Rise of John Ewing
Not Totally Surprised
Update: McDonnell campaign was on X but got on there way too late. Notice the number of followers.
By now you have heard McDonnell is out and Ewing is in. I am not surprised by these numbers.
There are several things McDonnell did wrong. First, he should have left the Democrat Party sooner. Second, he should have beaten down the Democrats for losing their way.
Also, he had some good ideas like zero based budgeting but he did not make this or property tax the main focus of his campaign. Instead, he focused on opposing the streetcar on his own political signs. Yet, popular conservatives on the City Council had already approved of the plan as did former Mayor Hal Daub.
There are other problems as well. The divide among Douglas County Republicans has prevented strong investment in pragmatic efforts such as coverting non-partisan voters to become Republican and engage in political issues. There are still many conservatives who think Republicans are not serious. There needs to be substantial efforts to reach such voters to switch to Republican as well as mend the divide within. Ewing’s image comes across as nonconfrontational and it was gave him rise in this election. But also because everyone knows who he is.
The other group which seems to be an obstacle to reality is the Omaha Jewish Communities. I understand some of conflict, but there are still many college educated Jewish people who presume anti-Semitism is on the right, or some how want to believe a Palestine State is possible when it seriously is not possible at all. Many Jewish people have respectable political talents but they hold out in supporting any Republican, let alone a conservative. Some, merely assume politics is too divisive and want to stay out of it. The end result is extremists get elected such as State Senator Megan Hunt who is stridently pro-Palestine and states so on X.
There is one other matter which contributes to the left/right divide and it is the lack of forums, particularly in social media for each side to have an honest give and take on thoughts. I noticed this with candidates in this election. Flatwater Free Press unintentially revealed the extent of the problem (https://voterguide.flatwaterfreepress.org/race/omaha-mayor/). If you think your campaign can be run on Facebook and a website, think again. Facebook won’t help you and can make things worse.
Take a look at the Mayor race:
In City Council races, Festersen easily pulled ahead in part because he was not beholden to Facebook.
District Two will be interesting as Goodwin has good social media presence. So you have already noted what I am focusing on. Can she overtake Ben Gray? I think she can if she can gain support from other candidates.
