With Nebraska In, It’s a Clinton Sweep

News flash: President Clinton is going to Nebraska Friday.

So why’s that news? It seems that Nebraska is the only one of the 50 states Clinton has not visited since he became president. For months there had been speculation about whether Clinton would get to the heavily Republican state, which has voted for the GOP presidential candidate in 15 of the last 16 elections. That lone Democrat was not Clinton, of course, but Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

The president is scheduled to speak at the University of Nebraska campus at Kearney and appear at a political event in Omaha, the state’s largest city.

Nebraska Republicans have made their Clinton-less status something of a badge of honor. The state Republican chairman declared Nebraska a Clinton-free zone. But GOP Gov. Mike Johanns has urged Nebraskans to be on their best behavior during the first presidential visit since George Bush stopped at a party rally in 1990, the Associated Press reported.

Details of Clinton’s visit were still being worked out. Most likely it will be a short one.