LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - If Republican Pete Ricketts is going to unseat Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, it appears he'll have to do it without the deep pockets of the GOP machine in Washington. The Nebraska mogul has dumped nearly $10 million of his own fortune into the campaign, just one of the GOP candidates making do without national party cash as Republicans scramble to keep seats they already have.
Democrats, too, have to pick their fights. It just so happens Nebraska is one of them.
Relying on outside donations, Nelson is outpacing his opponent 4-to-1 in fundraising and campaigning with more than $1.4 million alone from the state party, most of that money originating with the national Senatorial committee. Ricketts got only $150,000 from his state party while tapping his wealth.
Ricketts is not the only candidate being left largely alone by the national party as it struggles to keep control of both houses of Congress. In New Jersey, Republican Tom Kean Jr. is in a pitched battle with the one-time runaway favorite, Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez, and has been campaigning without financial support from the national GOP.
Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the committee's foremost concern is keeping seats the GOP now holds. He cited as an example the Tennessee race where Republican Bob Corker is vying with Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. for the seat being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
Yet there are many moving targets, and Nick said the party is not writing off Ricketts.
"You have to look at everything," Nick said, and consider "where you can most affect the outcome of an election. If it becomes a situation where it is important to put resources into Nebraska or any other state, we will certainly do so."
Democrats need to gain six seats to take control of the Senate.
Ricketts, a former board member and executive for online brokerage TD Ameritrade who is making his first bid for office, has said he's worth $45 million to $50 million. He has not said how much of that he's willing to spend.
"I'm the challenger," he said. "I've got to invest my own money to make sure ... I get my message out. That's my obligation as a candidate."
His opponent has cast votes with his GOP colleagues more often than any other Democrat now in the Senate, a record that won praise from President Bush last year. Bush called Nelson "a man with whom I can work, a person who's willing to put partisanship aside to focus on what's right for America."
Although close identification with an unpopular president is not a plus these days, Bush's depiction of Nelson as a right-thinking Democrat may have raised questions about how important the seat really is to the GOP.
Nebraska GOP Chairman Mark Quandahl stressed that the national party has sent Bush strategist Karl Rove and White House political director Sara Taylor to campaign for Ricketts. It's also sent former Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, who was the favorite to challenge Nelson until Bush picked him as agriculture secretary.
So far, Nelson has raised $4.6 million compared to $1 million raised by Ricketts on top of his own money. Overall, national Republicans have more money, but Democrats built an advantage in dollars available for Senate contests.
On the issues, there is little daylight between the two candidates. Nelson has rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq while Ricketts echoes the Bush administration in saying Iraq is part of the war on terror.
Both have toughened their stands on illegal immigration after Republican Rep. Tom Osborne stumbled in the GOP primary for governor. A key factor in Osborne's loss was Gov. Dave Heineman criticizing him for supporting in-state tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants.
Ricketts says he supports establishing a program to verify illegal immigrants and have them apply to stay in the United States, a process that would include possible fines and tax payments, but not amnesty. Nelson says securing the border should be the top priority in dealing with immigration.
Ricketts has aired an ad against Nelson that argues, "A Democratic Senate controlled by Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy promises an agenda of higher taxes, more government spending and liberal judges. An agenda against our Nebraska values."
The Democratic senator's penchant for siding with the GOP on a rash of issues has taken the punch out of the commercial.
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On the Net:
Ricketts for Senate: http://www.petericketts.com
Nelson for Senate: http://www.bennelson2006.com
