The Madison Project only supports conservative candidates with the ability to win and who share their values of pro-life, pro-family, limited government, and defenders of religious freedom. The Madison Project is very selective in their endorsement of conservative candidates. Indeed, they only supported two Senate candidates in 2010 (Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio in Florida) and are supporting only 3 for the 2012 election. Those candidates are Josh Mandel in Ohio, Ted Cruz in Texas...
And Don Stenberg in Nebraska.
Here, from the Madison Project website, is the explanation why they're going with Stenberg.
As the Washington, DC establishment lines up behind Jon Bruning, the current Attorney General of Nebraska, in the Nebraska Senate primary, the Madison Project is proud to endorse current Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg for the United States Senate.
Elected three times as the Attorney General of Nebraska, Stenberg is the kind of comprehensive conservative we love to endorse. Strong on fiscal issues (as State Treasurer, he asked the Nebraska legislature to cut his budget by 13% each year for the next two fiscal years), Don is also strong on social issues, personally arguing the partial birth abortion case, Stenberg versus Carhart, at the United States Supreme Court. And while Jon Bruning was silent on the debt ceiling fight, Don Stenberg did what every rock ribbed conservative running for the Senate should have done: publically opposed Senator Mitch McConnell’s scheme to allow President Obama to raise the debt ceiling without cutting federal spending.
This is going to be a tough fight all the way. Don has to get past Jon Bruning in the primary and then face incumbent Senator Ben Nelson (he of the Cornhusker Kickback infamy) in the general election. But we like his chances. This is a man who has been consistently conservative in his politics and will make the right kinds of decisions once he gets elected to the United States Senate.
As I've mentioned here several times, I'm supporting Don Stenberg as well. I hope the Madison Project's decision will encourage many other Nebraskans to join me in supporting this sincere, skilled and well proven conservative for the U.S. Senate.