Hildebrand Says Nebraska Is On Target List

Jun 25, 02:49 PM CST

Nebraska is on the list of states the Obama campaign will be targeting this cycle.

Ben Smith of Politico.com interviewed Obama’s Deputy Campaign Manager Director Steve Hildebrand, and Steve made the campaign’s intentions pretty clear:

Hildebrand also said Obama would campaign in part of Nebraska, which distributes its electoral votes to the winner of each individual congressional district.

“We’re going to go in and play Nebraska 2, which is Omaha and surrounding [areas], in the hopes that we can pick up that one electoral vote,” he said.

Nebraska hasn’t delivered any of its electoral votes to a Democratic Presidential nominee since 1964. It will take a lot of work, but this year we will be able to break that streak.


Senator Obama in Omaha in 2006

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  1. Gee, let’s see, we are targeting the areas were we can pick up the most electoral votes. Who cares about the rest of the state. It’s part of Obama’s pick and choose campaign. I’ll pick the people I want in a photo opt so I don’t look like I cater to Muslims. I’ll pick the people in the suburbs and not the rural people. I thought Obama wanted to represent everyone and not just a select few. Have a fun time in Omaha catering to the latte liberals and college crowd.
    — Rick    Jun 25, 04:03 PM CST #
  2. I disagree with your logic Rick and I want to make it clear that I don’t live in Omaha. I’m a Lincolnite but from Phelps County.

    I think Nebraska is in play throught the whole entire state to be frank with you. But it’s not just Obama searching for Democratic votes in Nebraska, it’s also Scott Kleeb, Jay Stoddard, Max Yashirin and Jim Esch. The Democratic ticket for Nebraska has a good to strong chance that we will get some candidates through. And honestly, I’d like to see them all get through. But we have a lot of work to do in order to see that to happen.

    However, Obama has the best chance to nab at least one-possibly two-electoral votes in Nebraska because of various elements in play. One being an energized base along with a nationally depressed Republican electorate (hopefully the local level will reflect that as well) Another reason is sheer numbers too. Omaha has the most Democratic voters and news flash, they all aren’t coffee sipping liberal elitists. I would dare to guess that the majority of registered Democrats in Omaha are moderate to slightly conservative in voter tendencies. But I know for a fact that a lot of Democrats in Omaha are liberal because I most likely know them as a friend or ally. Omaha has the most diverse electorate and Obama totally can pick up that one electoral vote because voters can see something in him that they see in themselves.

    Now for Lincoln, I think Obama has a strong chance too but the problem with Lincoln is Jeff Fortenberry. Fortenberry is very popular and I don’t see many Fortenberry supporters splitting the ticket with him and Obama. Lee Terry thinks that can happen to him over in Omaha but Lee Terry hasn’t a clue what real leadership means because of his lack of it for the past ten years.

    As for my home district where I grew up, let’s give those darn Republicans hell!!! Stoddard all the way, baby! WOO HOO!

    But my point is, stop being so negative Rick. You have nothing to be negative about unless you are a Republican.
    — Luke Peterson    Jun 25, 05:07 PM CST #
  3. Luke,
    I’m not being negative. I’m just honest. Unless there is something to be gained from campaigning in the western part of the state, I don’t see Obama coming this way. I know that Omaha has the most democrats in the state. That’s why Obama is targeting it. Obama has to earn my vote. Just because I’m a democrat doesn’t mean I have to vote for Obama. So far he hasn’t done anything to gain my trust or vote. I will be voting for other democrats state wide and locally. I can trust the state wide candidates. They don’t flip flop when it’s convenient or lie when need be. Obama is nothing but a big old fraud. Enjoy the smoke and mirrors, Luke.
    — Rick    Jun 25, 05:23 PM CST #
  4. Did I miss something?

    I read this over on the New Nebraska Network –
    “Mike Fahey and Chris Beutler were selected as PLEO delegates for Obama, and our own Lisa Hannah was selected as the PLEO delegate for Clinton.”

    I get that Mike Fahey and Chris Beutler the mayors of Nebraska’s largest citys were elected as Party Leader or Elected Official delegates. What office has Lisa Hannah held?
    — ed charrington    Jun 25, 11:41 PM CST #
  5. I forgot. Who is Lisa Hannah?
    — ed charrington    Jun 25, 11:44 PM CST #
  6. Ed,

    PLEO stands for Party Leader or Elected Official. Lisa Hannah is the newly elected Third District Chair of the NDP, and was endorsed by the Clinton campaign for the delegate seat.
    — Trevor Fitzgerald    Jun 26, 07:49 AM CST #
  7. Rick,

    I forgot to mention this last time but I caucused for Hillary and I still support her 100% for what ever path she will take on next. But the time has long passed that we keep going over this argument. If we don’t unite with Obama at the top of our ticket, McCain will most likely win by a wider margin than what I am comfortable with and we will then have another 4, possibly 8, more years of Bush. And that is something I think we can both agree on that shouldn’t happen. Just look what the past 8 years have brought.

    Obama isn’t perfect, neither am I or you. And I’m hesitant that I should say he’s the lesser of two evils because he isn’t. That debate makes it seem that our faith in Democracy has failed into a pathetic excuse of pessimism. I have the same hope that Obama has for a better future, which is why I can support him and how Hillary can support him now because we all have the same goals. However you’ll never agree with any politician 100% because of basic human nature, unless of coarse you decide to run for office. That’s the only way you’ll be 100% for a candidate if the candidate is yourself.

    With that being said, we still need Democrats out in rural parts of Nebraska to show up at the polls and to vote for the ticket because not only would we stick it to Republicans nationally, we’ll stick it to Republicans locally.
    — Luke Peterson    Jun 26, 09:23 AM CST #
  8. So you only have to be a PLEO for what, fifteen minutes, before you get to horn out other PLEOs that have served the party for years? Cool!
    — ed charrington    Jun 26, 11:08 AM CST #
  9. Lisa was an obvious choice for the Clinton PLEO because that particular slot had to be filled by a woman to meet gender balance (2 of the 3 PLEOs were required to be women), and quite frankly, there weren’t any PLEOs that backed Clinton that I’m aware of.
    — Trevor Fitzgerald    Jun 26, 11:44 AM CST #
  10. Between Mike Fahey and Chris Beutler, which one is the woman?
    — ed charrington    Jun 26, 04:23 PM CST #
  11. Ed,

    Obviously, that was a typo. My apologies to Mayor Fahey and Mayor Beutler for that mistake.
    — Trevor Fitzgerald    Jun 26, 06:03 PM CST #
  12. Ed,
    The choice was made by the Clinton campaign. I had no say on that issue. I wasn’t even aware of an official endorsement until I got to the convention. I was honored by the endorsement. The reason they gave me for the endorsement was the work I did for them and for Chelsea when she came to Nebraska.

    I don’t feel I did anything to “horn” anyone out. I did no lobbying either. I filled out the proper forms to be considered as a delegate, just like 400 other people did, but put my energy into running for the 3rd CD Chair.

    The PLEO’s were submitted by the campaigns and then officially approved by the the state convention delegates by voice vote. Honestly, when it happened, I looked at a friend of mine and had to ask “what just happened”. I was touched and I was thrilled. I hope you understand that.
    — Lisa Hannah    Jun 26, 09:56 PM CST #
  13. I just thought it a little odd. I don’t think such a thing could have happened in my old neighborhood, Orange County, CA.
    — ed charrington    Jun 29, 11:33 PM CST #

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