Raimondo Triggers "Millionaire's Amendment"

Millionaire's Amendment (0.00 / 0)

I know that Kleeb probably wont be able to raise anything substantial before the primary as a result of Raimondo's triggering of the Amendment anyway, but does Kleeb even qualify for increased contribution limits? Raimondo broke the self-funding threshold for Nebraska ($406,280), but when Kleeb's fundraising is factored in it doesn't look like the differential (roughly $360,000 to roughly $650,000) is large enough to actually increase the contribution limits. I could definitely be wrong, if anyone knows better please correct me.

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by: arfWA @ Sun May 04, 2008 at 13:59:32 PM CDT

I honestly don't see (0.00 / 0)

much of a distinction between the two candidates insofar as policy is concerned; both have put forth a predominately centrist agenda. As far as Raimondo's conversion goes, I have no problem whatsoever with Republicans wanting to join the Democratic party. In fact, I think we ought to encourage that sort of thing. Based on my conversations with him, my own take on Raimondo is that he's never been one for partisan politics and is really only interested in solutions to national problems. That said, Kleeb seems to better understand the threat posed by climate change, and Kleeb's performance in '06 makes me think he'd be better able to beat Johanns. However, I think both candidates are far better than the GOP's professional quitter, and I don't think continuing to accuse Raimondo of being some sort of Manchurian Democrat is productive.

In addition, I don't see how Raimondo's self-funding is a negative; on the contrary, candidates that fund their own campaigns demonstrate at least two positive attributes:
1) Sincerity as to their intentions, since they're willing to put up their own cash.
2) That they won't be beholden to special interests or PAC money.

Now I'm all for public financing of campaigns, but until we can get to that point, I see contributions from lobbyists and PACS as far more corrosive than self-funding.

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by: Tyler Brown @ Sun May 04, 2008 at 17:03:16 PM CDT

Even if the millionaire's amendment kicks in (0.00 / 0)

Even if the millionaire's amendment kicks in, what kind of Democratic primary donor has an extra $4600 or $6900 that they can pony up for Kleeb in the next week and two days?

I don't think either candidate has any particular strong "grassroots" support. Party activists seem to support Kleeb over Raimondo. I attended the Democratic senate debate in Lincoln and I only saw one person wearing a Raimondo sticker besides his staff. But that person was a county party leader who also was wearing a Kleeb sticker.

But support for Kleeb doesn't seem to have taken hold among ordinary Democratic voters. For example I haven't seen any Kleeb yardsigns in the near south area in Lincoln.  

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by: Jon Rehm @ Sun May 04, 2008 at 17:53:58 PM CDT

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Well... (0.00 / 0)

There's a simple and easy explanation for that one, Jon.

I don't believe they have yard signs yet. Neither campaign does. So it's pretty hard to measure it by yard signs.  

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by: Dave Sund @ Sun May 04, 2008 at 18:53:04 PM CDT

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Yep, (0.00 / 0)

I'm pretty sure nobody has bought a yard sign.

phat

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by: phat @ Sun May 04, 2008 at 20:32:52 PM CDT

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Neither campaign (0.00 / 0)

can really be called a grassroots effort. The effort to recruit Kleeb certainly was (props to Mike Nellis there), but the actual campaign itself is not. The majority of Kleeb's fundraising is from out of state (56% to be precise, according to the current FEC numbers), and I believe that much, if not most of his staff is from out of state as well (don't hold me to that though). Likewise, Raimondo's largely self-financed campaign could not be called a grassroots effort in any reasonable sense.

Now, I expect all of the above to change once we have a nominee, and I don't wish to imply that either candidate is some sort of carpetbagger. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm fairly surprised how un-polarized this particular primary race is. It's probably due to the fact that there's still an ongoing presidential primary, combined with the unity that comes from the desire to defeat a Bush super-crony, but aside from Democratic activists, it seems that there's a remarkable lack of enthusiasm for both candidates. The most consistent thing I've heard about the senate primary from your average voter is something along the lines of "I don't really care if it's Kleeb or Raimondo, I just want a Democrat." Even the last-ditch "electability" argument becomes tough - Raimondo used to be a Republican and has worked very well with governors of both parties, but Kleeb nearly won one of the reddest CDs in the country in '06 (and probably would have, had it not been for Bush's campaign stops and the GOP's unethical and illegal tactics).

As to the yard sign metric, it's surprising that neither campaign has a field organization in the 2nd CD at least, considering that Omaha is supposed to be the battleground in this race. Far be it for me to play backseat campaign manager, but if I were running Kleeb's campaign, I would have definitely put together a solid ground game to counter Raimondo's advantage with funding, and thus on the air. I'm not sure of the precise difference in ad buys, but I'd guestimate that I see 4 Raimondo ads for every Kleeb ad. Even if it's only 2 to 1, I think that definitely gives Raimondo the upper hand next Tuesday, considering the general dynamic of indifference amongst regular voters.

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by: Tyler Brown @ Mon May 05, 2008 at 01:26:37 AM CDT

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Not sure what you mean... (0.00 / 0)

By "field organization," but Kleeb definitely has an office in Omaha, and they're definitely doing work to GOTV. But I'm not sure what they can put in place a week before the primary.

My read of things is that Kleeb's got offices in all three CDs, laying the groundwork for the general election, while Raimondo is running ads. Remember, they didn't start off on equal ground - Kleeb is very well known in the 3rd District, and has been working hard to get his name out in the 2nd and 1st Districts.

Television ads aren't everything.  

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by: Dave Sund @ Mon May 05, 2008 at 01:46:04 AM CDT

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new (0.00 / 0)

I don't know what the big hub is about with the 55 or 56% fundraising.  I'm a resident who has donated to Kleeb because I believe in him.  Scott Kleeb is the reason I left the Republican party after 30 plus years.  Sometimes I get the impression that NNN doesn't like Kleeb.  He has an organized staff, he's carrying his message to Omaha and Lincoln.  He's also opened offices there.  Kleeb was responsible for firing up the Third District two years ago, and brought the Democratic party and Independants to the polls, plus a lot of us Republicans crossed the party line.  I don't understand the lack of support.

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by: Voice of Reason @ Tue May 06, 2008 at 17:18:30 PM CDT

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