Ben Sasse…
…who’s running for the Senate from Nebraska, sounds like a good guy to me.
Nebraska born and bred. Harvard undergrad. Ph.D. in history from Yale, his prize-winning doctoral thesis was on populist conservatism from the 1950s to the 1970s. Lots of business background. Sense of humor. And last but far from least, a specialist in health care insurance.
Some good quotes from Sasse*:
“Most of us were taught that government exists to provide for the common defense ”” a military and a social-safety net ”” but the actual budgets show that our government has become a big insurance company that also runs a navy.”…
As a college president [his current job], Sasse likes to conduct informal surveys of students. “I ask them what the Republican party stands for,” he says. “Most don’t have a clue. They think Republicans are for rich people and big business. We’ve got to do a better job of conveying our ideas. We need to have an American constitutional, reformation, revival movement.”
Sasse is 41 years old, which seems very very young to me. But that “most of us were taught” quote marks him as a member of an older generation than one would think. I’m not so sure even most 41-year-old were taught such things; maybe in Nebraska they were, but in liberal enclaves they may already have been learning that government exists to do whatever we’d like it to do, if only we could pry the money out of the cold, live (and dead) hands of the rich.
[NOTE*: Pronounced “sass,” not “sassy.”]
“I’m not so sure even most 41-year-old were taught such things; maybe in Nebraska they were, but in liberal enclaves they may already have been learning that government exists to do whatever we’d like it to do… ”
This is why many of us in flyover country and the south often feel we are living in a different era than those of you in the coastal zones. BTW, Sasse is an impression fellow. He is well thought of in Nebraska.
“…who’s running for the Senate from Nebraska, sounds like a good guy to me
Don’t let that sentiment get out. Blatant support for a rational, educated conservative by more than a few kooks is usually the kiss of death.
The media will dig up some story about him about getting a double parking ticket in front of a hospital emergency entrance when he was 18, which caused a funeral procession to have to detour around the block, which caused the hearse to run out of gas, which forced the mourners to push it to the cemetary, which cause the heart attack and subsequent death of one mourner, followed by the ambulance slamming into his car which blocked the entrance, causing multiple injuries to the ambulance drivers. This unforeseen event then caused a shortage of amubulance drivers in his native town, leading to the deaths of several other citizens who could not obtain emergency services on time. The havoc unleashed by this insenstive and selfish act of double parking cannot be estimated as so many lives have been affected, and demonstrates a total lack of compassion for anyone but himself, bordering on sociopathic behavior. He cannot be trusted with the keys to his 1985 Dodge pickup, much less the position of senator.
Better to keep this guy out of the media’s spotlight.
“We’ve got to do a better job of conveying our ideas.”
First you must convince them that you are human and not evil. First do that. ‘Good ideas” have never won a war. Tactics and strategy are different things than merely ideas.
As a lifelong Nebraskan (but a Creighton alum), we do have a different culture and way of thinking.
But don’t discount Bart McLeay for the nomination although Sasse has big early money and paid media. And people are paying attention to Creighton basketball now.
Dems have zero chance to win.
I’m looking at some of the other Senate candidates in Nebraska. Sasse has gotten a lot of good press, but I’m concerned about his working background. He’s spent a few years working in a lot of different fields, but he’s built a career in none. There are jobs he leaves off his resume. He’s only been a college president for a few years and now he’s chasing a new job in the Senate. I’m leaning toward a candidate who is less gadfly and more work horse.
“We need to have an American constitutional, reformation, revival movement.”
I agree, emphasis on ‘movement’.
Looking to candidates as the origin point is a non-starter. The Dems can only be defeated by an effective Marxist-method activist movement, not by the quality – personal or ideological – of any individual candidate. The movement must carry the candidate to victory.