Point (October 2013):
A partial shutdown of the U.S. government and an impasse over raising the federal debt ceiling have prompted a Nebraska Democratic officeholder to challenge Republican Rep. Lee Terry in the 2014 elections.
Pete Festersen, a city councilman in Omaha, reversed an earlier decision to sit out the race.
Counterpoint (December 2013):
Democrat Pete Festersen is ending his campaign for Republican Lee Terry’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Omaha City Council president told The World-Herald on Monday that he’s been unable to balance his work, family and council responsibilities with the demands of a high-profile congressional race.
Translation: that shutdown thing didn’t work out for Democrats the way that they thought it would. Nathan Wurtzel calls Festersen a ‘star recruit‘ for the DCCC, and that’s fair: the committee brought in Vice President Biden to close the deal and get Festersen to run. Alas, against Obamacare the Joe himself contends in vain…
Moe Lane
PS: This is not a sign that the Republicans are going to gain forty seats next year. It is, however, a sign that the Democrats are going to be hard pressed to make inroads. Cook currently has NE-02 at Lean Republican; absent an equally desirable challenger, that race will be upgraded pretty darn quickly.
“Now-” (paper rustles) “-your uncle is one Dr. Donald P. Wilmarth, no?”
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“Yes. My mother’s brother. He was an astronomer and professor at Miskatonic University. After writing a paper on Comet ISON for the university, he announced an early retirement halfway through the 2014 spring semester. He bought a modest house right by the Green Swamp just in time for summer. Uncle Don had got himself a huge telescope so he can spend the short summer nights staring at the stars. Part of the reason he came was because he had no children himself, said he wanted to be by family.
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“We fell into a pattern of having lunch every Saturday. It was fine for the first couple of months. Then his smile started to fade and he started to look haggard. Uncle Don dismissed me, saying the heat was getting to him a little and he just couldn’t wait for winter. I knew there was something more, but unless he was going to tell me, I couldn’t do anything for him.”
Darn. Would have bled Dem funds in other races.
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Mew