NE 3: SIGN OF THE TIMES IN NEBRASKA.

NE 3: SIGN OF THE TIMES IN NEBRASKA. Indicative of the kind of year it's been for the GOP, President Bush will spend the final weekend before the midterm elections in Nebraska, campaigning in one of the country's most Republican congressional districts.

As the GOP battles nationwide to keep control of Congress, Bush's plans to attend the Sunday rally in western Nebraska's 3rd District calls attention to the competitive race there between Republican State Sen. Adrian Smith of Scottsbluff and Democrat Scott Kleeb. [...]Bush's visit means that despite fiercely contested races across the country, he is choosing to spend some precious last-minute campaign time in a district where he won 75 percent of the 2004 presidential vote and where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1.

Western Nebraska hasn't sent a Democrat to the U.S. House since 1958, and no Democrat has ever been elected from the state's 3rd congressional district, but Scott Kleeb clearly has the Republican establishment's attention.

--Steve Benen (crossposted at Midterm Madness)