Scott Kleeb is a 32-year-old history teacher and rancher running an upstart campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Chuck Hagel (R-NE). He will face a primary with businessman Tony Raimondo, who initially joined the race as a Republican but is now running as a Democrat.
Um, a 68 year old wealthy businessman DINO or a young cowboy running a grassroots campaign? Read this guy's bio—he rocks! The choice is pretty clear to me.
Kleeb announced his run and asked for submissions for his logo last month (dammit! I saw that, and forgot all about it!). Well, the response was apparently overwhelming, and they've narrowed it down to the Final Four and are asking for a vote.
They are all pretty good. Vote for a logo here, and throw him a few bucks if your credit card is still out from your Obama donation...
UPDATE: More on Kleeb's primary opponent...Raimondo was on Bush's short list for "manufacturing czar", he is supported by noted turncoat Sen. Ben Nelson, and he relocated one of his Nebraska factories to China. Fuck that guy.
Read this and draw your own parallels...
For months it appeared no Democrat would run against Republican heavyweight Mike Johanns, but suddenly there's two. Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo's been running for two weeks, and now Scott Kleeb's in.
Action 3 News asked Kleeb why he thinks he can beat Mike Johanns, the leading Republican candidate. "People are frustrated with the status quo," Kleeb says. "He's not been able to get a farm bill through. That is critical to Nebraska. He's not been able to address food safety issues."
"Mike has been in government for 25 years," Raimondo points out. "I've been making change. I've been creating jobs."
The 32-year-old Kleeb, who touts his cowboy roots, has become a "young gun Democrat dream." He came out of nowhere two years ago, ran hard for Congress, but came up short in heavily Republican Nebraska.
On the other hand, until he switched parties in December, the 68-year-old Raimondo was a lifelong Republican. Even Johanns couldn't believe the switch. "He's a Republican," Johanns says. "He's supported Republicans."
Raimondo admits he wanted to run Republican, but didn't, claiming Johanns had the party's inside track. "He didn't think he could beat Mike Johanns in a Republican primary," Kleeb says. "He needs to say why he thinks he can beat Mike Johanns as a Democrat."
"Scott comes out of education. I come out of business. What has business had to do with the last two decades," Raimondo asks. "Change. Change. Change."
Democrats insist this Raimondo Kleeb battle will make the winner stronger and better prepared to take on Johanns in the fall. Meanwhile, Johanns can save his money and hope for a bloody Democrat fight.
Apparently Raimondo hasn't updated his campaign website since he began his run as a Republican. The word Democrat appears nowhere on the site. Yeah, I want to pick up seats this fall, but not with guys like this.
UPDATE 2: Kleeb has me fired up to challenge Stabenow...too bad I'm a combination of total introvert and loose cannon...
