider our party’s leaders?
I believe the Constitution and Bylaws of our party are essential to what we are, and what we stand for, because it was created by our rank and file Democrats. I understand the English language. I don’t need a pack of lawyers in Lincoln and Omaha to “translate” or “interpret” what it means.
There is no litmus test for membership in the Democratic Party, but there are rules written in there that govern who is allowed, and who is not, to appear on our primary ballot. Anyone who has demonstrated the intent to run for office for any other than the Democratic Party is addressed in Sec. 6 of our Bylaws. I would suggest that before you denigrate me for my defense of our C&B, you actually spend some time reading it.
I have noticed, have I ever noticed, that we have not been doing real well at statewide elections. I believe a big part of that problem is exactly because our party has been run by “party leadership who can decide what our bylaws say”, and not by party leadership that obeys our own rules.
You ask what “absurd” right allows someone to suggest they are “guardians of the gate,” and my reply is simply this. As delegates to the State Central Committee it is you and I that have that duty. It is our fiduciary responsibility. If you choose to abdicate your responsibility, Tom, that is your choice. I will not cease to uphold the NDP C&B because I believe that doing so is what I owe to Nebraska’s Democrats for entrusting me with that position.
Brian T. Osborn
SCC delegate – LD38
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 04, 01:20 PM CST #
— Dave Sund Feb 04, 03:17 PM CST #
I will never stop defending the NDP Constitution and Bylaws. I will never stop standing up for what is right.
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 04, 04:18 PM CST #
“the name of no such person should be placed upon the primary ballot of the Democratic Party as a candidate for nomination, election or preferential vote in any state or county primary election if such person has announced his/her intention of being a candidate for public office on the ticket of any other than the Democratic Party.”
Only months ago Tony Raimondo “announced his intention” of being a candidate for the U.S. Senate on the ticket of the Republican Party for the 2008 election.
Several have argued with me about the meaning of the word “intention.” I guess we’re back to arguing what “is” is. Would I be in trouble if I “announced my intention” to poke someone in the nose, or only if I actually did clobber someone?
I think I’d be in trouble.
Now tell me where I am wrong.
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 04, 05:18 PM CST #
— Nousha Feb 05, 09:35 AM CST #
I think what you do for the party is noble. I like it when a person stands up for the little guy, I seriously do. You keep the party’s feet to the fire and I hope that someone will always continue that role in the future. But as your consituent (I am still registered in Phelps County) I would like for you to tone down the rhetoric just a little because it’s not helping anyone, including you. I say this because we go through this debate time and time again on how our party doesn’t adhere to its bylaws and rules, yet little substantial discussion comes about from this dialogue. I agree that rules are made to be followed however as a free thinking society that we are in, rules can also be made to change. Would this make anything better if we changed the rules? I don’t know. I’m really not the one who decides that.
Last year, I was a registered Republican. Kind of shocking that an openly gay man would be affiliated with a Party that does not and will not recognize the plight of so many leaders in my community call “Gay America.” I was even a registered Republican when I worked for the Maxine Moul campaign. But I changed my affiliation when I had my internship from the State Party and I’m so glad I did. However, from what you describe in your postings is that I am not “democratic” enough for the party. I thought that this party is a party that welcomes and embraces all types of people regardless of the conceptual stereotype of what a progressive liberal is. I would like to think that is the way we treat our fellow Nebraska Democrats but I see little respect that comes from you towards other true blue Nebraskans.
The last thing I want to say is that come this Saturday, Phelps County will be losing another Democratic Voter because I intend to registered at the caucus location where I currently reside. I choose to do this because then I will have a county chair that would actually listen to the people he/she would represent instead of going off on personal vendettas and that wouldn’t have a scorched earth policy when ever he/she doesn’t get his/her way. Will I be missed as your consituent? I think we both know that answer. However, it’s always a sad reality when a leader lost one of his followers because the leader lost his way.
— Luke Peterson Feb 05, 10:45 AM CST #
Let me ask you this. Were you running for political office, as a Republican, during this campaign cycle? That is the standard that I am applying to Mr. Raimondo. If you didn’t, then you have misinterpreted my position and your reaction is based on a false assumption.
You are not the first to tell me that my “crusade” to defend the NDP Constitution and Bylaws is some kind of personal vendetta. For a vendetta to exist, an offense against the person must first have taken place. No one has committed an offense against me personally. The offenses I see have been committed against Nebraska’s Democrats.
I am willing to accept all types of people within our party. But those who present themselves for office as a Democrat must fit the rules that our C&B states. That is not something I made up, Luke, those are the rules that our State Convention agreed to.
I do not want the Nebraska Democratic Party to behave according to the way that I want it to. I want the NDP to behave the way its duly elected delegates to the State Convention have mandated. Is that asking too much?
Do you actually believe that I should just close my eyes, close my ears, and ignore the blatant infractions that I am aware of? Or do think I should be performing my fiduciary duties as an SCC delegate?
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 05, 12:38 PM CST #
As someone who likes to quote the bylaws, perhaps you should be aware of Section 5.1.2.12, which authorizes the State Central Committee to remove any County Chair or Central Committee Member who publicly opposes the election of a Party nominee.
Bylaws aside, a primary role of County Chair is to represent Democrats in their county on the State Central Committee. Once does not have to look hard at your very public attempts to smear NDP leadership to question whether your actions are in the best interests of Democrats in Phelps County, or elsewhere for that matter. Questioning whether Mr. Raimondo, or any Democratic candidate, is a good nominee is always valid. Publicly airing intra-party squabbles in the process, however, goes against the basic goal we all have – to elect Democrats.
— Trevor Fitzgerald Feb 05, 02:43 PM CST #
In the brief time that I have been politically active in the Democratic Party, I’ve meet State Senators, Mayors, City Council Members, County Commissioners, and our US Senator, all of whom represent us in Nebraska but not a single one of them can I fully 100% agree with them on any certain issue. I think that’s great but from what I read on your postings here and on other blogs is that you believe that all Democrats in Nebraska should strictly adhere to our Constitution and Bylaws. If that is such the case then I might as well re-register as a Republican again because that is how that party works. Generally speaking, if you want a candidate who agrees with you 100%, then run for office yourself because I don’t believe such a candidate out there will ever agree with any certain issue a person has.
As for your question of asking too much. No, I really don’t think that is asking a whole lot. But maybe your expectations are a little more than what should be granted. I know I don’t expect much out of people because I don’t like to be disappointed. But I do tend to have a skeptical view on people.
Typically, I keep mum on this issue but I can’t stay quiet anymore on this because I’ve had enough. And many people who get burned out on politics go through this questioning time of “is this really worth it?” Is it really worth to keep this bickering on and on? Is it really worth to continue this pissing contest over and over again so then we know who is the best Nebraska Democrat? I’m not asking you to turn a blind eye or to silence your opinions. To do so would be the most undemocratic favor to ask. But maybe it’s time to move forward on things that are more pressing. Personally, I’m more concerned with things other than politics right now because there are times when it’s just best to focus on things that give you better joy in the world.
— Luke Peterson Feb 05, 03:52 PM CST #
First of all, Raimondo is not our “nominee” just yet, although some would like to say it is so. He has to get through the primary first, and there is that little problem of Bylaw Section 6
Secondly, I don’t believe my party needs a bunch of sheep that are only capable of playing follow the leader. You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. I have smeared no one, I have stated the truth. If that looks like a smear to you, then maybe you should do some follow up of your own on the things I have presented. I think you’d change your mind if you gave an honest opinion.
I believe in openness, not secrecy, in our party. If we are the party of the people, the people have a right to know what is going on. I prefer that my party conduct its business in the light of day rather than in the smoke filled rooms by a select few.
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 05, 04:04 PM CST #
Wow.
— Scott Smith Feb 05, 06:26 PM CST #
I believe you are confusing the NDP Platform for the NDP Constitution and Bylaws. One is a statement of our collective beliefs, for which no candidate is obligated to adhere to; the other is a statement of the rules that we are duty bound to follow.
There is a big difference. One is a list of suggestions, the other has legal authority.
— Brian T. Osborn Feb 05, 08:36 PM CST #
This IS Selling out our ideals, I see NOTHING and have heard nothing that makes me like nor want to vote for Mr. Raimondo.
— Paul McFarland Feb 05, 10:45 PM CST #
Mr Raimondo is a person, first. If he stands by the idea that you must seek the most relief possible for the MOST PEOPLE, then he is a democrat, whether he uses that label or not!
— Karen Davis Feb 06, 03:33 AM CST #