A story about ships

This Saturday the Republican State Central Committee was held in Omaha and I had the opportunity to attend and be part of the process by proxy. I was also asked to speak to the 2nd district caucus, along with many other candidates. I knew from past Central Committee meetings I would be asked if I would like to address the group, so I practiced my stump speech and was ready to go. What I had not anticipated was all the speeches before me were basically along the same lines! And why wouldn't they? The fundamentals of the Republican Party, Lower Taxes, Controlled Spending, and Economic growth all resulting from LESS Government. So as my turn approached I decided instead of putting the audience through yet another stump speech with the same content I would speak to them about ships, and I will share that with you now.

I would like to talk to you about ships. No I was not in the Navy, but I did serve for 20 years in the Air Force. The first ship I would like to talk about is Stewardship. I believe as a legislator this is a fundamental concept that must be kept in the forefront of a senators mind. We are charged with being good stewards of the state's resources. I have a demonstrated record of having been a good steward of tax dollars during my years of service in the Air Force. I was responsible for building multi million dollar budgets for equipment and tools supporting our troops in the field. I was responsible for maintaining equipment while deployed and at home station. I had the opportunity to work with contracts and budgets at multiple levels of Government from the Federal down to the State level. I took great pride in being able to maintain the highest levels of readiness while keeping within budget. So stewardship is more than a concept to talk about, it is something I have been doing for years.

The next ship is Leadership. This is a concept many people have tried to define for years so I will not stand before you and try to do so. What I can say is what I have done and what I believe the qualities of a good leader are. We need leaders in the Legislature who are willing to fight the good fight, and have a vision for Nebraska. Leaders who can build relationships with others in the legislature to accomplish the work set before the body. A leader who will do what is right over what is popular. Someone who will listen to the people and engage on issues in support of the the peoples desires. We have so much at stake in the next session and we need strong and effective leadership to carry the day. I believe my years of service and as a small business owner have demonstrated my ability to provide real-world leadership. Whether it was accomplishing the day to day tasks set before me or tackling larger issues having to work with foreign governments to determining how we could get the job done. So I believe the leadership qualities required to support the 3rd district are the same qualities I have been honing for the past 20 years.

Finally I believe good Leadership has deep roots in Followership. At all points in our lives we are followers and it is an important quality that is all too often overlooked. With the issues before our Nation and State, we cannot spend precious time and resources trying to stand out and make a name for ourselves. To be the most effective we must work together. As you might imagine one would not enjoy much of a career in the military if you couldn't learn how to follow. So I will bring this to Lincoln too.

This is in essence what I presented to the 2nd district Caucus. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. (scott.price@cox.net)

Thank you,