Kleeb: Don't leave wrong kind of legacy

That's not the kind of legacy anyone wants to leave their children, said Scott Kleeb, Democratic contender for the U.S. Senate.

Kleeb faces Republican challenger Mike Johanns, the former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Chuck Hagel, who chose not to run for re-election.

Kleeb stopped in McCook on Sunday evening as the last stop on his campaign swing across western Nebraska and told the crowd of about 24 that the national debt has increased more in the past seven and half years than with the past 42 presidents combined.

"We have got to make a change," he said. "We can't keep sending the same people back and expecting different results. If we do, we're to blame."

Kleeb pointed to the escalating oil prices, increasing energy costs that are affecting nearly every sector of the economy, rising healthcare costs and the lack of water policy for Nebraska as issues that have to be addressed sooner rather than later and with a new perspective.

"If something is not working … if you're happy with what we have now, then vote for (Johanns). He's a good guy," Kleeb said. "It's not about him, it's about him being part of a system that got us to this point where we are now."

The U.S. has got to get out from its dependence on foreign oil, he believes, and eventually, away from oil itself. "We can't drill our way out of this," he said.

The $700 billion that is spent annually on foreign oil could be spent investing in alternative fuel source, he said, such as ethanol, wind, solar, biodiesel and other renewable sources of energy. This would be especially good for Nebraska, he said, that "sits in the heart and soul" of alternative energy resources.

"We are on the cusp of a revolution in the way we consume and produce energy," Kleeb said and believes strongly that Nebraska is poised to become one of leading producers of these energy sources.

But that won't happen with no comprehensive energy strategy in place, he maintained. The $2.5 billion included in the Farm Bill for alternate energy resources sounds like a lot, he said, yet that same amount is spent each week in Iraq.

The lack of an energy strategy comes from a failure of leadership, he said. But nothing changes if nothing changes.

"We haven't had real leadership to get us there," he said. "But we know what has to happen. Folks know what the facts are. There is a difference between talk and action."

In addition to the necessity of alternative energy, Kleeb said his priorities included more funding for economic development in the Farm Bill; a national infrastructure plan between public and private entities, similar to a bill introduced in 2007 by Sen. Hagel and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D.-Conn.) and broadband internet access, as "broadband today is what electricity was years ago."

He also touched briefly on the Iraq War and emphasized that the solution in Iraq must come from Iraq.

Although schools and hospitals are being built with American dollars, the Iraq government must take ownership and invest some sweat equity or financial efforts to make it their own, he said, much like the way matching funds are used here for projects.

"There is no American solution -- it has to come from Iraq," he said.

Kleeb noted that donations and volunteers have exceeded his expectations during this recent campaign tour of western Nebraska. This is good news, he said, considering the third district of Nebraska, which covers the western half, is the fifth most conservative district in the country.

Still, he's taking nothing for granted: Kleeb pointed out that during his last run for public office, against Adrian Smith for the 3rd Congressional District seat, his campaign was gaining momentum until Nebraska was visited by the Vice President twice, the President once and seven members of Congress, including the Speaker of the House.

"They stopped what we started," he said. "but I think people fundamentally realize that we can do better than this."

Kleeb grew up on a military base overseas, the son of two teachers in the Department of Defense. He taught American History at Hastings College and is also director of the Morgan Ranch, a Nebraska-based beef company that promotes locally-grown food and responsible business practices. He lives in Hastings with his wife, Jane, and two young daughters.