VansOpinion - CONGRATULATIONS JEFF, WINNER OF THE G.O.P. CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY

It's all over but the shouting. The calorically challenged lady has sung! Jeff Fortenberry of Lincoln prevailed over the field of Republican candidates to win the party's nomination for Nebraska's First District Congressional Seat being vacated by Doug Bereuter. Jeff will have my support - if he wants it- in his race to beat Matt Connealy, the Democratic challenger in the General Election.

When Bereuter announced he would not seek re-election to the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives he has held for over a quarter of a century, the flood gate opened and seven Republican hopefuls entered the race - some veteran campaigners and some neophytes. A really neat thing that should be mentioned is that all of the candidates maintained the highest level of civility with one another and actually some of us became a bit more than casual friends.

The late-in-the-game "shoot out" between Greg Ruehle and Curt Bromm definitely turned the tide in favor of Fortenberry who the Press touted as being "number three" in the race..

Four of us not only had to run against each other, but against the Lincoln Journal Star as well. The paper published by Bill Johnston has a well established pattern of skewing all "news articles" in the direction of candidates who he and others perceive as being the ones who will spend the big bucks on political advertising..

The personal bias of Kathleen Rutledge (A DEMOCRAT) and her heavy handed editorial manipulations of copy written by political reporter Don Walton (INDEPENDENT) pretty much squeezed out all but the "top three" candidates. They were perceived to be the only ones who had a chance based upon the amount of campaign bucks they raised. More on this subject later, but for now, congratulations Jeff Fortenberry, you have been chosen by the voters to carry the Republican Banner into the General Election for a seat in congress..

Since Jeff's primary source of support came from his ability to organize and utilize his influence and connections with his Catholic/Republican friends in the district, its going to be interesting to see if he - pretty much a single issue candidate - can win over Matt Connealy, a Catholic/Democrat who was not endorsed by the "Right to Life" organization. Connealy's political experience greatly trumps that of Fortenberry. Connealy is a farmer in a district which has around 45% of the vote coming from rural areas. Fortenberry, who works selling advertising space in one or more periodicals, will have his work cut out for him..

By virtue of the decision of the voters, this card carrying Lutheran will be setting on the sidelines with a Bud Lite and a bowl of popcorn watching with interest as the two "Roman Gladiators" fight it out.


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