Running as a Democrat in Nebraska's 3rd District

Rebekah Davis is a 28-year-old Alliance native who is running against incumbent Rep. Adrian Smith for Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District. Newshound caught up with Davis at a local fast-food establishment to talk politics over the weekend. Here's the first installment of highlights from that conversation.

NEWSHOUND: You are young, you are a woman, you are a Democrat; this is [Nebraska's historically conservative] 3rd District. For each of those, tell me: Why is that a strength? Why is it a weakness?

DAVIS: Well, let's start with the easy one -- the being a Democrat. Sarcasm aside, it's true: The last time a Democrat held this seat was 1960. His name was Lawrence Brock. The term was '58 to '60. And I am aware of that day in, day out. But I think now, much like then, people were looking for a different option, they were looking for a change from things as usual. And when I look to this race, I recognize that a lot of us, not just in Alliance but across Nebraska, come from mixed families.

NEWSHOUND: As far as politically?

DAVIS: Right. I think if you were to, in the privacy of someone's home, if you were to ask them, "Do you know and love a person of the opposite party?" -- most people would say yes. And yet, when we're speaking in general platitudes about the other party, we somehow forget that these are our parents, our siblings, sometimes our spouses, let alone our children at times. And I wonder, why is it that that chasm on one hand is so narrow, in terms of our families, and yet so large in terms of our outlooks? ... That's why I think there's hope for a Democrat to win this seat; it's that, when a person realizes that, me as a candidate, when I'm standing up there speaking, I'm speaking first of all as a daughter of Nebraska. For me, that trumps party affiliation in many important ways. I see this as representing the people of Nebraska, not just the Democrats of Nebraska. And the reason why that's important to me is that I am a big enough person to recognize that there have been great achievements of the Republican Party and that, in my heart of hearts, I think Washington works best when both parties are actually looking toward the same goals. We are always going to disagree about how to get there, but if we can keep in mind that so many of these objectives are not Republican or Democratic goals, they're American goals.

NEWSHOUND: Your own stances don't match up with your party's platform. You identify as a fiscal conservative, you are pro-life, and I know you supported the surge [of U.S. troops in Iraq] -- these are all going to be very positive for you with the Republican Party. So that makes me wonder what it is that makes you, what very strong issue is it that keeps you identifying as a Democrat? Because you could go either way, I think. If you just, on paper, look at your stances, you land, in my eyes, more independent.

DAVIS: At the end of the day, the thing that makes me a Democrat is that I feel it is the party that wants to make sure America continues to have a middle class. It is the party that wants to make sure that the fairness of individual rights trumps those of large corporations. And, even though you're right, I don't fall lockstep with some of the platforms, and some might say key platforms, of the Democratic Party, to me it is the spirit of the Democratic Party that matters a lot more than the fact that I do fall in a different place on certain issues.
   When I look to even the needs of the state, I think it's the Democratic Party that actually represents Nebraska best, even though it's not the party in power right now. I look around at my neighbors, my friends, and I see that most people are in the same boat as me and my family -- that we are not the top 2 percent of people who would have benefited from tax cuts under former President Bush. We are not typically, people in Nebraska, who benefit from what I see as some of the larger goals of the Republican Party. And, sure, I have my disagreements within the Democratic Party, but I also think in terms of its reason for being -- there's a reason why the Democratic Party labels itself as a "Big Tent"; that, within the Democratic Party, there is room for dissent. ...
   Early on, there were some who said to me, "You know, you almost might have a better time running as an independent than as a Democrat." And, the way I see this, to me, this is about a lot more than just me, Rebekah Davis, running for Congress. This is about my larger goals of wanting to make sure that our 3rd District doesn't die. And what I mean by that is, there's a very good possibility after the next Census that if our population does not increase, if we're not doing more to bring jobs here, we could go down to two congressional districts. We have already lost congressional districts. We used to have five. And for that to happen would be a travesty.
   So, I would rather work within a party -- maybe even bring change to that party -- because, I think if you were to ask most Democrats -- again, in the privacy of their own homes, not necessarily wanting this broadcast to everyone -- I think most Democrats probably have their own individual things that maybe they're not lockstep with the party. But that is why I believe in the Democratic Party, is that there is room for dissent. There is room to be on a different page but still working toward common goals.

NEWSHOUND: And you feel that that's lacking in the Republican Party?

DAVIS: I do. ... I do not perceive there to be room for dissent within the Republican Party -- or, at least, you don't necessarily feel welcome. And the reason I say that, too, is because there are a number of people in my family who started out life as Republicans and have since switched. I joke about this all the time at Democratic meetings, that we have room as a party to reach out to Nebraskans who might not be completely satisfied with either being an independent or a Republican. But it should be a goal of the Democratic Party to make that more known, that there is room for dissent, there is room for having a different opinion on certain issues. My mom, for example, she was a registered Republican up until, I think, April.

NEWSHOUND: Oh, really?

DAVIS: Yes.

NEWSHOUND: Wow. OK.

DAVIS: I see this within my own family, that, more and more, people realize that it is not as important to maintain a generational attachment to a party as it is to find, as an individual, where do they fall within the current realities of the Republican Party, of the Democratic Party? Not past realities that might have been true in the '70s, might have been true in the '80s, but are no longer true. And, so, that's why I'm running as a Democrat, not an independent, because the larger goals of the Democratic Party remain the same as my own, even if I differ on certain platforms of the party.

NEWSHOUND: Now, theoretically, there is room for dissent, but do you not think that you'll lose some votes because of some of your stances?

DAVIS: I think you are absolutely right that there are certain votes I'll lose.

NEWSHOUND: But, then, you're more likely to win over some of the independent or Republican people who may identify with your other issues and say, "This is also something I feel strongly about -- she has the guts to stand up, to go against her party's line, to take a stance that's not going to be popular but I agree with." So maybe it's a wash, or maybe you get more votes -- it's hard to say.

DAVIS: And I won't know until the end.