Politicaldog101.Com

Money isn’t everything ALL THE TIME in politics…..

And sometimes the political train leaves the station in the last week before the election….

Such was the case in the Nebraska GOP US Senate primary race for who will run against Bob Kerrey ….

Fischer and Bruning are in the left of this photo…..csmonitor

Fischer’s win in the primary Tuesday is a testament to the fact that politics is still about campaigns and that money isn’t the be-all, end-all.

While Fischer’s win wasn’t necessarily a tea party win, it was reminiscent of the insurgent GOP candidacies of 2010, in which a candidate’s character and politics often meant more than money and infrastructure.

State Attorney General Jon Bruning raised more than three times as much as his two opponents combined and appeared to be next in line for the state’s Senate delegation.

State Treasurer Don Stenberg evened the financial score thanks to support from the conservative Club for Growth and Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) Senate Conservatives Fund. (It should be noted that the Club’s ads were negative against Bruning — which seemed to work — while DeMint’s group tried to prop up Stenberg — which didn’t.)

But both men had major liabilities, with Bruning suffering from a series of tough headlines in the local press and the Club’s spending, and Stenberg having lost three previous Senate campaigns.

Bruning spent $1.2 million on ads, according to a media buyer, while Stenberg, the Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund combined to spend about $1.3 million — half of it anti-Bruning, and half pro-Stenberg.

Fischer, meanwhile, ran only about $100,000 worth of ads and got another late $200,000 infusion from a super PAC run by Chicago Cubs co-owner Joe Ricketts. She benefitted from the Club’s spending, no doubt, but she wasn’t the intended beneficiary.

In other words, this was a huge upset.

Republicans will now be faced with the fact that their candidate is largely undefined for the general election. While Fischer doesn’t come out of the primary with major liabilities — she was attacked for supporting a gas tax increase, though — she also has plenty of work to do in defining herself.

Regardless, Republicans are still heavily favored to hold the seat in the general election, owing largely to the state’s deep red hue and former senator Bob Kerrey (D) having left the state for a decade after leaving the Senate.

A poll released Tuesday by Democratic-leaning automated pollster Public Policy Polling showed Fischer up 10 points on Kerrey.

More….

Note….

While the poll above shows a 10% point lead for Fischer….

Democrats believe that Kerrey has a BETTER chance running against Fischer than he would have against Bruning….