Bob Kerrey’s decision not to enter Nebraska’s 2008 Senate race sent Democrats scrambling Wednesday to find a competitive candidate.
First stop: Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey.
In the on-deck circle: Scott Kleeb, the party’s 2006 congressional nominee in western and central Nebraska’s 3rd District.
Fahey agreed to “take the next few weeks to think it over,” but he appeared much more likely to seek re-election as mayor in 2009.
Kleeb said he’d “take a look at it,” but cautioned that he faces the same kind of family and job considerations that ultimately kept Kerrey out of the race.
“Given the right circumstances for myself and my family, it’s certainly something I would consider,” said Kleeb, who teaches at Hastings College.
Kerrey’s decision was a huge bummer for Democrats, who believed the former two-term senator had the star power to snatch the Republican Senate seat now held by Sen. Chuck Hagel.
National Democratic Party resources lay at Kerrey’s command. Senate leaders had paved the way for him to gain coveted committee assignments.
A national media spotlight already had been reserved for a possible general election showdown between Kerrey and Mike Johanns, who resigned as U.S. secretary of agriculture last month to return to Nebraska to enter the Senate race.
Both Kerrey and Johanns are former governors with national profiles, and a contest between them had been marked in advance as one of the 2008 election’s premier attractions.
Johanns, however, must first survive a stiff challenge from Attorney General Jon Bruning in next May’s GOP primary election. Also in the race is Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn.
Kerrey made a series of telephone calls to Nebraska to reveal his decision, then released a statement announcing he’ll continue to remain president of New School University in New York City.
“For my family and me, now is not the time (to) re-enter politics as a candidate,” Kerrey said.
Kerrey and his wife, Sarah, have a six-year-old son, Henry, who began kindergarten this year. Kerrey’s office is on the same block as his home in a Greenwich Village neighborhood and he often walks Henry to the nearby school.
During a phone interview, Kerrey said he made his decision “with regret,” believing he “could have provided an option of moderation and leadership.”
The reason it took him so long to reach a final decision, he said, is “it was very difficult to say no.”
In addition to family considerations, Kerrey said, he has unfinished business to complete at New School, including a major construction project that will consolidate and strengthen a number of the university’s academic programs.
Kerrey’s statement, however, dwelt on the attractions and challenges of a return to the Senate.
“I will continue to engage in the public issues of the day,” he said.
“How could we do otherwise when our foreign policies are so terribly off course and our domestic policies are widening income and wealth inequalities, ignoring terrible environmental problems, and pretending that the baby boom generation will somehow not demand the health and retirement benefits that have been promised to them?”
Returning home to Nebraska to “lead a political campaign based on a promise to do my part to change the direction” of a divided country was very appealing, Kerrey said.
Fahey, who has been encouraged by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to consider a Senate bid, issued a brief statement that seemed to foretell his decision.
“I love my job as mayor,” he said.
“We have a lot of very important issues in front of us, including securing a long-term contract to host the College World Series, addressing the needs of our homeless population as winter sets in, and keeping our citizens and neighborhoods safe.”
Kleeb said he’ll give consideration to a Senate race if Fahey says no. But, he said, he needs to factor in the best interests of his wife, Jane, and their three-month-old daughter, Maya, in reaching a decision.
“Campaigns do take a tremendous toll on all people involved,” he said in a telephone interview.
“I have no idea right now what I’m going to do,” he said, noting with a laugh that his first order of business was to finish preparing his lecture on World War II for Thursday’s American History class.
If neither Fahey nor Kleeb says yes, Democratic State Chairman Steve Achelpohl said, he believes the party will still “field a good Senate candidate.”
“We would just have to move to the next step,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson said he respects Kerrey’s decision, although he would have liked to see him enter the race and join him in the Senate.
“Bob Kerrey has spent his entire career putting Nebraska and Nebraska families first,” Nelson said.
“This time he has put his family first.”
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.
