In case you were wondering about Bob Kerrey...

Quote
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) "stepped to the brink of a possible 2008 Senate bid," the Lincoln Journal-Star reports.
"Kerrey placed a conference call to New School University trustees in New York City to inform them he may be returning to Nebraska. Kerrey said he has become convinced Sen. Chuck Hagel will not be a candidate for a third term next year."

Said Kerry: "I am more and more certain Chuck is not going to seek re-election, and my intention is to make my decision before he makes an announcement."
End Quote

That's from late August.  He knew Hagel was retiring long before us.  Two things we can actually watch for to know whether Kerrey is running.  If he resigns his current position or moves back to Nebraska. 

Quote came from here: http://politicalwire.... html

Personally, I think Kerrey could dig in with the Nebraska Democratic party and not take away from the national scene too much to make this an effective race.

It's worth noting that Hagel had a party unity score of 72.3% and is a staunch conservative.  Bob Kerrey will be much better all around (It won't be hard for Kerrey to break a party unity score of 27.7% to be better than Hagel).  If we elect a Democratic president, the war in Iraq should only ammount to another 2-5 votes out of God knows how many would happen over a 6 year period. 

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 18:00:22 PM UTC

Bob Kerrey

It is very hard for me to get excited at the prospect of a second run in the Senate for Bob Kerrey.  He was a triangulating politician who worked as much or more with the GOP as Democrats on issues of import to me and the prospect of his return to the Senate leaves me somewhat cold.

I understand the "we can't expect better than Kerrey" argument as it relates to Nebraska, but wasting resources on someone who likely will back Bush on Iraq and who is wobbly on social issues, no thank you.

Doubt he would challenge Bob Kerrey in a primary, but I would strongly prefer Scott Kleeb as he might grow once elected.  We know what we will get with Bob Kerrey, and that is not much.

"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." -- Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove

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by: walja @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 18:41:34 PM UTC

Bush won't be there on Iraq...

And he won't "back Bush." I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding of Kerrey's position on Iraq, he's a lot closer to Joe Biden than Joe Lieberman, though his comments about the initial invasion obscure that a bit.

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by: DaveSund @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 18:51:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Do you know what you're talking about?

The idea here is that Bob Kerrey is a strong candidate and would hopefully rally Nebraska Democrats to help carry his candidacy themselves.  Not that they shouldn't expect national assistance if it is needed, but again, Bob Kerrey probably has some strong ties and connections throughout the Nebraska Democratic party, and outside the Democratic party, having won 3 statewide races. 

Looking up Bob Kerrey I've read things such as:
"Look, [Kerrey] cast the deciding vote in the Senate in 1993 for the largest tax increase in history. I have always been for an across-the-board tax cut, as well as slashing the capital gains and estate taxes.

"He consistently opposes a ban on partial-birth abortions and human cloning, and for U.S. dollars for agencies overseas to perform abortions. I'll match my pro-life credentials with anyone.

"He's rated 100% by the pro-homosexual Human Rights Campaign Fund. I'm totally opposed to creation of hate crimes and special rights for any American."
(From: http://findarticles....)

Here is some work done by "kos" on Dailykos. 
Quote
Below I have Kerrey's 1998 interest group ratings. In parenthesis, I'm including Ben Nelson's 2004 numbers for comparison purposes. (Nelson replaced Kerrey in the Senate.)

Americans for Democratic Action (liberal group)
95 (65)

ACLU
86 (33)

AFSCME (labor union)
100 (86)

League of Conservation Voters
100 (67)

Concord Coalition (fiscal conservatives, pro-balanced budget)
86 (81)

National Taxpayers Union (conservative anti-tax group)
22 (34)

Chamber of Commerce (conservative pro-big business group)
56 (81)

American Conservative Union
0 (52)

Christian Coalition
0 (83)
End Quote

If you go by the numbers, Kerrey was significantly to the left of Ben Nelson.  I don't recall hearing anyone complain about Ben Nelson getting re-elected and it annoys the hell out of me that people are complaining about Kerrey now. 

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 20:27:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I have followed Congressional votes since 1980

and Bob Kerrey never inspired me, I never saw him take courageous Progressive opinions.  I never saw him be a leader on Civil Rights issues.

The excuse was always "what can you expect, he is from Nebraska".

Well I did expect more of him than he ever delivered and all the interest groups ratings in the world won't impact the opinion because time and again he fell short on issues of importance TO ME.  And that is what I said initially, issues of importance TO ME.

Others can feel differently, that is fine, but it does not change the fact I read every single vote cast in Congressional Quarterly since 1980 and he was never in the Vanguard leading the charge on anything of import TO ME.

I truly hope the nominee is someone other than the unimpressive triangulator Bob Kerrey.  Nebraska Democrats can do better than yesterday's news.

"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." -- Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove

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by: walja @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 20:43:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You know

This is exactly what the Club for Growth likes to do, rather than accept someone who is 80% with you who can win, you'd rather have a candidate who is 100% with you who WON'T win. If this were Lieberman in Connecticut, I would be with you, I'd be leading the charge, but here it's just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

It's thinking like this that hurts our cause, and it makes us no better than the Club for Growth and these other right-wing groups who, quite frankly, eat their own. Ben Nelson is way too conservative for my tastes, and I would probably vote third-party if I had to, but I'd rather have Nelson than one of the right-winger Republicans who I have no doubt that the Republicans in Nebraska could come up with. Since Kerrey is more liberal than Nelson, I'm not going to be at all sympathetic to anyone on the left who complains about Kerrey.

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

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by: DGM @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 20:52:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

give me a break

I did not say he was unworthy of support regardless, I said he was unworthy of support if a newer face offers up a candidacy for this Senate seat.  If Kerrey is the Democratic nominee I would vote for him were I were a Nebraska voter. 

All I said is the Democrats should do better, and expect better, than Bob Kerrey delivered during his (first?) stint in Congress.

Bob Kerrey is not a Lieberman. We agree.  No one I can think of since Zell Miller falls into that category that I can think of at the moment.  But being better than Lieberman and Zell Miller is hardly an impressive measuring stick by which to measure acceptability among Senators.  There are Republicans I prefer to Lieberman or Zell Miller afterall.

"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." -- Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove

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by: walja @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 21:08:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

civil rights

those haven't been a major national issue since the 1970s, what do you mean by that.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Sun Sep 09, 2007 at 18:58:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And if you go by the numbers

Joe Lieberman also had a really liberal voting record, too. I don't doubt that Kerrey would be a good vote for us, infinitely better than Hagel or certainly Bruning, of course. But he does like to publicly attack fellow Democrats, in a way that plays to right-wing stereotypes and embraces right-wing frames about our party. And that drives me nuts.

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by: DavidNYC @ Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 22:14:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ben Nelson

How often has Ben Nelson shown up on TV bashing Democrats and spouting Republican talking points? I think that's the explanation for the difference in people's reactions, not anything about voting record. My hope is that Kerrey can restrain himself, but history doesn't bode well.

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by: KCinDC @ Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 15:46:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I feel like a broken record, but...

I've said it before, and encountered a fair bit of flack for it, but I'll say it again:  Scott Kleeb is at least as much of a Lieberdem as Kerrey is.  The only clear difference between the two is that Kerrey has won three statewide races while Scott has never even run statewide. If you like his stances on the issues better than Kerrey's, that's one thing.  But I wouldn't advise supporting him on the grounds that we can't trust Kerrey to be a team player.  I can tell you from personal experience that you can't trust Scott in that respect either.

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by: RamblinDave @ Sun Sep 09, 2007 at 12:17:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My beef with Kerrey

Isn't issues. On the issues I think he's fine. Its just that he's like Lieberman in that he will go on RW radio shows and trash Democrats.

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by: safi @ Sun Sep 09, 2007 at 18:13:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bob Kerrey

There are definately issues in which I disagree with Bob Kerrey, like the war and social security.  But he has always seemed to be able to move off of his positions in the name of advancement.  As much or as little as I may disagree with the man, I have always felt that his opinions were always that which he felt was best for the country as a whole and he was not just taking a specific side because he felt it would be best for his personal career.  And although I may not agree with him all the time, I do feel that this quality in and of itself is something that seems to be missing from Congress way to often.

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by: stebu @ Sun Sep 09, 2007 at 16:43:16 PM UTC