Analysis: Closeness of race a surprise(Few expected Hackett's performance)

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050802/NEWS01/508030330/-1/CINCI

Analysis: Closeness of race a surprise
Few expected Hackett's performance in GOP-heavy district

By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer

The apparent win by Republican Jean Schmidt in Tuesday's 2nd Congressional District election was in no way shocking, but the fact that Democrat Paul Hackett made it a very close election is nothing short of astounding.

Seven weeks ago, when Schmidt won an 11-candidate primary, few on either side believed that, in a district where President Bush won 64 percent of the vote last fall and no Democrat had come close to winning the House seat in decades, this would be much of a contest at all.

But Hackett, the Indian Hill lawyer trying to become the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress, had won the vote in Brown, Adams, Pike and Scioto counties and came close to pulling off a monumental political upset.

Hackett supporters who gathered Tuesday night at the Aronoff Center were heartened by early returns, but by the time Hamilton County results came in and gave Schmidt a slim lead, it became apparent that the Clermont County results would likely bury any chances for a Hackett victory.

<</SNIP>>

[Erika]

1. Americans are waking up

that the GOP offer only gloom and doom, and a personal dig at this Iraqi veteran.

[Pirate Smile]

2. This was an incredibly positive sign for Dems. The Repub's canary in the

coal mine has fallen over, lost consciousness and may be terminal.

:evilgrin:

I really wanted to win but I'm still feeling very upbeat from tonight's showing. This was big.

From Swing State Project

Tidal
Posted by DavidNYC
There is no doubt about it - tonight's results represent a tidal wave in Ohio (and perhaps national) politics. In 2004, the Democrat running in OH-02 lost by 44 points. Tonight, the Democrat, Paul Hackett, lost by a mere 4 points - just 4,000 votes out of over 114,000 cast. That's one-eleventh the prior margin, and that's fighting against one of the most corrupt state Republican parties in the land.

Tonight's results exceeded my wildest expectations. Don't get me wrong - I would have been overjoyed had Hackett won. But I am still thrilled, and his tremendous showing in an incredibly red district should buoy the hopes of Democrats everywhere. Tomorrow, we can begin the important task of dissecting the Hackett campaign's operations in fine detail, to figure out what contributed most to its success - to see what results this extraordinary lab experiment yielded.

But tonight, we should celebrate an amazing, against-all-odds showing by a strong, fearless Democrat. We all owe our thanks to Paul Hackett and to all the people who joined in this effort.

So, with that I say: Thank you, Maj. Hackett, and everyone who helped you reach this day.

http://www.swingstateproject.com/2005_elections/

[rodeodance]

5. one eye at a time.

[Old and In the Way]

7. This Republican "win" won't let anyone at the RNC sleep easy tonight.

They are probably freaking out about this win, in fact. Notice how the MSM didn't have the usual focus on elections tonight. Why not? A tune-up for 06, and replay in Ohio....hmmmm, had all the makings of an interesting night of coverage.

But, the Republican corporate media had other priorities to cover, like more Halloway stories that are meaningless to 99.99999% of the population.

[trogdor]

14. You think that might be because...

...all those Marines are getting killed in Iraq? We just took a ass whuppin' over there, and that would probably push the OH-02 story off page one.

[TheFarseer]

50. I kept seeing plane crash this and plane crash that

Then Bolton coverage so I gave up and started streaming Air America, checking websites and DU for election results. I almost wondered if they were trying to not upset the fairness doctrine in the run-up to the election but now I'm pretty convinced they just didn't care.

[Pirate Smile]

52. If something has pictures they will show it over and over and over again.

Yes, there was a plane crash. Thankfully, no one died. It wasn't even in the US and it wasn't a US airline but they showed it constantly. That seemed rather bizarre since it wasn't even one of the tragedies they play up. It must have been the pictures. Woowwww, fire, fire trucks, water, smoke - now loop it and run it again - 100 plus times.

:eyes:

[DirtyDawg]

26. If that bitch of a repig...

...what's her name, Schmidt? (Note that she, or her husband decided to keep the German derivation/spelling.)...well if she decides to have one more face lift - and if this time they deal with that forehead of hers, her hair line will be even with her ears. And if Cleland, Kerry and even McCain, had gone after these guys as they should have when their military service was castigated and ridiculed, they'd have kicked their collective asses. Cleland wimped out, Kerry 'over-thought' - or stupid-ed, I'm not sure which - out, and McCain? McCain should have just walked over during one of his and geedubya's face-to-face debates in SC and slapped the shit out of the weasel.

I'm sorry Maj. Hackett didn't win yesterday, but if the demos are smart they'll get his ass out there stumping against every repig candidate that keeps 'enabling' these bastards. Of course, with these results, repig incumbents everywhere will be looking for ways to 'distance' themselves from bushco. Then again, the planned 'draw down' of troops in Iraq is the first step in 'pandering' to the repigs already in Congress.

[KTinOhio]

78. WTF was that about?

"Note that she, or her husband decided to keep the German derivation/spelling."

You could have criticized Schmidt's positions or her ethics, yet you chose to criticize her (or her husband's) name. German ancestry isn't exactly rare in that part of Ohio. Are you going to criticize my German name too? Asshole.

[CyberDivan]

37. Hackett a strong Dem?

I don't understand how Hackett ran as a strong democrat. His tv ads positioned him alongside Bush on the war. No where in the audio did he indicate his party. He ran more like a stealth candidate in is tv ads. Were were his strong democrat statements? Am I wrong here?

[TheFarseer]

51. Agree

He didn't run on party. He ran on economy and "we're f**king up the war". That's not necessarily democrat, that's just common sense.

[femrap]

54. That's what bothered me...

he tried to hide the fact that he was a Democrat. As a result, he didn't inspire me. I live in Cincinnati and just couldn't work for him. He loves guns. And he was rather condescending toward women...which are not a Special Interest group...but a strong part of the Democrat's backbone. He knew nothing about what women face as far as economic and health issues....he couldn't have cared less really.

His macho crap didn't appeal to me....but I guess it plays well in this conservative area. Oh to move back to California with all of those lovely Blue people....

[roseBudd]

64. WE can't expect candidates to say what they think until after they are ...

I happily stood in the parking lot of the Dollar Store in Madisonville for 3 hours with sweat pouring down my back telling everyone who was old enough to vote that Hackett is against tax cuts for the rich and against outsourcing.

Tax cuts for the rich do not help women.

He's prochoice, enough said.

[fearnobush]

72. He also call Treason Chimpy Bush a "Son of a Bitch"

and your party replied "we gonna bury him" and then pumped $500,000 for a Schmidt TV ad blitz airing 1 of 3 commercials to bury him. Yet everyone did not know he was a Democrat? The ballot boxes did not have a big PAUL HACKETT DEMOCRAT next to the spot were you punch the hole. Sorry but this talking point only insults all the voters of Ohio district 2. There really not that dumb.

Oh welcome to DU.

[autorank]

3. "The apparent win by Republican Jean Schmidt"--what does this tell you.

Even a Republican paper knows that when it comes to Ohio elections, you have to qualify the results when it's reasonably close.

We'll see what happened. Even if he really lost, this performance shaved 20% off of Bush's victory margin.

[Hidden Stillness]

4. This Time, Close, and We Lose; Next Time, Close, and We Win

Real Democrats are very attractive, and always connect with people, with no "spin" or "framing" or "handling." This was the message all along when people would say they didn't know what Democrats stood for or believed, and Democrats would still, anyway, put out these murky, "safe" well-we-kind-of-agree-and-we-kind-of-don't statements that people would, again, hate. I hope the top Dems are all paying attention to all of this, because the country is starting to change. Our day will come, now.

I hope Dean, Clark, Kerry and all the rest resume their leadership of the Party, Pelosi stays pissed, the DNC gets organized and back to supporting candidates across the country, and that they all realize that it was safe to come out now. You have your clues from the American people--attack!

[Erika]

6. She was really dirty slamming his Iraqi service

Love the Iraqi vet until you find they are a democrat.

[ClintonTyree]

24. That speaks volumes about how the Slugs "support" the troops...

Sliming Hackett, Kerry, Cleland.....ANY Veteran that served his country. If they're a Democrat, somehow that makes their service tainted.
How about if only REPUBLICANS are allowed to serve their country? I think that would be a great idea! After all, they're the only TRUE patriots, correct? :eyes: They're the only ones that love and respect their country, correct? Yes, since Democrats service is always questioned and slimed I think REPUBLICANS should serve in the armed forces.
You think we have trouble recruiting NOW? We wouldn't be able to amass a skeleton force if only the CHICKENSHITHAWKS were to serve! :mad:
I love the way they support the troops on the Yahoo news stories. The loss of 21 soldiers in the past two days is getting about 2 1/2 stars. Who do you think are voting those stories DOWN? It isn't US folks, it's those patriotic FREEPSHITS! They don't want any bad publicity, anything that might make their pretzelnit look bad. THAT'S how much the fucking freeper "patriots" support our troops! :grr:
GOD I hate these miserable fucks! They care NOTHING about our troops, our country, our freedoms! All they care about is their brain damaged fucking pResident, they must protect the village idiot at all costs!
To any lurking freeps, take a LOOK at yourselves. Do you care for NOTHING but propping up that miserable failure in the White House? Do you care for NOTHING than your own PARTY while your COUNTRY goes down the shitter? WAKE UP! :grr:
:rant:

[renate]

35. excellent rant

I disagree that they care nothing about the troops, though--soldiers make a useful backdrop for Bush's speeches.

The way these people support the troops by putting a yellow sticker on their cars while rating down news reports of said troops' deaths is absolutely indicative of their infantile logic: If you don't like something, close your eyes and plug your ears and make it go away.

[Divine Discontent]

36. RRRRROOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! hiss!

excellent post!!!!!!!

repigs attacking ANY military turned civilian is pure slimeball technique and proves repigs are anti american if they choose to do this...


heil ----!

[VPStoltz]

69. Why can't we get the "big guys" to say that.

All those so called * supporters say they like that he is a "straight talker." I think the Dems should start doing some straight talking and call the Repugs what they really are.

[Sparkly]

53. Preach i t, ClintonTyree!!!

I'm with you!:woohoo:

[fujiyama]

75. I listened to her on CNN

and she sounded like the typical, nasty repuke party hack.

She claimed "people are less concerned about the war and are more concerned about repealing the tax cuts which is giving them money, and are worried about the 'death tax' and drilling in ANWR".

It would be great to kick her out in '06.

[Ninga]

8. I'm too old and too jaded to enjoy this "moral victory". The people

who voted for Schmidt are still poor, without jobs, health care, and of course stupid.

Until they wake up......I'll pass on the "moral victory".

The voting public has a very short memory, will '06 in Ohio be any different??

[Modem Butterfly]

10. Actually, rural people voted for Hackett

The suburbanites who aren't poor and usually have jobs are the ones who voted for Schmidt.

[roseBudd]

65. you said: The suburbanites who aren't poor ... are the ones who voted

for Schmidt.

Or did they. There are plenty of poor whites in Clermont, BUT Clermont IS one of the biggest C. Ellen Connaly anomaly counties in 04. Recount volunteers saw round white stickers on the optiscan ballots covering the Kerry bubbles.

IMHO Clermont should have trended closer to the other rural counties

[Connie_Corleone]

11. In Clermont County, most are "values" voters.

Getting rid of a woman's right to choose and stopping gay people from getting married is more important than jobs and health care.

[aquart]

31. Because they HAVE jobs and health care.

And screw everybody else.

[democratic veteran]

33. The rich supported Schmidt, not the poor

From the Washington Post:
..."Perhaps most important, the Republican organization in Clermont County, Ms. Schmidt's base, turned out voters in greater numbers than expected, pushing her over the top. The returns showed that Ms. Schmidt won handily in most of the affluent Cincinnati suburbs, while Mr. Hackett won the district's more rural counties."

Rural counties, the 'poor' are tired of the Republicans pro-rich policies.

[GOTV]

46. Yes, the GOP beats us in GOTV activities....

... and I think part of the reason is they don't spend time saying their losses are really wins.

Were the table reversed, they would not be congratulating themselves on their "moral" victory. They would be declaring imminent destruction of the universe over this loss. They would be whipping up their troops over the continued dominance of liberals over their lives.

We, on the other hand, high five each other over our losses - as we did with the filibuster compromise that sent more Bush judges to the bench.

[Al-CIAda]

67. Yes sir. nt

[theHandpuppet]

49. I resent that misinformed and ignorant remark

The counties that went for Schmidt were the more affluent counties of Hamilton, Clermont and Warren (the Cincinnati area), where the average median income ranges between 96%- 116% of the national average.

On the other hand, the rural and poor counties in the eastern part of the district, where the median income floats arounf 67% of the national average, went for Hackett by large margins.

So if we're poor, we must be stupid and vote Republican? Maybe you need to rethink that remark. Damn, that pisses me off, and I'm old but not jaded enough not to call you on it.

[Ninga]

61. I think you just did. I stand corrected.

[theHandpuppet]

66. Okay. It's just that I've heard that same remark made so many times here..

... that I'm getting mighty touchy about it. The facts of how this vote went run contrary to many people's assumptions.

Truce?

[Ninga]

71. I have hoisted my rose scented hanky on my sword and am waiving it at you.

[paula777]

55. I'm with you. If he would have actually won then I would celebrate

but just 'coming close' - ahhh, I'll pass on that celebration

[Vinca]

9. Let's encourage Hackett to try again.

If the election had been today - 14 more Marines slaughtered in Iraq - rather than yesterday, the close margin might have gone in the other direction. In any case, Mr. Hackett showed us the way. He said what he thought, didn't "nice-ify" his comments and didn't suck Republican hiney. It proves that real Democrats might win easily in districts a tad less red.

[Maru Kitteh]

12. We should have sent him every piece of treasure we had

to pull out that win. It would have been delicious and the media coverage would have been PRICELESS.

[GOTV]

13. I think many people are misreading this result

I don't think you can extrapolate from this result to the general political landscape in Ohio and much less to the nation.

I believe Hackett did well primarily on his status as an Iraq war veteran.

If I am right then the only races for which this is relevant are races where our candidate is also an Iraq war veteran.

[Modem Butterfly]

15. I disagree

Hackett was very forceful in calling Bush out. His veteran status provided some cover, but as we have seen in Georgia with Max Cleland, in South Carolina with John McCain, and nationally with John Kerry, veteran status is often maligned and misrepresented by the Repugs, and is far from the guaranteed vote-getter it once was.

[Mr_Scarecrow]

16. He was an Iraq war veteran

Not just any old war veteran. I agree with GOTV. It's harder to tarnish his image since he's fresh from Iraq and it's harder for Repukes to negspin while all their bumper stickers say Support the Troops, meaning Iraq troops.
It's easier to Swift Boat vets of other wars because they are in the past and Amurikans forget so easily.

[Ninga]

18. All of the above are valid arguments......and they remain just that

arguements.

Moral victories are at some level hollow and until we win, we can only make ourselves feel better with anaylsis.

My view perhaps can be thought of as negative.

I apologize.

[fberknm]

56. Stop trying pull a win out of a loss

I agree with Ninga, I am sick of seeing the posts here and elsewhere celebrating how close the race was:

"Look, we ALMOST WON!", as if that matters. I am tiring of reading, listening to, participating with, and supporting a bunch of losers who think that coming close matters.

IT DOESN'T.

Our boy lost. What is worse is that he was more like a republican, appealed more to republican ideals than most democrats and should have been able to pull over some from the middle. When you couple this with Schmidt supporting tax increases, budget increases, etc., thus alienating many on the far right, all of a sudden it doesn't look quite as good as we would like.

In the end we have to completely change our paradigm. It is time to stop celebrating a loss because it was close, this is an approach practiced by losers. It is time to change. Put our message out there, do not hide from our progressive ideals, do not hide the party affiliation.

There are alot of people here who need a slap in the face and a cold splash of water to wake them up! It is time to get active, stop accepting losing and fight to win. After a loss we should be nothing by disappointed.

I know this is negative, but I do not apologize, we need to wake up! Our future depends on this. We have a large number of races coming up in 2006 that are not safe for the republicans, and of course there is no incumbent President or VP to run against in 2008.

I think the first step toward winning is to stop rationalizing a loss. Wake up and take back what we have lost.

FWH

[GOTV]

44. Yes, it's the type of veteran...

Kerry was a veteran of an unpopular war and also came back and spoke out against the war (which he should have but it was easy to use quotes to paint him as anti-troops).

This guy is a GWOT warrior. Imagine the local media. Are they going to trash a local hero. He must have gotten all kinds of favorable coverage. "He will be the first Iraq war veteran in congress" I kept hearing. Lots of free and favoriable coverage. With all the "Support the troops" bumper stickers would the local media risk a lot of negative coverage.

This guy had an effective story that very few Dems will be able to match.

[brainshrub]

17. Was there a paper trail for this election?

Were the votes counted via BBV?

You going to tell me that Hackett (An Iraqi War veteran) lost despite a lack-luster economy, an unpopular war and his opponent is in the middle of a scandal?

I have trouble believing this.

Is there a paper trail?

[Catchawave]

22. I thought the same thing.....

especially after last night when the voting system was shut down and the count delayed due to "humidity". When everything came back up, Hackett was behind by a huge amount !?!

[brainshrub]

23. Humidity?

Oh God, please tell me you are joking. Please tell me you are a troll who is just pulling my leg.

ATMs, laptops and calculators work just fine in all sorts of weather. But the humidity in Ohio brings the system down? I've lived in Florida and I've never heard of a computer going down because of the humidity.

Someone explain to me how this is possible?

[MissB]

41. Look at Hackett Election thread 3 or 4 or 5 in GDP

from last night. Yeah, they were claiming humidity.

[jmowreader]

47. It was all the condensation, Brainshrub

What happened is that the vote counters saw how Schmidt wasn't fifteen points in the lead. Condensation started to form on their brows as they realized the tabulator they had with them wasn't set up properly and started to worry about how they were going to explain this to Karl Rove. Suddenly, quarts of water started falling off their brows, landing on the central tabulator, and shorting it out.

By that time, a properly-rigged central tabulator had been prepared and delivered to the central elections office for Ohio's Second Congressional District.

[revelhag]

34. I'm thinking the same thing

All this proves is repugs can still steal an election as long as everyone is lamboozled into thinking it was "neck and neck"

Sick of those gaslighting repug creeps.

BUT for DirtyDawg-- seriously what is wrong with people keeping their orginal names--whatever their origin or gender? your statement alienates a large percentage of the midwest. Or are we all just suppose to change our 'sirs' to something like Smith or Johnson? Would that make you more comfortable?

[rinsd]

39. In a district where Dems get about 30% on avg? (nt)

[Stevepol]

57. The only thing that matters anymore in elections is the machines.

It is absolutely irrelevant how close the race was. Who knows how close the race was? How can you possibly know?

I'd say the odds are 50/50 that Hackett won the election. Every race in America nowadays is determined by the electronic voting machines. EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To extrapolate anything at all from this election or any other is totally, completely meaningless. Each person can find what he or she wants to find in it because about the only thing you can be sure of is that the result is erroneous and that it's erroneous in favor of the Repubs.

The degree of the error depends entirely on how much is necessary to turn the election. If Hackett was leading by 2% then the machines were tuned to give Schmidt a 4% edge so she'd win by 2% (unless that was within the margin requiring a recount and they didn't want a recount, which in some states might be a problem), etc.

I believe that since 2002, the Dems have, in reality (not in cyberspace), won every major election. Who can prove me wrong?

[JanusAscending]

79. What if..............???

Canvassers could look at the voter lists, and go door to door in the district in question,and ask the voters to write on a piece of paper, how they voted( Rebub. or Dem.?) Fold it and put it in a sealed ballot box, to be counted by an equal group of poll workers (50-50) I went to sleep last night and I think I must have dreamed it!!! I work at the Polls on election nights, double checking the names and addresses of those who voted in town, so we can check it against the totals. It would take a lot of work, but wouldn't it be worth it? Of course I live in a small town which would make it a lot easier:dilemma: This all just doesn't feel right. I HATE LOSING!!!!

[northzax]

19. I hope he'll take a few weeks off

and then start gunning (sorry for the pun) for '06.

[Pacifist Patriot]

60. I agree. I can't remember where I heard/read/saw it, but...

a political party has a better chance of breaking into a controlled seat if the same individual runs twice. Obviously it has to be a viable individual and not some crack pot or warm body candidate. The tricky part is that a losing campaign can be incredibly demoralizing to the candidate and potential financial backers have the perception of possible backing a two-time loser. They don't understand the two-run odds jump.

So: Convincing someone to take four years out of their life in the hopes of gaining a seat

and

Convincing people to contribute to a recorded loser is not easy but is what can turn the tide.

Sticky wicket

[JanusAscending]

80. It worked for "TRICKY DICK"!!!

I'm praying it will also work for John Kerry, after all, HE DID WIN THE LAST ELECTION! Time for him to SERVE!!:toast:

[stray cat]

20. I think he came across as a direct and honest.

He seemed like a regular guy who was outspoken and honest. He didn't speak like a politician. He didn't speak as an elitist. He wasn't anti-gun or anti-military or defense in general. He didn't do so well because he was a democrat but because of who he is generally. We need to run people who really are direct, honest and in touch with reality - that appeals to both red and blue.

[CoolOnion]

21. One step at a time...

...amazing that a blatant Bush critic got so far. That should embolden the rest of us red-state rebels!

I do hope he runs again in '06!

[ooglymoogly]

25. after reading the above posts

do we now believe this election to be fair and 04 not?
do we now believe the diebold machines have in a fit of guilt produced a clean election? do we now believe krooked ken has decided to run a clean election? I DON'T THINK SO...close elections are diebolds and the the people who run ohio's elections specialty and soooo easy to fix. watch the recounts to be behind closed doors and another code red terror alert... if there are any.

[theHandpuppet]

58. If I'm not mistaken...

The punch card ballot was used in this election.

[liam_laddie]

81. Opscans in Clermont

Clermont uses the ES&S opscan ballot (hand-marked paper)
which is then fed through "readers" at the BoE (they use four ES&S tabulators.) The sensors in these 'tabs" convert the reading into a digital signal which then goes to the main computer to "assemble" the results. Here is where electronic
fraud can occur, via pre-programming or even outside (modem or wireless) manipulation.
Sadly, Americans are way too slow, too trusting, too naive, to learn about how relatively simple electronic election theft really is. All ya need is a compliant and corrupt vendor or technician.
It's even possible, but I think unlikely, that BoE staff might not
realize their electronics have been corrupted during the vendors' maintenance and upgrade sessions which happen all the time.

[Callboy]

27. my my these buckeyes will never learn

[CAcyclist]

28. The Gears On The Republican Noise Machine Are Jamming

The RNC vowed to "bury Hackett". They pulled out all the stops, used all their swift boat smears and their candidate still just barely squeaked through.

These results means that people aren't buying the RNC dirt anymore. From now on, the RNC will have to spend even more money with even less effect. On our side, we will have to speak clearly about what we truly believe good government is and provide enough money for our candidates to free them from their corporate ties, but we will be able to do far more with far less financial resources.

The mere fact that the SF Chronicle carried stories whereby Hackett was quoted as calling Bush a chickenhawk makes all the money I donated worth it.

[ComerPerro]

29. why are people so damn stupid?

That bitch shouldn't have even come close to winning...

[volitionx]

30. Hackett was a great candidate...

I think the election could have been stolen. I happened in '04, so it could happen now. Schmidt is a fucking psycho, like most conservative Republicans and neo-cons.

Did you hear the names Limbaugh called Hackett? What a fucking pigfucker Rush is. Yeah, neo-cons act like you have to be a tough-guy soldier to get any respect, and then when you actually ARE (and are also a Democrat), they'll shit on you, like they did to Cleland and Kerry and even McCain. It's all a huge scam. The fascist neo-cons will slime ANYONE, even members of their own party.

They have NO values other than the promotion of politics over policy.
A look at how the war is being run should tell you that. Their stated "policy" is to "protect the American people", which is of course a HUGE LIE and is not being done. That's because the POLITICS trumps any stated POLICY every single time. It doesn't matter if Hackett would be BETTER for the U.S. than Schmidt--all that matters is that she's a Republican and he's a Democrat, so you can't let him get anywhere close to power.


Hackett should run again.

[DuaneBidoux]

32. Dems need to study carefully how this guy came so close in such a red

district. If he can do this in such a red district, imagine what we can do in more moderate districts that have been going Republican.

[DUBYASCREWEDUS]

38. Did anyone see this quote?

The following was a quote from Ms. Schmidt in the article appearing on the MSN site this morning:

"We began this race way back in late March, and no one had thought we’d be the focus of the national media or be the so-called first test of the Republican Party and the Bush mandate. Well, ladies and gentleman, we passed that test,” Schmidt said.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, she is correct in one respect - this is a test of the Republican Party and the Bush "mandate" and you know what - in a heavily Republican County you didn't do too good lady! In fact, I dare say the Repubs in your area had to go home and change some underwear last night 'cause from the way I see it you just squeaked on by! And the more Ohio boys that come home in a casket in the next 15 months "it ain't gonna get much better".

Am I correct? This twit has to run again for this office in 2006 - doesn't she? If so, will Hackett run? Hope so because I know he will take out bimbo the second time around.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

42. Welcome to DU

Enjoy your stay.

No matter what the short hand is, bye-bye is still not spelled byby.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TNOE]

48. Anybody else want to straighten this fucker out?

http://www.rightnation.us/forums/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=7&cmd=showentry&eid=726

[PATRICK]

59. The real shock for me

Was that our AAR station outlet, a local that boasts our station is a "sharp left turn on the dial" in its own news release simply said that in spite of massive efforts the first iraqi War veteran candidate lost. In no way was it even hinted in the blurb how significant the margin was or that this was GOP stronghold- or anything. The same lockdown on spin reaches even here which shows the grim work ahead will not be rewarded much by any information dissemination in the MSM.

The poison pill in our "leftie" station of course is that it uses CNN for all its hourly "news" report, an all too often jarring dissonance with the general content of the programming. Well, apparently they pay the price in moments like these when it comes to reporting news like this.

When LBJ got his margin smashed by Sen. McCarthy the intimations in the media were very weak then too. But the smart money and the reality of the situation led to his resignation.

Because he was fought and reality bites. Not because the mighty machine was defeated, but because its scam days were over. It is different now of course. The GOP was poising itself as the "peace with order and efficiency" party and was breathing down LBJ's neck as was competition within in the form of RFK. Sometimes one wonders if our own alternative
war party is breathing at all. There never has been competition in the GOP and it rules the roost AND the voting machinery as few dictatorships ever have before in world history.

Reality still bites. The people, if they can speak and if if rallied truthfully, would overthrow this apparent but much lied about monstrosity. Whether they can or not makes this a dicier situation than than 1968 where the end result was neither peace nor a better system after the first responsible team was deposed democratically.

This calls for greater grim determination and setting one's sights well beyond the finish line. Neither 2006 nor 2008 Democratic wins- if possible- can guarantee the real goals will be won.

Mighty cheers in the choir. Mighty movement in the grumbling plebeian masses. But for a government that is ruthlessly illegitimate in the first place there is no certain trumpet of democratic doom.

[FighttheFuture]

68. Randi Roades was pissed, they took off her show the last 1/2 hour...

when she was pushing for Hackett get out the vote. Her show is delayed in Ohio so she structured her show to have that part for the final vote. Because of the delay, she did not know until today. They told her there was a "fire at the transmitter". Yeah, right. I got some sweet voting machines for ya, also!

Hopefully this showing will further energize Dems in those districts to not give up and VOTE the next time!!


As an aside, I do not trust AAR's affiliate stations, nothing against AAR, but the stations they are on seem woefully underpowered and prone to "failures" when they most need to be on the air. For example, in Chicago it's a joke of 2000 watts from far north-west Crystal Lake (40+ mi from Chicago). Almost useless, then they delay and cut part of Randi's show, shoehorn in an abbrieviated Ed Shultz, and are only on sunup to sundown so no Mike Malloy or Majority Report!

[soulbrotha]

62. Ohio

I live in NW Ohio and at least a dozen Marines from Ohio have been killed over the past 48 hours. Had this latest IED tragedy occurred last Wednesday instead of this Wednesday, Hackett would have easily defeated Schmidt last night.

How many more deaths until the Right turns on its leaders and publicly acknowledges that the war is increasingly becoming more and more unpopular among the world -- not only Americans.

There comes a time when you can't keep saying all is well when upwards of 50 troops are killed in a short 10 day period. Even the most seasoned, senior, war-hungry conservative can only spin for so long.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jurassicpork]

70. I've blogged my responses already

...but I can't get over how, during the grounding of Clermont County's website, Hackett was behind by less than 900 votes with 48% of the polls still out then, when the site goes back online, all the polls had reported and Schmidt "won" by 4000 (later amended to about 3500).

Doesn't that strike anyone as being suspicious?

Also, were exit polls taken before election night and, if so, how much did they deviate from the "actual" results?

JP
http://jurassicpork.blogspot.com

[confludemocrat]

73. Called GWB an SOB in effect and railed on GOP corruption-not bad

This didn't hurt the guy I think it helped him get close. Ya gotta keep after this worst president ever of an asshole. People know it. Yeah they know it, so why not remind people of it.

[fujiyama]

74. Let's hope this is a sign for 2006

Hopefully more than a few repuke reps will be uneasy.

[nankerphelge]

76. I agree that a democrat was not going to win in south western Ohio..

but that's because the majority of people there are morons who have been tricked into voting against their self interest (I can make this statement as I used to live there). Maybe if the democratic party was even remotely effective in explaining WHY these people should not vote against their self interest, things would have turned out betterin this election and the presidential election. Instead, were stuck with this notion that our candidates should be more centrist, moral, anti-video game, militaristic... Sorry to say, the DLC plan is a total flop because it's based on the notion that you can out republican the republicans. Also, I'm sick of the idea that there some victory in losing. Time to try something different, as Dean's been saying for the past two years. Stop fighting political battles on their turf. Hackett's war credentials were supposed to be able to counter the perceived strength on terrorism, war in Iraq, etc? The war was a mistake, it has made us worse off in the war on terrorism, it has destroyed our reputation overseas, and to say anything differently is simply being weak and watery.

[Bumblebee]

77. Gingrich is worried/echoes of 1994 in reverse?

Gingrich Says Ohio Race Holds Lesson for GOP

By Dan Balz and Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 4, 2005; Page A04

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) warned fellow Republicans yesterday not to ignore the implications of the party's narrow victory in Tuesday's special election in Ohio, saying the public mood heading into next year's midterm elections appears to helping Democrats and hurting Republicans.

"It should serve as a wake-up call to Republicans, and I certainly take it very seriously in analyzing how the public mood evidences itself," Gingrich said. "Who is willing to show up and vote is different than who answers a public opinion poll. Clearly, there's a pretty strong signal for Republicans thinking about 2006 that they need to do some very serious planning and not just assume that everything is going to be automatically okay."



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/03/AR2005080301899.html

[FighttheFuture]

82. This really shows is Dems can loose by 1-2%, and think it's all ok-dokey!

Thom Hartman suspects there might be vote fraud from Claremont County in Ohio. We'll never now since this was done on electronic machines.

There is no basis for confidence for this campaign.

Maybe next time. Right. Don't hold your breath!