Last time we checked, voters want strong, bold candidates to represent them.  The last thing we want is a candidate who uses someone else sticking up for him as a first line of defense.  That is exactly what incumbent Rep. Lee Terry did this week when a fair ad showcasing his lobbyist loving ways hit the airwaves across Omaha.

I guess Lee Terry isn’t trustworthy enough to deliver his own message, so he turned to Sen. Mike Johanns to counter the ad saying, “Leave the trash in the gutter and start talking issues.” 

We are pretty sure White has been talking issues, like Lee Terry’s terrible record of ballooning our debt, bailing out Wall Street and naming a post office while voting against access to health care for millions of Americans, jobs for Nebraska teachers and financial regulation.

I know we are not alone in laughing at Lee Terry’s campaign manager’s response to using Mike Johanns (instead of their own candidate looking at the camera and defending himself), “[Johanns] is extremely well-respected throughout the state of Nebraska, and when he says something is in the gutter, people will believe him.”

That is ripe.  Terry’s own campaign manager basically admits that Terry’s trust-rating is in the toilet, so they have to turn to Johanns.  But why wasn’t Heineman or Bruning asked?  Maybe because they both just got caught taking an illegal campaign contribution from a foreign company.  Trustworthy is not a label we would tag the Nebraska GOP leadership with right now.

It should also be noted that Terry is, yet again, changing his story about the lady lobbyist’s drunk fest.  Terry admitted in an interview that the incident happened but was essentially taken out of context, that was his defense.  (Of course, he changed his position AGAIN to denial in the same interview.)

Now, Terry is back to his original talking point when the story first broke, that it never happened.

C’mon Terry.  Man up.  Admit your mistake.  Admit your cozy relationship with lobbyists, since we know you not only get drunk with lobbyists but you also steal their words on the floor of the US Congress.  And do your own ads standing up for yourself.  The last thing Omahans want is someone who has to turn to someone more “trustworthy” when his feelings get hurt.  Johanns is not running for Congress, you are.

(Side Note to the techies on Lee Terry’s campaign: We noticed you still haven’t figured out how to properly upload and name videos on YouTube.  “TerryCommercial6.wmv”?  It’s not that we can’t empathize with a frantic workload, but it’d be nice to see you show a little pride and professionalism in your work.  If Sharron Angle can do it, so can you.)