Disingenuous Don Bacon Is Desperate
Nebraska Republican U.S. House Representative Don Bacon has long falsely marketed himself as a bi-partisan moderate. He also dishonestly claimed that he is one of the most effective members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Bacon’s lone legislative accomplishment is the naming of a post office.
Bacon has pretended to be a moderate because his Omaha based Nebraska CD-02 is the most competitive Congressional district in Nebraska. Barack Obama carried Nebraska CD-02 in 2008 and Joe Biden carried this CD by six points in 2020. The Biden campaign will be campaigning again in Nebraska CD-02 in 2024.
Bacon has drawn a strong challenger in Nebraska State Senator Tony Vargas. Vargas has the well deserved reputation of working across party lines in the Nebraska legislature and has served on the Appropriations Committee. This committee has reported out balanced budgets on a bi-partisan basis every year Vargas has served on the committee.
Nebraska CD-02 is attractive to national Democrats because they can get more bang for their buck. Money spent in Omaha can go a long way because it could help Biden pick up both an electoral vote and another Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Now that Bacon is facing an onslaught from national Democrats he is desperate to cover up his extreme record. Even though he talks like a moderate, Bacon regularly votes with Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene. There is a vast chasm between Bacon’s rhetoric and record.
The best example of Bacon’s extremism can be found on the issue of abortion and women’s reproductive health freedom. “In 2021, Bacon co-sponsored H.R. 1011, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have considered a fetus a person under the law, outlawing abortion in all 50 states, with no specific exceptions.” Nebraska Examiner on September 9, 2022.
The legislation did not include abortion exceptions of any kind — including rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. If it were passed, the bill would also impose a national ban on IVF treatments.
Bacon falsely denied on X/Twitter that he supported this extreme legislation.
In a desperation move, Bacon has deleted his extreme anti-choice record from his website. He took out his promise that he “will always fight to defend the right to life.” The Omaha based Congressman also scrubbed endorsements he has received from the following extreme anti-choice groups: The Nebraska Family Alliance, National Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony List and the Faith and Freedom coalition.
Nice try. The internet never forgets. Voters will resent Bacon’s dishonesty. “One look at Don Bacon’s record is all you need to see that he is an extremist. Nebraska voters won’t be deceived. Only an out of touch DC politician would think he could get away with this.” Tony Vargas.
Trump has pressured the Nebraska legislature to repeal Nebraska’s electoral vote law. This law splits the electoral votes among the three Congressional districts. The Nebraska electoral vote law allowed Obama and Biden to carry CD02 in previous presidential elections.
Bacon has followed Trump again and supports changing Nebraska’s electoral vote law back to a winner take all format. Bacon doesn’t want the Biden campaign playing in CD02. He knows that he can’t withstand the onslaught of Democratic resources and (justifiably) lacks confidence in Trump’s ability to conduct a competent campaign.
Trump’s campaign is broke and hasn’t opened up any field offices in the battleground states. In contrast, Biden has opened up one hundred offices. Trump has kept a light campaign schedule this year due to the lack of funds and the onset of dementia. Every time Trump speaks, he embarrasses himself and generates days of negative headlines. Bacon knows that Trump is a detriment to his campaign.
“Once again, Don Bacon proves he will do anything for Trump. Bacon wants to change Nebraska’s bipartisan, decades-old election law to make sure Trump wins. But our electoral system was never meant to benefit one candidate or one party — it was set up to provide better representation and a more direct democracy for Nebraskans. Rather than stand up to Donald Trump’s bullying or for Nebraskans, Don Bacon put partisanship over his own constituents.” Tony Vargas.
Bacon’s increasing desperation is verified by a recent internal poll commissioned by the Vargas campaign. This poll indicated that Vargas led Bacon 46%-43%. Bacon beat Vargas by about two percentage points in 2022. “We started this quarter by earning a spot on the DCCC’s red-to-blue list. Then, Sabato’s Crystal Ball changed Nebraska CD02 to a TOSS-UP race.” Tony Vargas.
Vargas has harnessed this undeniable momentum to post boffo fundraising numbers. The Vargas campaign says it raised approximately $770,000 in the first quarter of 2024. Vargas currently has a staggering $1.6 million in cash on hand. That is double what he had by this point in his 2022 campaign with Bacon.
It is imperative that Vargas be elected because the House GOP simply can’t govern. The House Republicans have lurched from one self inflicted crisis to another. They have threatened to default on the debt and shut down the government. Bacon supports the extremists who have crippled the House.
The House GOP has jeopardized national security by blocking aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for six months. This has sent a signal of weakness to America’s enemies and emboldened them. You can draw a straight line between Iran’s attack on Israel and GOP obstruction. Bacon and his extreme colleagues have also allowed Russia to gain the momentum in the war in Ukraine. Bacon and the GOP House majority are dangerous.
Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX) summed it up best: “We’re dysfunctional. We are. It’s somewhat embarrassing to me…Nobody can manage this conference. The Lord Jesus himself could not manage this conference.”
The choice is simple in November — it’s America or Trump. Choose wisely. Now let’s get it done!