Free Republic

As his Senate career nears its end, Republican Chuck Hagel isn't holding back when it comes to criticizing members of his own party — including conservative talk radio hosts. "We are educated by the great entertainers like Rush Limbaugh," Hagel said Tuesday during a speech in Washington, according to the Huffington Post. "You know, I wish Rush Limbaugh and others like that would run for office," a sarcastic Hagel continued. "They have so much to contribute and so much leadership and they have an answer for everything. And they would be elected overwhelmingly. [The truth is] they try to rip...

President-elect Obama has again made history by splitting traditionally Republican Nebraska's electoral votes, winning one of them in a state that has never split. After all remaining ballots were counted Friday, Obama emerged with a 3,325-vote lead over Republican John McCain in unofficial results in the 2nd Congressional District. The district covers Douglas County, which includes Omaha. Nebraska has five electoral votes. It is the only state besides Maine that split electoral votes. Results in Missouri, with 11 electoral votes, are still not complete so the winner in that state has not been announced. Officials have until Tuesday to complete...

OMAHA, Neb. – President-elect Barack Obama has won one of Nebraska's electoral votes, making history in a state that has never split its electoral votes. After all remaining ballots were counted Friday, Obama emerged with a 3,325-vote lead over Republican John McCain in unofficial results in the 2nd Congressional District. The district covers Douglas County, which includes Omaha, and portions of adjacent Sarpy County. Nebraska, with five votes, and Maine are the only states that divide their electoral votes by congressional district. Obama now has 365 electoral votes to McCain's 162. Missouri, with 11 electoral votes, is still too close...

Published Friday November 7, 2008 Breaking News: Obama wins electoral vote in Nebraska BY ROBYNN TYSVER WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Barack Obama made history today in Nebraska. Click to Enlarge Barack Obama The Democratic presidential candidate claimed an electoral vote in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District — the first time in more than four decades a Democrat won any of Nebraska’s electoral votes. The Omaha World-Herald is calling the race after Obama won 8,434 out of 15,039 early votes that arrived too late to be included in Tuesday’s results. They were counted today by Douglas County election officials. Those ballots give...

Well, it seems even a reliably red state has some blue in it. The Omaha district, NE-2 has voted for Obama. Guess NE becoming RINO too?

Talk about burying the political hatchet, even Senator Ben Nelson is ready to recommend Chuck Hagel for a promotion. Hagel's name is making the rounds for a slot in the Obama White House, and Nelson tells me Hagel has excellent foreign policy credentials. The cabinet slot most associated with Hagel is Secretary of Defense

Everybody knows Barack Obama will be the next president, but it might be a week before they find out whether he won one of five electoral votes from Nebraska. Republican John McCain had a 569-vote lead over Obama in the state's 2nd Congressional District early Wednesday. The number of votes it takes to force a recount is based on a formula that takes 1 percent of the top vote-getter. If the tally stands, a recount would occur if the final margin is less than about 1,260 votes, because McCain had 126,303 votes.

OMAHA (KPTM) - The voting booth is supposed to be a sacred spot. The right to vote is considered the cornerstone of American democracy. But there always seems to be someone trying to take advantage of the system. The long line outside the Douglas County Election Office isn't moving fast. But Eileen Tighe is on an early voting mission. "If I had to sit on the concrete I would do that." She re-registered to vote at the County Treasurers office two weeks ago when she moved. "The box was open, it didn't have a slot in it and I didn't...

Joking that she had never seen so many McCain-Palin yard signs in one city, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton nonetheless gave an enthusiastic address at the Qwest Center on Tuesday in support of Sen. Barack Obama.

As much of the media obsessed this weekend about Barack Obama's large numbers -- crowds and dollars -- William Ayers, the controversial '60s radical who helped launch the Democrat's political career in his Chicago South Side living room, popped back up in the news in the Midwest. It seems the cofounder of the violent Weather UndWeather Underground founder, University of Illinois education professor and friend of Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama, William Ayers in a Chicago alley posing for a magazine article photo shoot a few years agoerground that bombed public buildings during the Vietnam War was invited as a...

LINCOLN, Neb. - Safety concerns have forced University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials to cancel plans for William Ayers to speak on campus. Ayers, who founded a group in the late 1960s that claimed responsibility for bombing several government buildings, was to speak Nov. 15. But officials said Friday the university's threat assessment group received e-mails and phone calls over the last day or two that identified safety issues. When asked about details of the concerns, including if they contained threats against Ayers, University spokeswoman Meg Lauerman declined to comment further. "We don't discuss the specifics of any threat assessment on campus,"...

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln rescinded its speaking invitation tonight for 1960s radical-turned-educator William Ayers. University officials cited "safety reasons" for canceling Ayers' Nov. 15 appearance. Spokeswoman Kelly Bartling declined to elaborate on what safety concerns would keep Ayers from addressing a College of Education and Human Sciences event. Earlier today, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman strongly condemned the invitation and called on the NU Board of Regents and President J.B. Milliken to block it.

Video here.

OMAHA, Oct. 5 -- With a month to go before Election Day, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, touched down here Sunday for an unexpected rally in a state that President Bush won by 22 percentage points in 2004. This Story Candidates Prepare for Tuesday's Town Hall Debate Monday, Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. ET: Post Politics Hour Monday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. ET: Election 2008: Conservative Concerns About Palin Registration Gains Favor Democrats Nebraska Becomes Unlikely Battleground GOP Seeks Probe of Donations to Obama Death in Biden Family Obama and Biden on the Trail McCain...

Sarah Palin lit up an overflow crowd at the Civic Auditorium’s Music Hall with a 24-minute mixture of attacks on Democrat Barack Obama and a pledge that she and John McCain can deliver lower taxes and energy independence. The Alaska governor and No. 1 hockey mom also adopted the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s hockey team. "I love that cheer — Go Mavericks," said Palin, who insists she and McCain are the real Mavericks ready to bring change to the nation. In her remarks, Palin warned that Obama and the Democrats have "a left wing agenda prettied up to look...

The more criticism heaped on Sarah Palin, the more her Nebraska fans said Sunday they would rally around the Republican vice presidential candidate with the folksy demeanor. Palin, several Republicans said, has been unfairly maligned by Democratic critics and "gotcha" journalists who don't like the Alaska governor because she's a political outsider with down-home roots. "She's one of us. She has a family and she has a job," said Carolyn Gigstad, a Republican from Syracuse, Neb., who was a working mother until a couple of years ago. "I think she has a lot more on the ball than a lot...

Sarah Palin is coming to Omaha on Sunday 10/5 .. 6pm, downtown at the Civic!!!

I noted with interest stories today discussing McCain and Obama opening up campaign offices in some far-flung places: McCain in Bangor, Maine and Obama in Omaha, Nebraska. Maine and Nebraska do not have reputations as swing states, so what the heck are these guys up to? Part of it is to head off the possibility of something like this occuring:

Campaign officials have confirmed that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will hold a rally in Omaha tomorrow. The Alaska governor will headline a 6 p.m. event at Omaha's Civic Auditorium tomorrow. Tickets aren't required.

The anger felt by many Nebraska Republicans toward Sen. Chuck Hagel rose to new heights Thursday after Hagel questioned whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president. State Republicans are "worn out" with Hagel and his propensity for controversial comments aimed at fellow Republicans, said Mark Quandahl, chairman of the Nebraska GOP. Quandahl went out of his way to distance the state party from Hagel's remarks about Palin, the party's vice presidential nominee. Quandahl said few Nebraskans would agree with Hagel, the Nebraska party's senior elected official. "The views expressed are his own and would not reflect the...