No, Fonner Park's thoroughbred season was never in doubt.

I'm talking about the contest for Sen. Chuck Hagel's seat in the U.S. Senate, a race that now includes a heavy favorite, a couple of newcomers and the chance to become a pivotal moment in Nebraska politics.

Democrat Scott Kleeb has dotted i's and crossed t's on the paperwork this week to run. Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo, a newly minted Democrat, will also be on the primary ballot.

On the GOP side will be Mike Johanns, late of the governor's mansion and president's cabinet, the man to beat with name recognition, money and the blessing of Potomac Republicans. Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn is still in the GOP mix, albeit a long shot at best.

Jon Bruning and Hal Daub realized shortly after Johanns quit his gig as secretary of agriculture that theirs would be the short straws.

Rounding out the primary field are Larry Marvin of Fremont, a Democrat, and Steve Larrick of Lincoln, from the Green Party.

These are the times when columnists write breathy treatises on democracy, supposing in print that a full field of candidates means an informed and useful debate from which Nebraskans' civic lives will be enriched.

We know better, don't we?

The newest flavor in popular phrases fits: "It is what it is."

While assured a contested race through November, we have no guarantees it will be one we'll want to claim.

Enthusiasm afoot

Moreover, political campaigns have grown increasingly expensive and nasty, even in Nebraska, where we put a premium on manners. But even with fair-minded people across the state, ad hominem attacks have gained a foothold.

Exhibit A: The Nelson/Ricketts throwdown in 2006. Anybody remember the issues?

Neither was the 1998 GOP gubernatorial primary pitting Johanns, State Auditor John Breslow and Rep. Jon Christensen for the faint of heart.

Still, we have a chance to put ourselves on the political map.

My Democratic pals tell me that the combination of caucuses and Obamamania has given the state an injection of real participatory democracy. Even Clinton supporters are enjoying a newfound energy in Nebraska politics.

My Republican pals laugh and tell me that 7 percent of voters showing up in church basements and school cafeterias to raise their hands means nothing, and in fact, probably less than that, had an actual Democratic primary with ballots been held.

Of course, the GOP view is from the catbird seat, a nest feathered with a 200,000 edge in registered voters. That's a handicap Franklin Roosevelt would find daunting come November.

Nevertheless, a new political enthusiasm is afoot, probably not to the extent one party believes but more than the other chooses to admit.

Silks flying

To which, I say, 'Hey, why not us?' Why not Nebraska as a key state, a state in play, a hotly contested state, a state that earns some props from the capos in Washington who are best at reminding us that when it comes to politics, they know best.

Memo to Kleeb, Raimondo, Johanns et al: You have the renewed attention of Nebraska voters. Use it wisely.

I hold no expectations, which, in politics, is often nothing more than a disappointment under construction. So I will not write that we have a chance at a campaign of ideas because we always do. We have in the past, however, settled for far less.

Please excuse the extended metaphor, but I've noticed that a horse race is shaping up, with blue and red silks flying and hooves pounding.

And plenty at stake.

In a real horse race we would be cheering from the rail, our bets squeezed tightly in our fists, our hopes on the line.

The difference, of course, is that 30 minutes after the race, another one starts.

In politics, we have to wait years, all the while living with both our choice and how we went about making it.