Climbing down from the fence, Democrat Bob Kerrey said Wednesday that he will run for his old Senate seat from Nebraska, soon to be vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Nelson and a major target for Republicans who hope to win control of the chamber in November.
The decision comes on the heels of Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe?s surprise announcement Tuesday to not seek re-election in Maine. And the twin events breathe new life into Democratic hopes of holding onto the Senate.
Continue ReadingIn Kerrey?s case, the decision to run follows weeks of uncertainty in which he first ruled out a return and then began rethinking his decision over the weekend with the encouragement of his family. As late as Monday night, flying back to Nebraska, he was still skittish in private conversations, but was decidedly more confident Wednesday after time in the state and met with Nebraska reporters to formally announce his intentions.
?It was a difficult process but I feel good about the decision,? he told POLITICO. ?I look forward to the race.?
Kerrey, who was Nebraska?s governor before serving in the Senate from 1989 to 2001, faces an uphill fight, going back to a state where he hasn?t run since 1994 and one which has moved more to the right in the years since. As such, he will surely pay a political price for having spent most of his post-Senate career in New York City as a university president at The New School. But he has resisted opportunities to cash in on lobbying posts, and given his Vietnam War record and colorful history in the Senate itself, the 68-year-old still brings a spark that few candidates can match.
Vietnam may be assigned to a long ago past, but Kerry lost his lower right leg and won the Medal of Honor for actions in the war as a Navy SEAL?a special forces branch very much in the news and even movies today. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, his early work on building a modern crop insurance program is a huge legacy today in farm policy. And for under 35 voters who never knew Kerrey as a senator or governor, he is coming back as someone who has dealt with students and education for most of the past decade?albeit at The New School in liberal New York? not Lincoln.
?I think he would do very well with young people, and it would very exciting to see him reintroduce himself to a new generation of Nebraskans,? said Bob Shrum, a retired Democratic consultant now teaching at New York University. ?He is the anti-politician and in this age of conformity and often drabness, his life story will appeal to young people.?
Nebraska Republicans are confident they have the upper hand, especially in a presidential year.
But given his age and experience, Kerrey will have a freedom many candidates don?t enjoy and thinks he can bring a message that focuses of two issues that have greatly worsened since he left the Senate in 2001?the growing federal debt and the level of income inequality in the nation.
?The two have gotten worse and are linked,? he said, ?Because you can?t address one without being mindful of the other.?
Because the Nebraska seat is so pivotal if Democrats are to hold onto the Senate, he is confident that old ally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can help him to win back the seniority he had accumulated on Senate committees.
?Harry and I have had conversations,? Kerrey said. ?But I can?t discuss details until I have seen the language.?
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