nebraska

My husband Scott Kleeb is running for the United States Senate in Nebraska. He has a committed staff of young people who work 12 hour days, 7 days a week. So we decided to take them up to the ranch to relax, Scott on the other hand has a different way of describing the weekend. Come meet two of the Kleeb staffers John and John and listen to why Scott brought his team up to the Nebraska Sandhills.

As part of my gig with MTV as one of their Street Team reps for the 2008 election cycle, I cover politics and young people in Nebraska.

Candidates in Nebraska are getting dirty…in rivers and parks that need to be cleaned up.  Come meet some of the candidates running for office in Nebraska that are taking part in new brand of politics—the politics of service.

The candidates talk about what service means to them, why young voters are so important this election and what each of us can do to take a stand as a generation.  Democrats Work is a national organization, founded by two  young people Thomas Bates and James Carter, that encourages individuals and campaigns to live and show their Democratic values through service.  A chapter was started here in Nebraska by Natalie Benson.

Candidates getting dirty in Nebraska include:

Heath Mello, State Legislature, NE-05

Jeremy Nordquist, State Legislature, NE-07

Jim Esch, House of Representatives, NE-02

Scott Kleeb, US Senate

Get Involved with Democrats Work:

www.democratswork.org

Jane Fleming Kleeb is the Executive Director of the Young Voter Pac which helps Democratic candidates and State Parties win with the 18-35 year old vote through endorsements, on-the-ground support, training, strategy and money. She is also a MTV Street Team rep for Nebraska.

Young people across the United States this past week are getting a taste of the politicking that goes on inside campaigns. Young people, who are trying to become “pledged delegates” to the Democratic National Convention, got emails from campaigns essentially saying “thanks, but no thanks.”

Campaigns are cutting people of all ages off the lists of potential delegates and the cutting is allowable under the rules, so campaigns are not doing anything unusual.

The big difference this time around is the record number of young people running as pledged delegates--and therefore a big portion of the number of people getting cut. This is obviously causing some friction between the message they hear from campaigns and the message they are getting in their inbox.

Many people can understand it from a political perspective because the race is so tight therefore campaigns only want their most “loyal supporters” on their list of potential delegates in case the nomination goes to the National Convention where the delegates will be the ones electing the Democratic nominee for President.

Read the rest of the post...

Every year around this time Sandhill Cranes descend upon Nebraska. The Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary is an organization, led by Brad Mellema, that works to educate the public about the cranes as well as conserve the land that the cranes visit every year as part of their migration path.

Video about the cranes I created for MTV's Street Team:

The Rowe Sanctuary has been around since 1974 and now has over 1,400 acres of land it conserves for the cranes. The cranes are a beautiful sight to witness. They are the oldest bird on our planet with fossils placing cranes in Nebraska up to 9 million years ago.

The cranes are very social and are "family" birds mating for life and staying with their offspring. Nebraska provides the birds a safe haven and a place to put on some weight before their long journey north to as far away as Siberia.

Unless we continue to conserve land, like the Rowe Sanctuary does along the North Platte River, the cranes and other animals will be at risk. Our government does have two conservation programs that the Rowe Sanctuary participates in --the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)-if you want to learn more or volunteer to help conserve the land for the cranes and other animals, visit the Rowe Sanctuary's website, http://www.rowesanctuary.org.

As part of my gig with MTV's Street Team, I cover politics in Nebraska.  No, we don't wear tan sport coats or wear white turtlenecks like the ever hilarious Comedy Central skit said we did last week.  But we do try and cover issues in our state.

In Nebraska, one of those things is ethanol and how its making America energy independent.  The US House approved $18 billion in new taxes on "big oil" last week and it is now in the Senate.  Oil is now over $100 a barrel when Bush said 3 years ago he didn't think it would get over $50 bucks.

Ethanol plants in Nebraska are not only producing renewable fuels, they are also renewing America. Come meet Andy and Cliff over at US BioEnergy and learn how corn is made into ethanol. We explore everything from when the corn comes in, to the corn being processed, to the corn that is turned into feed for livestock and how the plant manages other environmental concerns.

Jibber jabber away if you're in one of today's primary/caucus states. Let us know what's happening.

I'll be dropping in occasionally and posting some stuff later tonight.

Jane Fleming Kleeb is the Executive Director of the Young Voter PAC which helps Democratic candidates and State Parties win with the 18-35 year-old vote through endorsements, on-the-ground support, training, strategy and money. She is a regular on Fox and is part of MTV’s Street Team ‘08 representing Nebraska.

Nebraska’s Democratic Caucus is on February 9th, 2008.  Residents all over Nebraska will go to community places, like churches and fairgrounds, to talk with their neighbors about who they are voting for in the Presidential race.  Hear from fellow young people in Nebraska about what the caucus is, how it works and who some people are thinking of caucusing for on February 9th.  Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada all had record turnout among 18-30 year olds, Nebraska is getting ready to continue the trend.