By Kim Carpenter, Special to KIOS
Omaha, NE – It's one of the most hotly contested elections in recent Nebraska history: Democrat Ben Nelson faces Republican challenger Pete Ricketts for what could be a pivotal seat in the U.S. Senate. While Nelson has the advantage of being an incumbent with a long political career, business executive Ricketts is launching an all-out media campaign that is giving the current Senator a run for his money. With the race heating up months before voting booths open on November 7, KIOS 91.5 is pleased to air a Live Broadcast of the Nelson-Ricketts Debate this Friday, August 11, at 12:00 noon. Listeners can tune their radios to KIOS, or they can stream the broadcast directly from the KIOS web site (www.kios.org).
The debate, which is a co-production of Nebraska Broadcaster Association and NET Television, takes place at Lincoln's Cornhusker Hotel during the Association's annual convention. The debate moderator will be Rick Alloway, assistant professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)'s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The debate format features questions from a group of panelists, including Brian Barks (Omaha's KKAR Radio), Randy Lube (KOLN/KGIN-TV/ Lincoln-Grand Island), Dennis Kellogg (KHAS-TV/Hastings) and Frank Snyder (KRVN Radio/ Lexington), as well as closing statements from each candidate.
This election has not only far-reaching political implications for Nebraska, but for the nation as well. Political analysts predict that Republican senators in Montana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are in danger of losing their seats. This would seriously erode the GOP's current fifty-five-seat Senate majority, and Republican strategists are watching the Nebraska Senate race very closely.
For these reasons, the live debate between Nelson and Ricketts is not to be missed: Tune into KIOS this Friday and catch the debate that will most likely set the tone for the rest of election season.