# Ben Nelson retiring. Good (I hope) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572 "2011-12-27T22:57:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/1 "2011-12-27T22:57:51Z")
With Democrats like Nelson, one hardly needs Republicans. Still, with a state like Nebraska, the next person could be worse. Good luck, Nebraska Dems – I’m sure you can find a more progressive candidate than him, I just hope it turns out to be an electable one. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/2 "2011-12-27T23:17:43Z")
Bah, good riddance to bad rubbish. It sure was tiresome, hearing all the times he voted with Republicans instead of Dems. The heck with him and his years of service … to Wall Street. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/3 "2011-12-27T23:23:19Z")
CNN is reporting the Dems are reaching out to former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey about coming back… ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/4 "2011-12-27T23:27:10Z")
Good luck, Nebraska. I’m sure you can find a conservative candidate to replace him and help swing control of the Senate to the GoP. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/5 "2011-12-27T23:44:26Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Good luck, Nebraska. I’m sure you can find a conservative candidate to replace him and help swing control of the Senate to the GoP. Nelson is retiring in part because he doesn’t think he can win. Unless the Republicans nominate some form of O’Donnel/Angle, it should be an easy pickup. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/6 "2011-12-28T00:38:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Good luck, Nebraska. I’m sure you can find a conservative candidate to replace him and help swing control of the Senate to the GoP. Because it’s working out so fucking well to have the GOP in control of the House? Let’s see, what would a Republican Senate push for? Tax cuts for the rich? Right wing judges? Former Sen. Kerrey may run for Nelson’s seat. It would be nice to replace a faux Democrat with the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/7 "2011-12-28T01:18:14Z")
😕 Nebraska . . . Isn’t that the capital of Omaha? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/8 "2011-12-28T01:56:04Z")
It is the center of the struggle between wheat and corn to be the Earth’s dominant form of life. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/9 "2011-12-28T02:00:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > It is the center of the struggle between wheat and corn to be the Earth’s dominant form of life. I’m afraid AGW might tip the balance to rice . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/10 "2011-12-28T02:02:18Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Nelson is retiring in part because he doesn’t think he can win. > > Unless the Republicans nominate some form of O’Donnel/Angle, it should be an easy pickup. How active is the Tea Party in Nebraska? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/11 "2011-12-28T13:05:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How active is the Tea Party in Nebraska? Not really very active at all. Nebraska was a very conservative state before the Tea Party movement started. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/12 "2011-12-28T13:46:09Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Because it’s working out so fucking well to have the GOP in control of the House? Let’s see, what would a Republican Senate push for? Tax cuts for the rich? Right wing judges? Judges that base their decisions on the text of the Constitution, and not the penumbras and emanations written in the ether. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/13 "2011-12-28T14:31:41Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Nelson is retiring in part because he doesn’t think he can win. > > Unless the Republicans nominate some form of O’Donnel/Angle, it should be an easy pickup. In a state as conservative as Nebraska, there is no reason for the GOP to settle for squishy RINOs like those two! ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/14 "2011-12-28T14:53:56Z")
The GOP nominee will either be Attorney General Jon Bruning or Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. There isn’t a Democrat with a high enough profile to do anything now, even if Kerrey did come back. Ben actually might have won against Bruning–he’s very vulnerable on some personal issues, and, with the exception of an excrable person now representing my parents’ district, Nebraska doesn’t have a record of sending Santorum-like folks to Washington. Then again, the climate has changed so much in the last ten years that a tea party-type might have a shot. Bruning certainly panders to that base; I understand he keeps trophies from captured “illegals” in an office cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/15 "2011-12-28T15:12:21Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > In a state as conservative as Nebraska, there is no reason for the GOP to settle for squishy RINOs like those two! 😃 Spoken like a TRUE conservative. Fred Phelps for Nebraska!!! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/16 "2011-12-28T15:20:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Judges that base their decisions on the text of the Constitution, and not the penumbras and emanations written in the ether. FTFY: Judges that interpret the text of the Constitution in a way that matches my political ideology. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/17 "2011-12-28T15:23:44Z")
Methinks for every Ben Nelson there is an equal an opposite Scott Brown. Not that Brown is retiring, but I’m pretty sure that Elizabeth Warren is going to to retire him. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/18 "2011-12-28T15:27:22Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > 😃 Spoken like a TRUE conservative. Fred Phelps for Nebraska!!! Dude, not funny. For the record, Nebraska prosecuted Shirley Phelps-Roper for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/19 "2011-12-28T17:35:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Judges that base their decisions on the text of the Constitution, and not the penumbras and emanations written in the ether. Those wouldn’t be conservative judges. They’d be imaginary ones. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572/20 "2011-12-28T17:46:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Those wouldn’t be conservative judges. They’d be imaginary ones. And a good thing, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-nelson-retiring-good-i-hope/607572.md?page=2)