Breaking Gridlock

We are in a mess. We cannot self-congratulate our way out of this. We must face, and fix it. The only place this can be done in a democracy is at the ballot box. Partisanship has no place now. It is time to send our strongest voice to Washington as Nebraska’s voice - not one aligned with obstructionist politicians.

Bickering and negativity comes from left and right. Leadership is not present. Confidence is lost. No one takes the role of thoughtful statesman. No one stands out as the strong advocate for focused and reasonable solutions.

“Statesperson” is not a role for an ideologue. It takes someone strong enough to gather all the facts, ignore political pressures, focus on our needs as people, be battle tested and strategic, recognize opportunities, and capitalize on them.

I have these skills. Ask someone who has seen me work. Thousands of you have. If you haven’t, watch me now. Look me up and see my work months and years before this political moment. I think you will see skills a United States Senator must possess.

We cannot be stuck in a debate of 40 year old issues, or questions that are ever present in human history. We must demand that our problems be defined as physical and structural: a strong defense, the rule of law, responsible courts, a functioning national legislature, responsible federal agencies, a President with integrity.

Taking back our right to govern ourselves requires compromise, common ground, workable but less than perfect solutions, fixing and improving as we go onward. In a democracy we get some, not all, of what we each want.

You can’t call yourself a ‘different’ kind of candidate if you are playing the D.C. politic game which boils down to this – raise as much money as you can from anywhere you can, take huge sums of money from outside Nebraska special interest groups with strings attached and then give it to your Hollywood TV people for your ads and hire as many D.C. insiders as you can to tell you what to do. This has been the strategy of our current federal delegation – same old same old. We must join together and support those courageous enough to forge a different path. You can’t play the D.C. Politics game before the election and expect anyone to believe you can actually produce meaningful change after the election.

Here is a depiction of what portends to be the result of Nebraskas most recent contribution to the U.S. Senate:

We cannot obstruct or filibuster our way out of our troubles. Let’s be united in a new coalition of Nebraskans. Not blindly liberal. Not blindly conservative. Not reaching across the aisle, but tearing the aisle out. This is one Nation with one Senate, — not two, with members glaring across a divide. Our Nebraska contribution: one strong voice, focused and reasonable; protecting you, not the privileged few. Let’s get this done!

We need elected officials who will do his or her own thinking, and answers to you.