Ben Sasse has impressive credentials. He has an undergraduate degree from Harvard; he studied at Oxford; and he has advanced degrees from St. John’s College in Annapolis and Yale University, where he obtained a doctorate in Philosophy. His dissertation at Yale won a couple of awards. He went on to serve in the departments of Health and Justice in the Bush administration, to teach at the University of Texas-Austin, and to become the president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. He’s obviously an intelligent man.
And he may become the next senator from Nebraska if he, as expected, wins the Republican primary today. The way the media is portraying this race, a win for Sasse will be a big win for the Tea Party and a giant thumb in the eye of Mitch McConnell and the Republican Establishment, who lent their support to former state Treasurer Shane Osborn.
That may be the case, but it’s not like Mr. Sasse is Queen Dumbass from the Northwoods. I don’t think he will remind anyone of Christine O’Donnell or Sharron Angle or Todd Akin. Mr. Sasse will be strongly favored to win the general election in November.
His main competition may actually come from Sid Dinsdale, who is polling in second place and has said that he wants to deemphasize social issues like abortion.
The Democratic candidate, David Domina, has been a prominent attorney in the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline. In theory, his best chance is to run against the Tea Party champion, Ben Sasse. But that assumes that Mr. Sasse is too radical for Nebraskans who tend to favor moderates like Bob Kerrey, Chuck Hagel, and Ben Nelson. Sasse may be radical, but he is also formidable.
We will know the results tonight.
