Fahey: Obama can win 2nd District

 17 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

BY DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star

DENVER — Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey believes Barack Obama has “a much better chance than most people think” of picking up a presidential electoral vote in metropolitan Omaha’s 2nd Congressional District in November.

“An all-out grassroots effort to get people registered already is under way,” Fahey says, especially in north Omaha.

That drive is being led by people in the community, he says, and should lead to an army of new voters “in the thousands.”

[+]Enlarge

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey

Related Media

Democratic National Convention

Follow Nebraska's delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver,  Aug. 25-28. (Laura Meerkatz / JournalStar.com)...

Comments: 0

Rated:

Then, Fahey says, the challenge becomes getting them to vote.

The Obama campaign is prepared to make that happen, he says, through continuing and numerous contacts with those new registrants.

“It involves no less than seven touches,” he says. “I’ve seen the plan.”

If the effort is successful, that narrows the Republican voter registration margin in the district composed of Omaha and urban sections of Sarpy County, Fahey says.

The Obama field operation will concentrate on portions of Omaha east of 72nd Street, the mayor says, but the outpouring of interest in last February’s presidential caucuses also revealed potential for considerable Obama support in suburban Omaha.

“I think we could develop the momentum to pull this off,” Fahey says.

Nebraska awards two electoral votes to the statewide winner in November while allocating one vote to the winner of each of the state’s three congressional districts.

The Obama campaign is concentrating its efforts in the 2nd District, but also will make a bid in the 1st District, which includes Lincoln.

Recent polling showed Obama within a few percentage points of John McCain in both Nebraska districts.

Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler says a 1st District push could be successful.

“Normally, you would think the 1st District is as viable as the 2nd District,” he says.

The Obama field effort in the 2nd District should help Senate nominee Scott Kleeb and congressional nominee Jim Esch, says Fahey.

Kleeb, he says, is “doing much better now.”

His performance in last weekend’s State Fair debate with Mike Johanns was “very well-received and somewhat surprising, a real eye-opener that maybe this guy deserves a chance,” Fahey says.

“Senator Nelson has demonstrated a Democrat can win statewide.”

Esch is in a winnable contest with Republican Rep. Lee Terry, the mayor says.

Beutler makes the case that an Obama victory in November would be good for Nebraska.

“Nebraskans would be better off with a Democratic president,” Beutler says.

The Bush administration has “squandered resources” with a unilateral foreign policy that leaves the United States “doing all the funding” of anti-terrorism activities while denying resources to domestic needs and driving up the national debt, he says.

That reduces funding for road construction, energy transition, infrastructure improvements and university-related research, Beutler says.

In turn, that applies pressure to local funding sources like property taxes, he says.

Bush policies have “a very direct negative financial effect on Nebraskans,” Beutler says.

This week’s national convention “did a really good job of bringing us together” for the contest with McCain, the mayor says.

“Now, I think it’s clear Obama and Joe Biden need to work hard connecting with blue collar families.”

Obama’s nomination presents “an historic opportunity in terms of diversity,” Beutler says. “It’s going to be hard for some people in the Democratic constituency, probably mostly in the blue collar sector, but these are the people who have taken the brunt” of Republican policies.

An Obama victory would benefit those middle-class working families, he says.

Both Fahey and Beutler are delegates to the Democratic national convention and both supported Obama over Hillary Clinton in Nebraska’s presidential caucuses.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.