Barry Quotable
Jul 08, 04:37 PM CST
From the Omaha City Weekly.
Throughout history politicians have not always been consistent with their policies, or their rhetoric, or their morals. You get the point. But one thing about politicians is they have always been consistently quotable. The infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy once said it’s always dangerous for a politician “to say things people might remember.”
Executive Director for the Nebraska Democratic Party Barry Rubin knows this to be true, and his own dexterity at turning a phrase has gotten him in a bit of trouble lately, most recently for controversial comments made about Douglas County Election Commissioner Carlos Castillo, Jr. (more on that in a bit).
But according to Rubin, he was brought here to rejuvenate a fledgling Nebraska Democratic Party that has fallen in prominence since its ‘90s heyday under Jim Exxon and Bob Kerrey. And rehabilitation doesn’t include being nice.
Well, not all the time. Rubin said one of the reasons he moved here from D.C.’s Beltway was because of the Heartland’s signature friendliness. East Coast colleagues were surprised he would throw himself into the reddest part of the Republican fire, but Nebraska bled blue once, and Rubin feels like it could again, especially with the large numbers of voters registering as Independent. “I think we’ve (Democrats) just been dysfunctional for a long time,” he said.
Now 33, Rubin said he’s a converted Republican and didn’t take an active interest politics until graduating from the University of Delaware. Disheartened by the new breed of Newt Gingrich, backlash-style Republicans, he worked on the election campaign of Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening, the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate to win office in 1994.
After serving the Maryland governor’s office for several years, Rubin moved to Nebraska in 2003 and currently lives in Omaha with his wife, Erica, and two sons, Ethan and Jack. He sat down with the City Weekly recently to talk about the Democrats’ strategy of reemergence.
Check out the full article here.
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This continuing “controversy” is just another excellent example, in a litany of such examples, of how the press is too lazy to look for any real stories and instead continue to rehash yesterday’s hash. Once again, the entire substance of what Barry wrote about in his “blog” comment is not addressed. (Basing a story on something in a blog, is like quoting Rush Limbaugh as a news source. Do some reporting, reporters!)
Isn’t it interesting that Castillo resigned his position as an election commissioner, to head up Dave Heineman’s reelection campaign? I guess his job in Omaha (some would argue it was making sure Thompson’s voters, couldn’t vote?) was done. Time to move up.
Heineman was advertising the position of election commissioner in Douglas County and I love the qualifications “To be eligible for consideration, applicants must have been a legal voter and resident of Douglas County for at least one year. Commissioners cannot seek public office, be employed by any candidate for public office or any elected official, or hold a political party office.” Note, those restrictions are prior to getting the position. Afterwards, the chances for a reward are certainly negotiable.
Our legislature needs to put some sort of separation between being an election commissioner and working for a candidate/political party before, after, and during the commissioner’s term. This revolving door mimics that of defense contractors and the pentagon. The door needs to be replaced with a wall!
— jimdake Jul 08, 10:06 PM CST #
Ask whether Fortenberry believes Cheney when he says “Iraq insurgency is in its last throes”
or whether Rumsfeld told the truth when he said Iraq war would last another “12 years” ? And who can forget Bush’s Mission Accomplished P R stunt 2 years ago?
Fortenberry went to Iraq for 18 hours and said things are going great, is Fortenberry just a rubber stamp for Delay or just out of touch?
Does Fortenberry agree with Sen. Hagel when he said in the NY times last sunday that Democrats were “more honest” or when hagel said “We are losing the war in Iraq”
Or does Fortenberry believe that Bush is incomeptent or just out of touch when it comes to keeping America safe, Bin Laden has been alive longer than Hitler after 12/7/41
Is anyone, anywhere, going to call Bush on his failure to catch the mass murderer Bin Laden?
Run Jim Run. Fortenberry will hide, he will take Delay’s money, but he will not debate a man like you.
— vince powers Jul 08, 10:28 PM CST #
— vince powers Jul 08, 10:33 PM CST #
— barry Jul 08, 10:56 PM CST #
Barry’s doing a fine job for us and I shudder to think what the fate of the NDP would have been if he had not made the trip out West. To tell you the truth Vince, lacking any Kerreyesque candidates, I don’t think we were getting the job done on our own. For the first time in a long while, I feel optomistic about our future.
I paticularly like the idea of offering a genuine culture of life with policies like “funding for adoption procedures and foster care and prenatal care.”
Overall, it was a nice Q & A, with a fun caricature, but would someone please tell the Omaha City Weekly that it’s Exon, not Exxon?
— JackalInTheBox Jul 09, 08:36 AM CST #
Have Taken a Liken to Barry Rubin
10. Kin to another radical named Rubin
9. Has been to Naper, Nebraska (twice)
8. Makes Stephanie Johanns nervous
7. Speaks Spanish, understands some German
6. Finished runner-up in the Maryland State Hand Cornhusking Championships in the under age 30 category
5. Owns a dog named Loralee and a cat named Byrd
4. Named Honorary Grant County Democrat of the Week
3. Member of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce
2. Long-time, cultish-like Donna Reed fan
1. Once billed Vince for a political phone consultation
— KPW Jul 09, 08:59 AM CST #
— JackalInTheBox Jul 09, 08:59 AM CST #
— bill Jul 12, 05:26 PM CST #