Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Klebb says it's frustrating to hear Democrats say the only way to solidify power in Washington is to restructure elections.

I think instead of these theoretical ivory tower conversations, we should get back to nuts and bolts organizing in these states.

We used to elect Democrats in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana.

Like, should we believe in this shift?

Talk to me, Jane.

You should definitely believe in the shift.

And there's been some polls that have Dana up or, you know, dead even tie.

So but obviously, you know, the standard line for all of us is that the only number that matters is on election day.

So please go vote and go vote early.

Early voting has already started in Nebraska.

Like, what does that mean for your strategy between now and election day? Yeah.

So are Nebraska Democrats all in on voting for Osborne?

We are, and the last time around there was a lot of skepticism from some Democrats because of some of the commercials that Dan was running, and he quite frankly didn't do as much outreach into our rural communities, and that has totally changed.

He's gonna be the first candidate in our state's history that has visited all 93 counties.

He's holding open town halls.

The last time Pete Ricketts held a town hall was over 500 days ago, and he's the sitting senator, but yet doesn't have the courage to face voters.

And so I think this time around folks are really frustrated.

They are looking for fighters.

It is almost as though voters are metabolizing that attack and applying it to the Republican candidates.

Help me understand why this race is as close as it is and how Democrats are feeling about Trump's visit.

Yeah, we have a very unwelcome committee that will greet President Trump this evening.

And it is unwelcoming because of what he's done to our state.

It is harvest season right now, and diesel is so expensive that you have farmers basically not being able to get their crops out of the ground or only being able to do sections at a time.

And you have, of course, the beef imports flooding our markets with foreign beef.

You know, the last time we had a president come to Grand Island was in 2006 when we did win that Senate seat.

And they came there because even the congressional seat, Alicia, you'll remember my husband was running, he was actually winning and they dumped, you know, George Bush at the time.

What have you found is most effective?

So you have to keep reinforcing that.

Absolutely.

The old playbook would have told us to be quiet about it as election protection folks.

We would have normally said, let's keep that quiet.

Only the political operatives should know.

Let's tell the public everything's fine.

Go out and vote.

How like what is the plan for something like this on Election Day? It's the videos, but it's also, you know, what happens when there's somebody claims to be there's a cyber attack.

And then you have Abdul El-Sayed, who is leaning into this very progressive socialist Islamist agenda.

Which one works? It depends on where you live.

So, in Iowa, it may not be the best idea to have certain folks go into Iowa as your surrogates, but a Mark Kelly would be great to go into Iowa.

Would he really? Yeah, Mark Kelly would be great to go into Iowa.

Why isn't he there, then? maybe he hasn't been asked.

So, you know, a lot of our...

Telling,

Is this talk of AOC running for president a good thing or a bad thing for Democrats over the next... 42 days.

Help update everybody on what the latest state of play is.

You know, so Simone and I share a home state of Nebraska.

Go Big Red.

Go Big Red.

She is a hometown hero, in case folks don't know.

Her face is in a North Omaha welcome center.

If you're in Omaha.

Yeah.

When Democrats are in office, we know that corn and cattle prices are higher and-

and-for farmers and ranchers, and prices are lower for consumers.

And so we as Democrats have to get a lot better at showing up more in rural communities.

This issue is definitely taking fire, not only on the Senate race, but in the governor's race, where we have Linn Walsh going up against Governor Pillen in a very tight, competitive race.

It's not on national radar, but it is definitely here in Nebraska, as well as, of course, our second congressional district.

And so even in the urban areas, people are concerned about how this is impacting our rural communities and our family farmers and ranchers.

I'm not on national security that, I'm not that informed on national security.

I feel like she can learn, and everybody's got to start somewhere.

Right.

Uh, and I think as a national party, you know, you have to absorb that.

You don't blame the voters.

You blame us, the leaders who are building the infrastructure, recruiting the candidates, and giving candidates support.

So when DNC Chair Ken Martin got elected, he made a lot of commitments to do a lot of internal reforms, which we are doing.

Uh, there are more state party chairs and vice chairs and, um, other local people, not only on the coasts, that were appointed to the different committees that are the inner workings of our party.

The most powerful committee is the rules and bylaws.

Oh, yeah.

... Jane, first of all, I just- I can't talk about the strategy without going back to the congressman in North Carolina who said, "Now you know why some people don't want to do these town halls," and the idea that the National Republican Congressional Committee is telling, uh, members of Congress, "Just don't do them. Don't talk to your voters."

Re- Republicans are terrified to actually visit with their voters, and of course they are. When you take a chainsaw to the government and you threaten cutting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, uh, you don't want to face your voters, and that's exactly what Republicans are doing. And Democrats are saying, "We are gonna show up. We're gonna show up and listen to voters. We are going to listen to their anger. We are going to deliver what they are saying to the Republican members of Congress." In Nebraska, we're actually gonna have people write down comments and make a book out of their comments and deliver that to Representative Bacon, who is too scared to show up in person to listen to his voters. And this is happening not just in battleground states. This is happening in all 57 states and territories. Democrats have learned our lesson. We know that we can no longer sit behind computers and- and computer screens. We have to organize in the states, listen to voters, and make sure that we are doing the hard work, not just in DC, but in the states where organizing matters.

You know, uh, w- we showed you North Carolina, uh, last week. I think we were talking about a- a- a- something in Kansas. It was in very rural Kansas. The accusation was that it was Democratic operatives who had moved in. This was not a place- I think it was four hours from Wichita or something by- by- by drive. Um, w- what do you- how do you deal with the fact that Democrats are going into mixed purple or red areas, uh, to say, "We will listen to your concerns no matter where you are on the political spectrum?"

Look, I live in a rural community. I just got back from a rural community. We were doing a fundraiser there. Uh, it took about four miles on a dirt road to get where we were holding the fundraiser. We have to show up where folks are. That includes dirt roads where we're gonna be collecting a lot of road dust. We know that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all want the same thing. We want our public schools fully funded. We wanna make sure that we can go to a hospital not four hours away to have our- to have women deliver their babies and to get the proper healthcare that we need, especially mental health care. We know that veterans wanna be able to get the care that they need and not have to drive five hours to a major city. So we're showing up in our rural communities, and it's shameful that Republicans think that Democrats and Independents and Republicans don't exist in rural towns and that are angry that the cuts that Elon Musk and- and Donald Trump are making, that we're somehow plants. Um, it's shameful that they think that American citizens aren't pissed off that they're making these cuts, that we are somehow (laughs) just, you know- you know, indivisible activists. Um, and indivisible activists have every right to be pissed off and showing up at these events, by the way, because we're Americans and we believe in our First Amendment rights of speech.