Get Out From Behind the Donkey

(to maintain the G rating and appease my politically
correct spell checker)

© 2000 Joe Murray

Any rancher or farmer knows that if you stand behind a donkey you are most likely to either get your brains kicked out or will get buried in donkey dung. For 8 years this country has been standing behind two great big donkey's named Bill Clinton and Al Gore. A better analogy for these two may be following behind an old milk cow that has just been turned out on green pasture for the summer. The country was nearly buried in the stench of the dishonesty, immorality and corruption.

As Nebraskan's we ought to take pride that most of us were never taken in by Bill Clinton and Al Gore. The Republican candidates President Bush and Bob Dole carried the state by wide margins and Tomorrow we will do the same for George W. Bush. Clinton is so disliked in Nebraska that he has never set foot in the state as president.

In this election, it appears that the rest of the nation is poised to see the light. Despite the race being close, virtually all opinion polls show George W. Bush leading the polls. Republicans, independents and even a good number of democrats with a conscience echo the sentiments of that great Nebraska native, Dick Cheney, "it is time for them to go."

Right minded people are chomping at the bit to vote for the refreshing honesty and candor of George Bush and ready to stampede to the polls to say no to Gore. It says a lot about Al Gore when the one day of the year that he lets people see his true nature is on Halloween where him and Tipper have become famous for their costumes and parties. The most memorable image of ALGore I have is him being dressed as Frankenstein. I don't know the original source, but the joke being told around the water coolers, being sent around the globe by fax and e-mail goes like this:

You may remember that on July 8, 1947 witnesses claim a spaceship with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep and cattle ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico. This is an incident of course, that many say has been covered up by the government. However, you may not know that on March 31, 1948 exactly nine months after that day, AlGore was born. Now, that clears up a lot of things.

Comparing AlGore, to Frankenstein or UFO's might seem like a low blow but listen to the man, all he has to offer is fear, lies and a promise to give everything to everybody in the country no matter what the cost. You have to wonder about a guy that will promise the biggest spending increases in history and in the next breath promise to shrink the government to the smallest size in years. Yes, I think he believes we are as stupid as his condescending tone of his voice indicates.

After watching AlGore's grotesque uncivilized performance in the presidential debates, political commentator Bill Kristol raised the question, "can anybody stand the thought of seeing AlGore every night on the nightly news for the next 4 years?" The thought is a as endearing as listening to someone run their fingers across a chalkboard.

Fortunately, this election isn't just about getting rid of Clinton and Gore. George Bush has demonstrated a refreshing civility, honesty, moral fortitude and humility that is needed to restore character and integrity to the White House. Like all of us, Bush did some embarrassing things in his youth, but he grew up and found his soul unlike Bill Clinton and Al Gore, whose irresponsibility and corruption have increased exponentially with age. As none other than long time Bush family nemesis, Ross Perot said, in endorsing George Bush, " here is a man that I have never heard anybody criticize once for improper conduct as governor, for improper taking of political funds, for payoffs, for impropriety in the governor's mansion or at any time."

As important as the presidential race is, there are some extremely important state issues facing Nebraska. It is vital we reaffirm one of our most basic culture values by approving amendment 416.

It is important to defeat amendment 3 which is a cynical sneaky attempt to reduce the power of the people and further insulate and empower the unicameral against the majority of the people. The fact that amendment 3 is on the ballot is reason enough to vote for Amendment 415 to limit the unicameral to two consecutive terms. The fact that we are having to vote again on this issue shows how difficult it would be to get any changes through the amendment process if amendment 3 passes because we already approved term limits by a wide margin a few years ago, only to have it thrown out by the State Supreme Court in a horrible hair splitting decision that made one question whether we are a constitutional government or a tyranny of 7 Judges.

Of all the difficult decisions facing Nebraska in this election, the most important vote is the one we will be casting for the United States Senate. By leaps and bounds, the best choice for Nebraska is to elect Republican Attorney General Don Stenberg. Mr. Stenberg has demonstrated great courage, character and leadership on the toughest issues facing the state and nation as attorney general. Nobody has stood more consistently with the views of the vast majority of Nebraskans while demonstrating the bravery to stand for principle even if it makes some enemies. Mr. Stenberg will continue to continue the good fight in Washington in the long tradition of outstanding Republicans like , Carl Curtis, Roman Hruska, Charley Thone, Virginia Smith and Bill Barrett.

In our current political landscape, Republicans have an 159 thousand voter registration advantage that has given Nebraska an outstanding group of leaders at every statewide office lead by Governor Mike Johanns. Four years ago, we sent Ben Nelson a loud message when we gave Chuck Hagel a landslide 14 point victory. The message said, " We want a man that keeps his word and we want a real Republican not somebody that tries to convince us he really an elephant in donkey's skin.

This year, Congressmen Doug Bereuter, Lee Terry as well as soon to be Congressman Tom Osborne are all heading to landslide victories because they are solid Republicans just like Don Stenberg. Do we want the dream team to or donkey basketball?

If Ben Nelson was really one of us, he would have switched parties and became a Republican just like John Breslow did a few years ago. Breslow won re-election for state auditor, running unopposed in a solid Republican state, but saw the light that the Democratic party lead by Ben Nelson didn't respect his values and switched parties. It may even have hurt his ambitions to be Governor because the competition was much tougher on the Republican side, but Breslow had the courage to join the team that best represents his viewpoint as well as that of most Nebraskan's.

Nelson allowed rumors to float that he might switch parties and run to run for senate this year. Of course, it never came to pass because the reality is that it was a dishonest attempt to pull the wool over enough Republican's eyes to win an election, which is necessary for any Democrat to win in this state.

A few months ago when Ben Nelson was AWOL from the Democratic convention and his name was not even mentioned publicly on the floor by the Nebraska delegation, Ben Nelson's con game to convince voters that he was really an elephant and not a donkey looked to be working so well that he should have considered adopting the soundtrack from The Sting as the theme music of his campaign. If the World Herald Poll of a week ago can believed, he still may pull the caper off because it claimed the sting was working on 28% of Republicans. OF course, just 4 years ago at the same time, this poll showed Nelson with a 5% point lead and Hagel ended up beating him by 14%. As that famous philosopher, Yogi Berra says, "It ain't over until it's over. " Don Stenberg is wearing Ben Nelson down just like the Huskers usually do in the fourth quarter. The only thing that may save Nelson is if the comeback started to late in the game.

Let's not make the same mistake that we made when we thought we were sending and independent voice to Washington 12 years ago with Bob Kerrey. Kerrey was a great war hero and can say all the right things, but as soon as he got to Washington he thumbed his nose at the people of Nebraska by consistently opposing the beliefs and values of the vast majority of Nebraskan's. Kerrey amassed one of the most liberal voting records of any member of the United States Senate including casting the tie breaking vote for Bill Clinton and Al Gore's, record setting tax increase not to mention his cynical stand against the constitution in failing to remove Bill Clinton from office. Even now that he is leaving elected office, Kerrey is showing his pure partisanship for the Democratic party by being one of the leading attack dogs spewing distortions, lies and cheap personal attacks against George W. Bush in the last days of the campaign. Thank goodness he will soon completely abandon Nebraska by following Hillary to New York.

Despite the con game, the real Ben Nelson has been exposed as the liberal Democrat he is if anyone has the courage to look at the promises he is making and his past record as governor. All you have to do is watch a couple Nelson advertisements to see he has embraced practically the entire huge power to the government policies of Al Gore.

Even worse, he has adopted the sleazy, divisive negative attack tactics of Clinton/Gore. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising since Nelson was one of the first politicians in the country to jump on the Clinton Bandwagon.

If you take a closer look at his record of governor, which is touted by Nelson as showing he is conservative, it becomes clear Nelson wasn't conservative as Governor. For example he brags about balancing a budget every year, but of course he fails to mention that he is required to balance the budget in Nebraska. The fact is that Nelson raised taxes and fees at least 26 times while governor and spending increased by 66.4% during his administration. Residential real property taxes went up by 50%. The numbers speak for themselves. Ben Nelson, rarely saw a tax increase he didn't like.

The Internet is one area that even Clinton and Gore have declared off limits to taxation, but not Ben Nelson. He wants to tax the Internet. Oh, it just happens, that Ben owns one million dollars worth of stock in esaletax.com, a software company that process taxes on the Internet. It is bad enough to want to confiscate your money for the government, but it really goes to far when a politician wants to steal you money to line his own pocket, but hey, in the tradition of Gore, I suppose there might not be any controlling legal authorities.

The other issue Nelson uses to cast the illusion he is conservative is his claim to be pro-life. Now, I believe he is at least partially sincere, but the abortion at any cost mentality of the majority of the Democratic party will force him to abandon any real efforts to protect the innocent unborn or he will never have any power or prestige in the national arena as a Democrat. Al Gore is a perfect example. He was pro life until he wanted to step into a national leadership role with the party.

By his record, it is clear Nelson will capitulate on his principles. He appointed abortion activist Karen Flowers to a Nebraska judgeship. He choose pro-abortionist Kim Robak as his Lt. Governor. One of his biggest supporters is Warren Buffet, who personally funded the fight for RU 486 and supports a chilling policy of zero population growth. Even worse, Nelson is also on record as promising as Governor to not veto any pro abortion legislation that reached his desk. It is clear by the company he keeps, his words and deeds that Ben Nelson, won't fight for the innocent unborn.

It is clear by his words and deeds, that Don Stenberg will fight to protect innocent unborn babies. He doesn't align himself with pro abortion candidates or political parties that use arbortion as the unholy grail to be welcomed into the inner sanctum. It is Don Stenberg that fought all the way to the Supreme Court attempting to end the gruesome infanticide known as partial birth abortion. Stenberg will take the fight to Washington if elected Senator. The best Ben Nelson will do is mark the right boxes on the questions asked by the Pro-life Groups.

One final issue, I must address that shows the superior integrity and leadership of Don Stenberg is the issue of water, which is vitally important to Nebraska's agriculture industry. As Attorney General, Don Stenberg stood up against excessive regulations. At the time Nelson said he was on the same team, but now when he runs for Senator, Nelson makes the absurd charge that Don Stenberg wants to poison our drinking water. Is this what Ben Nelson means when he says he will work across party lines?


In 1942, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado entered into the Republican River compact. The compact specified that the river's water should be split as follows. Nebraska would get 59%, Kansas 40% and Colorado 11%. For over 50 years, the states got along just fine under this agreement. Unfortunately, a few years ago, Kansas decided that they wanted to change the compact's meaning. Instead of dividing the water based on the surface water flow, Kansas decided that they wanted underground water included as part of the measurement so they started threatening Nebraska with lawsuits.

Rather than capitulating, Don Stenberg stood up for this attempt to essentially blackmail Nebraska. Stenberg wasn't opposed to compromise but Kansas was. Their version of compromise reminds me of Arafat and Clinton's prescription for Peace for Israel, capitulate and surrender at every turn. We have seen how well that has worked for Israel. Ben Nelson didn't have the courage to lead on this issue. He talked about staying above the fray and being the great compromiser in the great Democratic tradition set by Stephen Douglas over 150 years ago that resulted in fanning the flames for civil war instead of dousing them. Like Bill Clinton, Ben Nelson tried to "feel everybody's pain," so that he didn't have to make tough decisions. It was much easier knowing that Don Stenberg would step forward with the leadership to protect Nebraska, but as a result would also take the brunt of the criticism. Like Clinton/Gore on social security, instead of doing something to fix the problems in 8 years on the job, Ben Nelson chose to talk out of both sides of his mouth and do nothing so as to have a future campaign issue.

It is pretty easy not to not make enemies when you don't take a stand on the tough issues. Of course, standing in the middle of the road makes you a good target to get run over and that is exactly what happened on the dispute with Kansas over the Republican River while Nelson was governor. Maybe if it was called the Democrat river, Nelson would have shown some backbone, because the record is clear the only thing genuine about Ben Nelson is his allegiance to the donkey party.

As you step into the voting booth tomorrow, the choice for United States Senate is as clear as the choice for President. If you want to continue to suffer the consequences of standing behind a donkey, then vote for Al Gore and Ben Nelson. If you want a fresh new start with a team that will fight for Nebraska values, then vote for George W. Bush and Don Stenberg.

To Joe's previous article