Kramer pledges conservative leadership

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BY DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star

Promising conservative leadership on issues from tax cuts to immigration reform, David Kramer on Tuesday entered the 2006 Republican Senate race.

The former GOP state chairman will be matched against former Attorney General Don Stenberg in next May's Republican primary election. The GOP nominee will face Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson 17 months from now.

"I will be the candidate of ideas in this race," Kramer pledged.

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Kramer

Kramer

In remarks that appeared to be targeted at Nelson's centrist role in the Senate, a posture that has placed him at the center of negotiated compromises on issues from tax cuts to judicial nominees, Kramer said leadership is at issue.

"Leadership is not about waiting until both sides have put forth their last, best and final offer, dividing them in two, and calling it a compromise," he said.

"Leadership is not just about being at the table when the debate is finished; it's about being at the table when the ideas are being formulated and direction is being charted."

Asked for a response, Nelson's media spokesman, David DiMartino, turned to words spoken by President Bush in Omaha last February.

"When it comes to characterizing Ben Nelson's role in the Senate, you have to consider what President Bush said.  He said Ben Nelson is a person who is willing to put partisanship aside to focus on what's right for America."

Kramer, who stepped down as party leader last Feburary to prepare a bid for the Senate, said he would "take the lead in making President Bush's tax cuts permanent" and in giving the president's judicial nominees an up-or-down vote.

He promised leadership in crafting Social Security reform, strengthening agriculture and in enacting an energy policy designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and increase reliance on alternative fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel.

"I will take the lead in crafting an immigration policy that secures our borders, while bringing order, justice and common sense back to immigration," he said.

Kramer, an Omaha attorney, is the son of a mother who immigrated to the United States from Panama and a father who worked 33 years as a machinist with the Burlington Northern Railroad.

"I have lived the American dream," he said.

Formally announcing his candidacy in Omaha, Kramer immediately launched a four-day tour of 15 communities.