Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great pleasure always to welcome held out of the program,
a former congressman and mayor of Omaha and is the
energizer Bunny still Hal, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, thanks for the introduction. Geary, good morning, how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm great wonderful to have you with us. I wanted
to get your take because you very student analysts, and
we look back at the election of two days ago
on a decisive win for John Ewing defeating the incumbent mayor,
and I've heard everybody weighing in on the whys and wherefores.
What's your view of how this came to be?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, first, I'd offer my public congratulations to the mayor.
Like John Ewing and his wife and my wife, Mary
and I are good friends. We've been in their homes,
I've been in ours, and I wish him well in
the next four years for leading the city forward. I
don't comment about why she lost. I might make this
(00:57):
observation about why I think she didn't win. I call
it the Barnacle theory. When you've been in public life
for a long time, and both the Mayristouthard and mayor
elect Ewing have been in public life. Actually, you might
say that John Ewing has been in public life longer
(01:18):
than Mayrist authored. But when you're an executive branch and
you have to make decisions, the barnacles attached to the
hull of the ship. And after a while, there's an
agitation that occurs over a tree being cut down, or
a pothole not being filled, or a streetcar issue, or
(01:40):
the blame for Donald Trump when you know the mayor
has nothing to do with that. But you accumulate those
barnacles on the hull of the ship, and after a while,
those barnacles wait that ship down. And so the irritation
or the agitation, the lack of understanding of an issue,
or the partisanship of the divide that actually fifty four
(02:05):
forty six is about what the partisan registration disadvantage your
advantage is. So you have those barnacles accumulate over time
and they slow your ship down. You create an impression
in the negative, but you never create an impression when
the street is smooth, or when the park grass is cut,
or when the garbage is picked up on time. That
(02:27):
doesn't create the agitation or the irritation of the memory
in the negative. I call that the barnacle, and that
Barnacle attaches to the ship, and I think that's probably
the better rationale for why she didn't win this election.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, it's very true. I think it's like in this business,
how folks who are unhappy are much more motivated to
let us have it than folks who are happy are
to comment on how much they like, which is I
think that's necessary human nature observations.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Mayri Stoutheart is a very nice person. She's a hard worker.
She's accomplished a great deal in her public life, and
she does have a legacy of accomplishment that history will record.
I think in the affirmative, I wish people would start
to give people credit for what they get done and
instead of ignoring the good things and always harping on
(03:22):
the bad things. At any rate, that's my two cents
for Garry. I think the Barnacle effect is what pulled
her down in this election. Beyond that, she should be
proud of the work she's done and she served as well,
and I think met the expectations of what any objective voter,
regardless of party, would expect from an elected mayor.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, I think the barnacle theory is very apt because
I was just telling a friend yesterday. I can't think
I'm a politician in my lifetime who served for any
length of time who didn't tick me off at some
point over one or two things. And then you look
at three terms twelve years. Those things do accumulate a
little bit in the minds of some people.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And then there was that Barnacle. That barnacle, I don't
submit is necessarily all negative. Gary, It's the irritation that's remembered,
that that that creates an impression in someone's mind, and
and that that tends to motivate them in ways that
some might describe as negative. But whatever that motivation is,
(04:23):
that barnacle stuck. It was something that just didn't fit
right with that in that voter's mind's eye, and they
remembered it, and you're right about it. That motivated them,
probably to a degree more than those that that appreciated
all the other good things that Gene Stothard has done
to help our city grow and move forward.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I thought, and I don't say this in a in
a patronizing way at all. I'm very sincere about this. Hell,
I thank you and Jeane Stuth are the most competent
mayors that we've had here in my time in Omaha.
And and that's that's big because this is a tough job,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well. I appreciate the compliment. I know the mayor would too.
Mayor Southern would too. It is a hard job. You're
up in the morning at five o'clock a six years
at the office by seven or at a meeting somewhere,
you drop into your chair or your bed about ten
thirty to eleven thirty at night, and you're up again.
And it's a twenty four to seven, seven day a
week job. And the executive branch, remember, with all the
(05:26):
respect Jean stopped it had to make decisions as an
executive and I think comparatively, with all the respect, mister
Ewing will now find that he didn't have to make
those decisions during his public service career. So far that
if you will, picked somebody off somewhere along the line.
And so that is the difference, in my opinion, substantially
(05:48):
affected maybe by a little bit of the Trump derangement syndrome,
I'm in the blue dot and mentality in this town.
Then many of them seem to be motivated on the
negative instead of on the construction. You've been the positive.
You never hear talking about what they think the solutions
ought to be to the problem. They're just complaining about
the other person exactly. I think that has a lot
(06:08):
to do with impatience with the social media, and Americans
tend to be a little bit more impatient they were
than when I was growing up as a kid, a
little bit less accepting of most everything. I think that
all augurs into the mixing bowl, and in this particular case,
all came to pass with someone who's not been in
(06:29):
city hall for twelve years. She's been there fourteen. She
had a term as a city council member, if you'll recall,
along with being mayor. So that's sixteen years in city
government and you get pretty defined. People get to know
who you are. You're very visible. In that case, comparatively,
her visibility had accumulated a lot of barnacles along the way.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Indeed, do you think, as I do, how that we've seen,
probably in our lifetime, was from left of it. I
hope we have a lot of that we've seen the
last Republican mayor.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
No, I disagree with that. I don't think that's true
at all. Local politics are much more comparative than the
state or federal politics. It's always compared to who, not, what, why,
when or how, and so over time performance makes a
big difference, and it propelled Jeans Dothard's career for twenty
years in city hall.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Yes, the Greens was.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Rated comparatively the better choice in four elections. So I
think that you just got to watch how things go
and the comparative political process will say, but who do
we choose between? What person is it going to be
that has less barnacles if they're an incumbent running for
(07:46):
reelection or if the other candidate has a better plan.
The message is important too, That's another point I might
just make briefly, Gary, that message is important and I
think maybe in this case the better message propelled John
Ewing to his victory. There's an uneasiness that goes along
(08:12):
with a decision making, whether it's a street car or
whether it's a fixing the streets, and over time that
visibility can be a blessing and it can be a disguise.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Hell, I'll always enjoy to have you on. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well, you're welcome. Good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
You bet my best and Mary and let's get together
for a kool Aid. One of these days, it's former
Roma mayor heldof
Great pleasure always to welcome held out of the program,
a former congressman and mayor of Omaha and is the
energizer Bunny still Hal, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, thanks for the introduction. Geary, good morning, how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm great wonderful to have you with us. I wanted
to get your take because you very student analysts, and
we look back at the election of two days ago
on a decisive win for John Ewing defeating the incumbent mayor,
and I've heard everybody weighing in on the whys and wherefores.
What's your view of how this came to be?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, first, I'd offer my public congratulations to the mayor.
Like John Ewing and his wife and my wife, Mary
and I are good friends. We've been in their homes,
I've been in ours, and I wish him well in
the next four years for leading the city forward. I
don't comment about why she lost. I might make this
(00:57):
observation about why I think she didn't win. I call
it the Barnacle theory. When you've been in public life
for a long time, and both the Mayristouthard and mayor
elect Ewing have been in public life. Actually, you might
say that John Ewing has been in public life longer
(01:18):
than Mayrist authored. But when you're an executive branch and
you have to make decisions, the barnacles attached to the
hull of the ship. And after a while, there's an
agitation that occurs over a tree being cut down, or
a pothole not being filled, or a streetcar issue, or
(01:40):
the blame for Donald Trump when you know the mayor
has nothing to do with that. But you accumulate those
barnacles on the hull of the ship, and after a while,
those barnacles wait that ship down. And so the irritation
or the agitation, the lack of understanding of an issue,
or the partisanship of the divide that actually fifty four
(02:05):
forty six is about what the partisan registration disadvantage your
advantage is. So you have those barnacles accumulate over time
and they slow your ship down. You create an impression
in the negative, but you never create an impression when
the street is smooth, or when the park grass is cut,
or when the garbage is picked up on time. That
(02:27):
doesn't create the agitation or the irritation of the memory
in the negative. I call that the barnacle, and that
Barnacle attaches to the ship, and I think that's probably
the better rationale for why she didn't win this election.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, it's very true. I think it's like in this business,
how folks who are unhappy are much more motivated to
let us have it than folks who are happy are
to comment on how much they like, which is I
think that's necessary human nature observations.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Mayri Stoutheart is a very nice person. She's a hard worker.
She's accomplished a great deal in her public life, and
she does have a legacy of accomplishment that history will record.
I think in the affirmative, I wish people would start
to give people credit for what they get done and
instead of ignoring the good things and always harping on
(03:22):
the bad things. At any rate, that's my two cents
for Garry. I think the Barnacle effect is what pulled
her down in this election. Beyond that, she should be
proud of the work she's done and she served as well,
and I think met the expectations of what any objective voter,
regardless of party, would expect from an elected mayor.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, I think the barnacle theory is very apt because
I was just telling a friend yesterday. I can't think
I'm a politician in my lifetime who served for any
length of time who didn't tick me off at some
point over one or two things. And then you look
at three terms twelve years. Those things do accumulate a
little bit in the minds of some people.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And then there was that Barnacle. That barnacle, I don't
submit is necessarily all negative. Gary, It's the irritation that's remembered,
that that that creates an impression in someone's mind, and
and that that tends to motivate them in ways that
some might describe as negative. But whatever that motivation is,
(04:23):
that barnacle stuck. It was something that just didn't fit
right with that in that voter's mind's eye, and they
remembered it, and you're right about it. That motivated them,
probably to a degree more than those that that appreciated
all the other good things that Gene Stothard has done
to help our city grow and move forward.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I thought, and I don't say this in a in
a patronizing way at all. I'm very sincere about this. Hell,
I thank you and Jeane Stuth are the most competent
mayors that we've had here in my time in Omaha.
And and that's that's big because this is a tough job,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well. I appreciate the compliment. I know the mayor would too.
Mayor Southern would too. It is a hard job. You're
up in the morning at five o'clock a six years
at the office by seven or at a meeting somewhere,
you drop into your chair or your bed about ten
thirty to eleven thirty at night, and you're up again.
And it's a twenty four to seven, seven day a
week job. And the executive branch, remember, with all the
(05:26):
respect Jean stopped it had to make decisions as an
executive and I think comparatively, with all the respect, mister
Ewing will now find that he didn't have to make
those decisions during his public service career. So far that
if you will, picked somebody off somewhere along the line.
And so that is the difference, in my opinion, substantially
(05:48):
affected maybe by a little bit of the Trump derangement syndrome,
I'm in the blue dot and mentality in this town.
Then many of them seem to be motivated on the
negative instead of on the construction. You've been the positive.
You never hear talking about what they think the solutions
ought to be to the problem. They're just complaining about
the other person exactly. I think that has a lot
(06:08):
to do with impatience with the social media, and Americans
tend to be a little bit more impatient they were
than when I was growing up as a kid, a
little bit less accepting of most everything. I think that
all augurs into the mixing bowl, and in this particular case,
all came to pass with someone who's not been in
(06:29):
city hall for twelve years. She's been there fourteen. She
had a term as a city council member, if you'll recall,
along with being mayor. So that's sixteen years in city
government and you get pretty defined. People get to know
who you are. You're very visible. In that case, comparatively,
her visibility had accumulated a lot of barnacles along the way.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Indeed, do you think, as I do, how that we've seen,
probably in our lifetime, was from left of it. I
hope we have a lot of that we've seen the
last Republican mayor.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
No, I disagree with that. I don't think that's true
at all. Local politics are much more comparative than the
state or federal politics. It's always compared to who, not, what, why,
when or how, and so over time performance makes a
big difference, and it propelled Jeans Dothard's career for twenty
years in city hall.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Yes, the Greens was.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Rated comparatively the better choice in four elections. So I
think that you just got to watch how things go
and the comparative political process will say, but who do
we choose between? What person is it going to be
that has less barnacles if they're an incumbent running for
(07:46):
reelection or if the other candidate has a better plan.
The message is important too, That's another point I might
just make briefly, Gary, that message is important and I
think maybe in this case the better message propelled John
Ewing to his victory. There's an uneasiness that goes along
(08:12):
with a decision making, whether it's a street car or
whether it's a fixing the streets, and over time that
visibility can be a blessing and it can be a disguise.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Hell, I'll always enjoy to have you on. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well, you're welcome. Good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
You bet my best and Mary and let's get together
for a kool Aid. One of these days, it's former
Roma mayor heldof
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