Daub finishes listening tour, won’t say if he’ll run for Senate

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By ANNA JO BRATTON / The Associated Press

OMAHA — Hal Daub carried a hefty notebook with him as he toured all 93 of the state’s counties and considered a run for the 2008 Republican Senate nomination.

Daub says he filled the notebook with the comments, concerns and suggestions of some of the 2,300 people he’s met with since June 1. He finished his tour Friday morning with a session at an Omaha restaurant, but still wouldn’t say whether he plans to run for Senate.

“Too many people that seek public office don’t do enough homework,” Daub said, who says he’s figuring out the logistics of mounting and funding a campaign.

At Friday’s session at an Omaha restaurant, the 66-year-old attorney asked many of the questions.

“Should English be the official language or the national language?”

A chorus of “both” came from the crowd of about 20.

Mervin Faulk, a semiretired Papillion business consultant, said he’s frustrated with the attempts to find a solution to illegal immigration.

“I hope you run, but I would not vote for you or anybody else unless you take a hard stand on this immigration issue.”

“So do you deport 20 million people?” Daub asked.

“The Statue of Liberty faces out,” said Michael McDonald, director of asset management at Mosaic in Omaha. “It doesn’t face New Jersey.”

As people brought complaints, Daub asked for workable solutions and compromises.

“So what should we do in Iraq? Do we stick it out?” Daub said.

Jim Link, a Bellevue mortgage loan consultant, said benchmarks for progress are key so the Iraqi government realizes it needs to start governing.

“They want us to come in and do everything for them,” Link said.

Daub said he’s found overwhelming support across the state for Bush and his decisions about Iraq.

Daub served in the House as 2nd District representative from 1981-89, and was Omaha’s mayor, 1995-2001. In 2002, he was appointed by President Bush to a six-year term as chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board.

Daub is a partner in the law firm of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin in Omaha and Washington, D.C.

Daub wouldn’t say Friday how much money he’s raised for a possible run, or how much of his own money he’s spent on the listening tour. He also won’t say whether he’d run against Sen. Chuck Hagel, a fellow Republican whom Daub says he considers a friend. Hagel has not yet said whether he will seek another term, run for president or step out of political life.

But Daub did say he “won’t be dissuaded by whoever the candidates might be.”

If he decides not to run, Daub says he’ll return the money he’s raised with interest and will pass the ideas he’s gathered along to elected officials.

“I’d love to see him run,” said Dale Marples, who owns an Omaha business consulting firm and used to live across the street from Daub. “If he will run, he’s going to be super.”

The only declared candidates for U.S. Senate are Attorney General Jon Bruning and Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn, both Republicans. Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator and Nebraska governor, has signaled that he might run, although he says the “odds still favor me saying no.”