VansOpinion - MR. MEHLMAN, YOUR MESSAGE IS MALARKEY!

According to Ken Mehlman, Campaign Manager for President George W. Bush in an e-mail to Republicans, "We have built a national organization of unprecedented depth with county chairmen, precinct leaders and volunteers all over the country. We have trained and mobilized supporters who are ready to turn out the vote. We have created the most innovative web effort in political history. We have begun a debate on the issues while our opponent has focused on empty rhetoric and anger to carry his party. We've done all of these things while maintaining the highest legal and ethical standards." This guy must be smokin' dope and inhaling!

The only thing more screwed up in our country than the Grand Old Party, is the Democratic Party! The latter has been infiltrated by "fruits and nuts" and every "Wacco" element in our society at the highest levels. On the other hand, the Republican Party in its attempt to appeal to some of the undecided Democrats has tried to move to far to the center of the road from the extreme far right and in so doing, is eroding its power base faster on the losing end than winning on the other.

I want to be a proud Republican, but its difficult to remain devoted to a party that, at least on the local front, has been taken over by a Country-Club Clique and their Conniving Cronies. It doesn't seem to be all that important for a candidate to have the AMERICAN SPIRIT, but rather to be one that will suck up to the rich and powerful and those who are enmeshed in their own "social climbing" egomaniacal agendas.

The term ‘Wholesale Campaigning" has now become a way of live for congressional offices and above. The old fashioned "Retail Campaigning" required a candidate to be able to independently think and speak on issues; to personally meet, greet, and impress people, and show some sense of duty to representing those whose votes he or she hoped to get.

In today's world of congressional and presidential campaigning, candidates can be dumber than rope, more crooked than a snake and morally bankrupt as Teddy Kennedy and, with tens of millions of dollars (in our state far less), be pictured on the "boob-tube" as one deserving a nomination for sainthood.

How can that be? Far too many people have given up, caved in and grown too lazy and lethargic to do something about it. When less than a quarter of the registered voters show up in a primary election and probably not a heck of a lot more will likely to show up to vote in the general election, therein lies the fault in our system.

When Mehlman has the unmitigated gall to state, "We have begun a debate on the issues...", he sure wasn't anywhere close to Nebraska during the primary campaign season. Few "issues" were even uttered by the candidates and even fewer managed to find their way into print. The winners did exactly what was needed to prevail. They kept their mouths essentially shut on issues and relied upon glitzy television advertisements to move the minds of many, for instance, to believe that being photographed with a cow or on a tractor made one a forceful advocate for agriculture. By shaking hand with an ex-governor conveyed an image of one being able to hob-nob with a successful office holder. By kissing grandma on the forehead, the candidate showed he would be a forceful representative of the elderly. Finally, being shown with very cute kids, an image of family and care for the younger generation was made. Campaign loyals and couch potato voters bought the baloney and thus totally unqualified contestants prevailed. That is, after all hell broke loose when two high-pressure, big spending special interests groups arrived on the scene and began a television blitz to whack each of two of the Republican candidates.

One thing which didn't work was being endorsed by an outgoing congressman who was one of the least know by his constituents in the United States of America according to a poll taken on that subject. Doug Bereuter knew full well he could not have won re-election against any one of several formidable opponents and opted to bow out and take a position as a representative of a foreign government at an undoubtedly much higher salary. I guess we can't really blame old Dougie for looking out for "Number 1", since that seems to be vogue in Washington politics in today's world. We wish him well as a resident of California. He long ago forgot where Nebraska is except for a few time a year when he made obligatory visits or to campaign. I think he would have made a good president of the University of Nebraska, but the pay wasn't likely to be close to what the Chinese offered, so - California her he comes, rather than "right back where he started from."

When Mehlman says, "But there is still much to do...", "We're building the most effective campaign team in the history of politics. From our national campaign staff to every volunteer in every precinct, we are a team in the true sense of the word. Every person involved in this campaign is helping to make history", who doe he think he's kidding. If he was a tid-bit honest, he would have said, we are building the most expensive campaign plan in the history of politics. A volunteer in every precinct is stretching it a bit. If the so-called "volunteers" are not given complementary passes to campaign events where the "high-rollers" pay the three and four digit admission prices (not legally donations) they are a rare commodity.

Mr. Bush will prevail in November against his liberal tax and spend Democratic opponent, but save for Dr. Tom in the third district congressional seat, the first and second district seats are up for grabs.

Modern politics does help keep Nebraska green. The green money that will be funneled into Nebraska for two congressional races later this year will probably do more for the economy of our state than the departing congressman from the first district did in his quarter of a century of "service." So there is some good in having "duh" candidates in the race isn't there. This will bring in tons of Washington money! It's far cheaper to buy a congressman in Nebraska than it is one from an east or west coast state.

More slash and gouge campaigning in the fall will show the folks just what setting on their butts in early May and not voting for quality candidates gets them. Two years from now, maybe, just maybe, a lot of folks will "wise up."


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