Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to the polls, but good Lord--Dave Heineman beat Tom Osborne in the primaries by 16,000 votes??? This has to be the biggest political upset I have ever seen.

It is interesting, because I was a Heineman backer through this whole election...until he signed that ridiculous Omaha Public Schools bill into law. That, to go along with really thinking about the race and realizing the types of contacts Osborne had made in his years in Washington, and what Osborne's Beltway experiences could mean to our great state, it slowly became a no-brainer to vote Osborne.

Anyways, maybe this isn't too suprising to others, but I am floored right now.

Another slight shocker was that Pete Ricketts beat out Don Stenberg so soundly. Now, granted, I always thought of Stenberg as a whiny, way too socially conservative for my liking, and felt that others thought he was a bit much, too. But at the very least, I thought that:

1. Name recognition,
2. The ability of Nebraskans to know a phony when they see one

would lead him to if not win the primary, but at least keep it close with that "blantant pandering" d-bag Ricketts and his "Nebraska Values" rhetoric. I mean, the guy's family is mega-rich, yet he goes on these commercials wearing Carhartt gear trying to pass as a "real" Nebraskan. And far be it from me to say who should be able to say who is a real Nebraskan, but come on! This guy is a fake, and a in-your-face example as to why McCain-Fiengold has made it near-impossible for people who are not from mega-rich families to have a legitimate shot at any elected office that is remotely important (let alone a national Senator).

I don't know, it just bothers me that being able to buy endless commercials that say:

--I have "Nebraska values."
--I am a conservative.
--I am pro-choice.

all of a sudden qualifies you to hold a spot in the United States Senate (not that I think he'll beat Nelson, but he certainly has a shot) in the eyes of Nebraska voters. An old saying in politics tells candidates "never underestimate the intellegence of the American people, nor their access to information." (Probably should not have put that in quotations, as that is not the direct quote, but whatever) Yet Nebraska voters seem, tonight, seem to not deserve that benefit of the doubt.

Politics suck anymore.

UPDATE: Well, turns out that I, in fact, do not follow polls. Right on the front page of ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel shows that he is more in tune with Nebraska state politics than I am. And Maisel is an idiot. What a depressing revelation.

Anyways, here is a link if anyone cares:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=2434179