Bruning denies any grandstanding

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By ANNA JO BRATTON / The Associated Press

OMAHA — Politicians often run for cover after scuttled bids for higher office. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning keeps running for the spotlight.

In an age where politicians often come off as scripted and robotic, the 38-year-old Republican’s blunt, excitable style can be refreshing to some. To others, his style may be irritating evidence of an overly ambitious, self-serving politician.

Bruning rankled some Republicans last year, jumping into the U.S. Senate race before incumbent Republican Chuck Hagel was out and taking shots at the incumbent and, to a lesser degree, at former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, the eventual nominee.

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Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Omaha on July 9. (AP)

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Omaha on July 9. (AP)

Bruning said Hagel had lost touch with Nebraska conservatives, suggested he was a carpetbagger and said the senator “is thinking about leaving the party.”

After being elbowed out of the race to make way for Johanns — whom he said he loves — Bruning said, “At times I feel like a horse that’s trained for the big race and then didn’t run.”

Someday he’ll seek higher office, but Bruning insists he’s happy with his current job.

He’s busy studying the death penalty as the state works on changing its execution method to lethal injection. He’s getting ready to expose gas stations that mix ethanol with their premium products to cheat customers. He’s reviewing his plans for his upcoming role as the president of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Still, criticism remains that Bruning is always seeking his next job, that he’s chasing the spotlight on issues that will bring him attention.

A recent editorial by the Lincoln Journal Star used terms such as “grandstanding” and “milking the controversy” to describe Bruning’s actions in a case of alleged housing discrimination.

“Bruning would better serve the public by focusing less on attracting attention and more on getting the job done,” the editorial said.

Bruning acknowledged that he’s ambitious.

“Those issues about which I’m passionate, I will pursue with all my vigor,” Bruning said in an Omaha interview with The Associated Press. “Whether the media covers it or not isn’t really my choice, right? All I can do is do what I think is right and deal with the details from there.”

But his handling this year of the housing discrimination case infuriated detractors.

The underlying disagreement was over who decides which cases of alleged housing discrimination get prosecuted: Bruning or the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission.

But the issue got clouded when Bruning seized onto one case involving an illegal immigrant amid dozens of others involving U.S. citizens that he refused to take up.

He spoke about it during an appearance on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” Bruning railed against the commission for asking him to use taxpayer dollars to help an illegal immigrant, a suggestion that was sure to elicit strong emotions in a state where many people think that low-wage, illegal workers are stealing jobs from Nebraskans.

“Jon Bruning is making a mockery of our state,” said Lincoln attorney Kathleen Neary, who handles housing discrimination cases, after watching Bruning’s television appearance. “He is somehow taking pride in the fact that he is not enforcing our laws. It is an embarrassment.”

Neary’s firm, Vince Powers and Associates, offered to help the NEOC in its fight with Bruning, although a compromise has since been reached.

Bruning said he won’t make apologies, even after the U.S. Department of Housing and Development said he was wrong and cut off the NEOC’s funding.

“I’m going to stand my ground on this issue,” Bruning said. “The federal government is not going to tell me what or what not to do. The beauty of elected officeholders is that people have the opportunity to pass judgment on us every four years.”

While Neary and others suggested Bruning’s stance was self-serving, it offers insight into a man who, once he decides he’s right, often refuses to back down.

But Bruning seems to be learning patience and appears to be polishing his public image.

It’s been a while since Bruning’s more colorful quotes made it into the news. A few classic examples:

— In 2006, Bruning was asked to speculate on who would win the GOP nomination for governor if U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne, the popular former Nebraska football coach, entered the race against Gov. Dave Heineman. Bruning retooled a quote from former U.S. Sen. and Louisiana Gov. Huey Long:

If Osborne doesn’t run, Heineman will win, Bruning said, “unless they find Gov. Heineman with a dead girl or a live boy.”

— When asked in 2003 to comment about a Massachusetts court ruling against that state’s ban on gay marriages, Bruning said: “Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?”

Bruning later apologized for the remark.

Asked about his clear political ambitions, Bruning said: “I’ve always thought it was a little awkward for politicians to be coy.”

Bruning faces re-election in 2010. As far as his next job, he says there’s really only two options: governor or U.S. senator.

Incumbent Republican Dave Heineman can seek re-election in 2010, making 2014 the likely year for a Bruning bid, although Heineman also has been mentioned as a possible candidate to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson in 2012.

“If the choice is between living in Washington, D.C., and living in Nebraska,” Bruning said, “I choose Nebraska every time.”