ON Rle Photo
Ben Nelson gives a thumb-up to supporters at Nebraska City's Applejack
Festival in September.
David Clasen/DN
Don Stenberg appears with Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., at a September press
conference at Eppley Airfield in Omaha.
Different Strokes
Democrat Nelson broadens image
to appeal to Republican Nebraska
BY BRIAN CARLSON
During his two terms as
governor and his two cam
paigns for the Senate, Ben
Nelson has presented him
self as a pragmatic centrist
who can work across party
lines.
Nelson, a Democrat who
served as governor from
1991-99, is facing attorney
general Don Stenberg in this
year’s Senate race to replace
Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey,
who is retiring.
In 1996, while he was a
sitting governor, Nelson
unsuccessfully sought elec
tion to the Senate, losing to
Chuck Hagel.
Running in a state with
145,000 more registered
Republican voters than
Democrats, Nelson has
sought to broaden his appeal.
Whereas Stenberg cam
paigns on the theme of a GOP
team of George W. Bush,
Hagel and himself, Nelson
has presented himself as an
independent voice. He rarely
mentions other Democrats,
such as Vice President A1
There is only one
team I want to suit
up for, and that’s
team Nebraska.”
AlGore
Democratic presidential
candidate
Gore.
“There is only one team I
want to suit up for, and that’s
team Nebraska,” he said.
He says he’s not trying to
disassociate himself from the
Democratic Party, just trying
to be the sort of independent
voice Nebraskans seem to
like.
“Is there anybody in
Nebraska who doesn’t know
I’m a Democrat?” he said.
“I'm not only a Democrat, but
(Stenberg) may only be a
Republican. He shuts out 40
percent of the people of
Nebraska.”
But critics note that
Please see NELSON on 4
Republican Stenberg campaigns ,
on GOP's vision for new America
BY BRIAN CARLSON
Throughout this year’s
Senate race, Don Stenberg
has emphasized that it takes a
team to govern.
“I think there’s a real clear
choice between the Bush
Hagel-Stenberg vision for
America and the Nelson
Gore approach,” Stenberg
says repeatedly in his stump
speech.
Nebraska has 145,000
more registered Republican
voters than Democrats, so for
Stenberg, it makes sense to
urge people to vote a straight
party ticket.
But, although the
Republican presidential can
didate has won Nebraska in
every election since 1964, the
state has a history of electing
Democrats such as former
Sen. James Exon and retiring
Sen. Bob Kerrey.
Stenberg has been criti
cized for relying on the team
approach by people like
Kerrey, who said Stenberg
essentially was promising to
be a "lapdog” in the Senate.
But Stenberg said voters
“My basic principles
are very similar to
those of George W.
Bush.”
Don Stenberg
^ Republican Senate candidate
who support Bush’s propos
als should elect him because
he would help Bush achieve
his goals. In fact, so close are
their views that Stenberg said
earlier this fall he could not
name an issue on which he
and Bush disagreed.
“I’m sure there probably
are, but I don’t know that I
could name one right off the
bat,” he said. "My basic prin
ciples are very similar to
those of George W. Bush. The
best way for Nebraskans to
understand the differences
between the candidates is to
understand that I’m aligned
with George W. Bush, and
(Nelson) is aligned with A1
Please see STENBERG on 4
Sides continue
to banter over
Initiative 416
BY VERONICA DAEHN
The work that has spanned more than four
months will culminate Tuesday night in a deci
sion that some Nebraskans have said would be
discriminatory, bigoted and hateful.
But those who started the initiative in the
first place say it is necessary to protect mar
riage from homosexuals.
Opponents of Initiative 416 hope
Nebraskans will vote down the amendment
that would ban gay and lesbian marriages, civil
unions and partnerships in Nebraska.
Guyla Mills, chairwoman of the Defense of
Marriage - Yes to 416 committee, said that’s
why she started the petition to get the amend
ment on the ballot.
“Marriage, since the beginning of time, has
been between one man and one woman,” Mills
said. “In the last 6,000 years, there’s been no
precedence of gay marriage. What would that
open the doors to?”
Mills recently announced she will be mov
ing out of the state three days after the election.
Opponents of Initiative 416 have said Mills’
amendment is vague and unconstitutional.
“It’s a hateful measure,” said Andy
Schuerman, former ASUN president.
There has also been concern that the word
ing of the amendment would ban more than
just gay and lesbian romantic relationships.
Evan Wolfson, a lawyer at Lambda Legal
Defense Fund in New York, said if the amend
ment passes it would prevent Nebraska law
makers from doing anything concerning gay or
lesbian couples.
“This is way beyond discrimination in mar
riage,” he said.
If the initiative passes, a judge would not be
able to issue a protective order against domes
tic violence between two people, Wolfson said.
Documents such as power of attorney agree
ments would also be banned, he said.
Wolfson also said the amendment is
unconstitutional.
“It’s unconstitutional in America to take
any group of people and shove them outside
the protection of the law,” he said.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law
College professor Richard Duncan disagreed
with Wolfson.
“Attempts to define marriage along tradi
tional lines is perfectly constitutional,” Duncan
said.
He also said there should not be concerns
about the amendment’s wording being misin
terpreted.
“They’re trying to scare Nebraska voters,”
he said.
