Omaha Stakes

I lived in Omaha briefly in 1987-88, while working over the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa for the Dick Gephardt for President campaign. Because Iowa had a cap on spending, campaigns encouraged staff working on the edges to live in neighboring states. I had a basement room in a commercial building across the street from the Mutual of Omaha headquarters. I hung a Massachusetts flag on the wall over my mattress on the floor.

Thirty seven years later I’m living large in the Hilton in the Old Market district at an 1988 eye popping $189 per night, parking not included. If I could tell my 25 year old self this, my 25 year old self would reply: “Oh, Dick Gephardt didn’t win the presidency and I didn’t work in the White House launching a brilliantly lucrative career as a political consultant?”

Nebraska went big in 1988 for George HW Bush in the general, including Douglas County, anchored by Omaha. In 1992 the state voted to apportion its electoral votes by congressional district, two for the winner of the state overall and one each by congressional district. Of the three, Obama won the second district in 2008 and Biden did in 20.

You might think that the campaigns would carpet bomb Maine’s 2nd, which does the same, and Nebraska’s 2nd, no electoral vote left to chance, and I did see a fair amount of advertising for the competitive congressional’s, but there seems to be acknowledgement that Omaha leans blue and the rural Maine district leans red and the real fight is in Pennsylvania.

Nebraska might help determine control of congress as well. The democrat, Tony Vargas, who came close two years ago, is nipping at the heals of Omaha’s Republican congressman. And Republican senator Deb Fischer, who is breaking her two term limit pledge, has an aggressive Independent challenger, and should he win might find himself in the catbird seat. The tight margins in both houses makes Washington have to look at previously unlooked corners of America.

Which brings us to West Point, Nebraska, so named because it was out there, pointing to a whole lot of possibility. The non-native “founders” named it New Philadelphia and should be applauded for their optimism. An hour and a half or so northwest of Omaha it helps feed the world, according to the sign, though you don’t need the sign to guess.

Main Street has the small town collection of essential and scratch your head why its here services. There seems to be robust competition in graphic design and printing storefronts for a town of 1800 or so. But the one grocery store in Tim Walz’ hometown, Graybeal’s Foods, is appropriately well stocked, a lifeline with no option anywhere near and a community focused story. From their website:

“By shopping at our store each week, you accomplish the following ten items:

1. You keep your dollars in our local economy.

2. You help create local jobs.

3. You nurture our local community.

4. You help the environment by buying locally.

5. You invest in local ownership.

6. You create more choice in shopping.

7. You utilize the many years of our experience and expertise in food.

8. You embrace what makes us different from our larger, national competitors.

9. You make our store a destination --- and we appreciate it!

10. Every week you will find hundreds of specials throughout our store.”

I can almost hear Walz reading it. There are a lot of carry over values in his politics, minus the pro-life placards in Graybeal’s storefront window.

I feel the first stiff breeze of fall when I park on Main and pull on a Belgrade Lakes hoodie, which seems tighter than I remember. I poke my head in a clothing store and am asked if I can be helped. Stores here are not for browsing I realize, they stock what people need when they need it. I don’t need anything but maybe a larger sized hoodie, so I exit.

There are two couples finishing coffee in the Red Door Cafe. They’re comparing sump pump experiences, and while I nurse a mocha they peal off one at a time to the morning activities.

If there is a buzz about the election or the role being played by its native son, I didn’t find it on Main Street. I also found no signs for either candidate, slightly unusual I think in a county (Cuming) that gave Trump 78% of the vote, twice.

There are lots of signs for a state Board of Education candidate, Bill McCallister, who is from that part of the state and was an educator for three decades. This is from his website about his mission when turning around a school district:

“We came in, and they had a mission. I brought a vision into the school. That vision is a coliseum. It had three foundations, four pillars with an umbrella. Foundation pieces. Foundation piece number one, energy and passion. Teachers, teach from your feet, not your seat. Get up, engage, reengage, keep going. Second foundation, high expectations. The Billies of this world need people that have higher expectations for them than I had for myself. The third foundation was student safety, consistent discipline. We wanted to have a structure in place.”

The West Point High School sits up from Main Street a mile or so, sticking out of the fields that quickly blanket the landscape when you emerge from the leafier center of town. It has a Friday Night Lights feel, pick up trucks filling the parking lot, football practice equipment on the near field, the scoreboard with “Cadets” framed by the water tower with “West Point” in a dignified font.

In a few weeks there may be discussion of how to note their native son to those of us, not from here who are entering town, should he be elected Vice President. Or maybe, when you help feed the world, you may leave the boasting to those places that feel the need to do such things.