Don Walton has the story:
Bob Kerrey stepped to the brink of a possible 2008 Senate bid Thursday.
Kerrey placed a conference call to New School University trustees in New York City to inform them he may be returning to Nebraska.
A decision on whether to return to his roots and attempt to once again represent Nebraska in the Senate is likely “within the next couple of weeks,” Kerrey said in a telephone interview.
This pretty much lines up with the timeline of Hagel's decision. By Labor Day, we're going to know what the field looks like.
On every issue outside of Iraq and Social Security, Kerrey's as progressive a Democrat as you will find in the state of Nebraska. He's popular, he's not afraid of a fight, and he knows how to win elections.
You can talk about his “Liebermanesque” tendencies to bash Democrats, but he doesn't pull punches on the Republicans (I'm sure you've heard his take on the etymology of Rick Santorum's last name, or at least what Rudy Giuliani should have said on 9/11).
He was a huge supporter of Jim Webb in Virginia, and of course Scott Kleeb in Nebraska. And in four years as governor, and twelve years as Senator, he did everything he could for the state of Nebraska. I'd support a Kerrey for Senate campaign without reservation. We'll see in the next couple of weeks if that's a reality.
This is Nebraska we’re talking about, quite frankly, we’re not going to get a Barbara Boxer here.
I just want him to decide and declare, one way or the other.
Other dominos are waiting to fall either this way, or that, while he hesitates.
I have no inside information, but it seems likely that the reason Scott Kleeb has not yet filed for anything:
http://www.scottklee…
is that he needs to know what Kerrey is going to do, before he makes his own decision. Kleeb will be in the same position as Andrew Rice (OK-SEN), if the top slot on the state slate for 2008 is to be his goal: they’ll both need plenty of lead time to collect money, pull a team together from beyond their own familiar parts of the state, and book statewide speaking engagements to boost their name recognition.
And if Kleeb decides (perhaps wisely) to try again for NE-03 instead, the party needs some time to coalesce around a sacrificial lamb. We mustn’t have another race in 2006 like Lugar v. No Candidate, in IN-SEN, this cycle: the GOP has lost the cash advantage this time, and we must make them spread their resources thinner, over every seat they have to defend.