Latest news with #DenisePowell
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Douglas County District Court Clerk exploring bid in Nebraska's crowded 2nd District field
Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades says 'some folks' have been lobbying her to run for the U.S. House in Nebraska's 2nd District. (Courtesy of Rhoades for Public Service Commission) OMAHA — The Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District might soon get more crowded. Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades told the Nebraska Examiner this week that she is 'testing-the-waters' for possibly jumping into the race in the Omaha-based 2nd District now represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. She said she could be interested whether Bacon stays in the race or retires. 'It's certainly not a secret that I'm considering it,' Rhoades said. She said 'some folks' have been lobbying her to get in, and her campaign shared internal polling indicating her and State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha within the margin of error for Democratic primary voters in NE-02. The polling has former political action committee co-founder and business owner Denise Powell at what Rhoades called a 'distant third.' 'John and I are starting from the same place,' Rhoades said. State Sen. John Cavanaugh running for Congress in Nebraska's 2nd District Earlier this month, Cavanaugh, the son of a former Democratic congressman from Omaha, formally announced his candidacy. Powell, the daughter of a leader in Spanish-language news, announced her bid in May. Besides the two highest-profile Democratic candidates in the race, Mark Johnston and Evangelos Argyrakis have confirmed they are running. Republicans are waiting in the wings for Bacon's decision, a list that local conservatives have said includes former State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding and perhaps Bacon's 2024 GOP primary challenger, Dan Frei. The lifetime Omahan was the last Democrat elected to a statewide position as a member of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the state's catch-all regulator for topics as varied as telecommunications and pipelines. She also has a history of helping local Democrats win elections as a political consultant, including a significant role in helping John Ewing Jr. become the first Democrat to lead the largest city in Nebraska in roughly a decade. She pointed to her working-class background and her record of 'doing the right thing even when it's hard' as a plus for voters. Rhoades said she would focus on protecting and growing the middle class, creating jobs that pay a living wage and protecting democracy. Rhoades told the Examiner that Cavanaugh and an unnamed potential candidate had asked her and her husband, Ben, to work on their campaigns. She said she would only join the House race if she sees data that shows her in the strongest position to defeat whichever Republican emerges. 'Ben [Onkka] and I are in the process of evaluating who the strongest candidate is for the district. If it's me, I'll run,' Rhoades said. The polling indicates that potential Democratic primary voters in the district want someone who would fight President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, someone who can win and someone with a proven record. Rhoades described herself as a 'check, check, check' on those. Denise Powell launches bid in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District In recent weeks, Rhoades was rumored to be a candidate to replace Ewing in his former position as Douglas County treasurer, but the Douglas County Board this week hinted at wanting a 'non-political option' to fill the remainder of Ewing's term, someone who won't run for the office. Rhoades said her experience differentiates her from the two high-profile Democrats in the House race. She said she has held multiple elective positions for over 20 years and knows how to help Democrats win elections. She said that Cavanaugh could have some baggage as part of a political dynasty, and there are concerns about his potentially vacating a statehouse seat, because Republican Gov. Jim Pillen would get to appoint his replacement. Rhoades said Powell's inexperience could make the race a 'very difficult time.' 'I think that this may not be the right time and the environment for … a rookie,' Rhoades said. Rhoades has faced some criticisms from her years in service and work with Democrats in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, including for butting heads with some fellow Democrats and some co-workers in the Douglas County Courthouse. Rhoades emphasizes that her decision on whether to run will be 'data-driven.' She says she lacks the hubris to believe that she is the only Democrat who can win. She said she would decide whether to form a federal fundraising committee or jump into the race in the coming weeks. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Navigating an era of post-binary political labeling
The traditional ways of labeling a political idea or opponent are giving way to a less binary approach. (Getty Images) I best watch my language, because the world, as it has for a couple millennia, is changing once again. And the words and tools by which we both described and navigated yesterday may not be accurate or effective tomorrow. I was reminded of this syntactic phenomenon last week after Nebraska State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha announced his candidacy for the U.S. House in the state's 2nd Congressional District. I'll digress for a moment to remind you that Cavanaugh wants a gig in Congress, the august, albeit temporarily paralyzed body that — aside from expressing its official disapproval 11 times — has passed exactly three pieces of legislation in five months, according to LegiScan, a legislative tracking service that keeps tabs on such things. If Cavanaugh survives a May primary with Omaha PAC co-founder and small business owner Denise Powell, he will oppose incumbent U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who said of Cavanaugh, 'I personally like John, but his left-wing voting record will sink him in his run for Congress … ' Left-wing voting record? How far left? What is left? I'm thinking it's a badge Bacon hopes to affix to Cavanaugh for some political play with those on the, well, right I guess. The language, however, is too simple, too easy. While logicians over the centuries have warned of the 'false dilemma,' the modern world, perhaps starting with 'love it or leave it' some sixty years ago, continues to use it with even greater imprecision. To wit: left/right, liberal/conservative, blue/red, et al. The inexactness is the result of our more diffuse political landscape, in which affiliation is no longer politically de rigueur. More independent thinkers find themselves bumping up against true believers and political party lines. Welcome to the era of 'post-binary political labeling.' This new age of accuracy follows a series of language missteps in the ongoing culture wars, those tantrum-laden throwdowns, which continue to suck oxygen out of the political atmosphere. For example, the word 'woke' has a permanent place on the tongues of those looking for a shorthand to describe what ails America. 'Woke' was the subject of this space when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis thought he could ride a wave of anti-woke sentiment into the White House. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, in material announcing his bid for re-election, said last week that among his accomplishments was banning 'woke, DEI, nonsense.' Rarely do Pillen or DeSantis or anyone who disparages 'woke' explain exactly what it means, assuming, I suppose, that we understand the problem with wokeness. Or, perhaps, they just count on us thinking it must be bad. The result? 'Woke,' like 'fake news,' 'patriot' or 'terrorism,' is the victim of what linguists call 'semantic satiation,' which essentially means when we hear a word repeated incessantly, it begins to lose its meaning. Of course, using even the most rudimentary definition of 'woke,' the opposite of someone being awake would be someone being asleep. Let's just hope none of them are at the wheel. Any solution to our binary political discourse losing its precision requires an effort on the part of those making decisions. Chief among that crowd are voters, whom we hope employ more than such 'either/ors' as left/right, liberal/conservative and blue/red. One of the great ironies of the modern world is that never has so much information left so many of us uninformed. That was the conclusion of a study by researchers at MIT and Columbia. The group surveyed 15,000 participants, giving each a true and a fake news story. Afterward, participants were asked to 'confidently choose the true one.' While 47% of the subjects were able to do that, even my math indicates more who didn't. Living with and by democratic principles demands intention and effort. That's for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is gleaning the right information from words that run the political gamut from uplifting to equivocating to demeaning to honoring. The task can be overwhelming, so sometimes I take the easier route: labels — even when I know they tell only a small part of the story. That may have worked once but not without consequence now. In the post-binary political labeling era — given the morass of bad intel, ad hominem attacks and an ocean of lies — all of us need to up our game, relying less on binary tags and more on actual, verifiable evidence. Former CBS anchor Harry Reasoner once said that he hated labels, because they tend to group you with people with whom you have only one thing in common. Good advice, especially if I'm trying to watch my language. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
