Obamacare’s Cornhusker Nemesis

It’s not easy to pile up more than 20,000 sheets of paper — the number of pages of regulations associated with Obamacare, according to some estimates. Yet it’s an effective prop for Ben Sasse, a Republican running for Senate in Nebraska. “This is a picture of what government can’t do well, wasn’t built to do, and inevitably fails at,” he says, gesturing toward the tower of paper. At full height, the pages stand more than nine feet tall. On the evening of December 17, in the First National Bank of Holdrege with its eight-foot ceiling, the top segment has to rest on a nearby table. “Government this big squashes freedom,” says Sasse. A man in the audience senses a more imminent threat: “I’m hoping that stack doesn’t fall on you!” It stays up during an hour-long town-hall meeting in part because a pipe runs through the middle of the pages like a spine, holding them together. Aides wheel the contraption around on a dolly and store it in the bowels of the campaign’s RV.

Sasse is betting that deep discontent with Obamacare will drive him into the Senate later this year. Nebraska is all but certain to elect a Republican to succeed retiring GOP senator Mike Johanns, so the state’s main election will take place on May 13, when Sasse squares off against banker Sid Dinsdale, former state treasurer Shane Osborn, and two other Republicans in this year’s first truly contested Senate primary. Between now and then . . .

Anti-Obamacare Candidate Bridges Tea Party and Establishment Divide
‘We want everybody; we want to grow the conservative movement.’

11:33 AM, NOV 8, 2013 • BY DANIEL HALPER

Ben Sasse is doing what few Republicans have been able to accomplish: He’s uniting the GOP establishment with anti-establishment conservatives in his bid to become the next U.S. senator from Nebraska.

The broad coalition Sasse is building is something the Nebraskan is proud of — and it’s an element of his campaign he’s been actively pursuing. “We’re building a broad conservative coalition of Nebraskans who want to fix Washington,” says Sasse in an email.

“We’re grateful that all types of folks across Nebraska are responding to our conservative, solutions-oriented message. This week, for instance, we’ve sought the support of gun owners, of Christian service organizations, and of the Chamber of Commerce. We want everybody; we want to grow the conservative movement.”

The key appears to be Sasse’s anti-Obamacare message, which the former Bush official is able to speak about fluidly and persuasively. It’s resonating especially well now that the open-enrollment period for the massive health care overhaul has been so disastrous.

“Ben Sasse is the rare candidate who can clearly and forcefully prosecute the case against Obamacare, not only because it’s an unconstitutional assault on our liberty, but also because he’s read every word of it,” Club for Growth president Chris Chocola said this week in a statement endorsing the candidate.

Sasse is a former official from the George W. Bush administration, where he worked at the Department of Health and Human Services. “Ben served as start-up chief of staff for Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, and was appointed to multiple posts by President George W. Bush. Most recently, he was Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is unfortunately the federal government’s largest agency. In that role, he crusaded tirelessly against the false promises and fiscal unsustainability of entitlement spending,” reads his official bio.

He’s also recently picked up the endorsement of the Senate Conservative Fund (SCF), an anti-establishment group that’s targeted Republicans like Mitch McConnell.

And next week he’ll be meeting with that top Republican, Mitch McConnell, in the Senate. “He is meeting with Sasse just as he meets with virtually all GOP Senate candidates,” says a source close to McConnell. “I think he’s coming to town next week so it will probably be there.”

But though Sasse has strong establishment credentials (and even establishment support), it’s not clear McConnell will count himself among those supporters. The big hurdle: The endorsement by the SCF, which appears to be shading his judgment of the “virtuoso pol from Nebraska.”

“It’s safe to say that McConnell doesn’t hold the Senate Conservatives Fund in high regard,” says a source close to McConnell. “He hasn’t met Sasse however so he’ll reserve judgment until they’ve had the opportunity to speak.”

A Brilliant Prophecy From 93 Years Ago
H. L. Mencken (born 1880 - died 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic, and Democrat . He wrote this editorial while working for the Baltimore Evening Sun, which appeared in the July 26, 1920 edition.

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.”

- - - H. L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

?So it was written and so it has come to pass.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.