The last ever, final, end all, post on Hackett's senate withdrawal.

[farmbo]

Many people are rightly upset that Maj. Paul Hackett chose to withdraw from the Ohio Senate race in favor of political veteran Cong. Sherrod Brown. Ed Schultz has been throwing a week-long hissy fit over his withdrawal, turning the normally local interest story of the Hackett-Brown dust-up into a National issue.

But how has it played out here in Ohio among activists in the progressive community? My humble observations follow.

First...Sherrod Brown CAN BEAT Mike Dewine. Check out yesterday's Hart poll:

http://www.dscc.org/news/oh/20060215_brown/

A new poll conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) shows Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown beating Senator Mike DeWine in the race for the Ohio Senate seat. Brown is beating DeWine by 3 points – 44% to 41%.

“This poll confirms what all the other public polls have been saying about the Ohio Senate race for the last few months. Mike DeWine is vulnerable and Sherrod Brown can beat him,” DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said. “The fact that Mike DeWine has been losing so far out from Election Day reflects his failure to serve the people of Ohio. Sherrod Brown will bring new ideas to the Senate that are aimed at helping average Americans and will be the next Senator from Ohio.”

Sherrod Brown...41

Sherrod Brown (lean)...3

Mike DeWine...38

Mike DeWine (lean)...3
<snip>

Second, Paul Hackett (bless his heart) was like a shot of Wild Turkey to an Ohio voting populace that is partial to near-beer.

In his Columbus Dispatch interview with Joe Hallett in January, Hackett called the 62% of Ohioans who voted in favor of the Constitutional Amendment outlawing gay marriage "absolutely Un American."
He also asserted that "...the Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world."

http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/15/20060115-B5-02.html

Sound arguments all, but each would go over like a turd in the punchbowl during the general election. Arguably, they would have insured his defeat.

Finally, Maj Hackett's campaign failed to extend common courtesies to the Ohio press and electronic media during the campaign. For example, Ohio political reporters were outraged when Hackett gave an exclusive on his withdrawal ...to the New York Times.

Spiteful,knit-picky, to be sure, but this is an irrepressible reality in any statewide campaign; cultivate your strongest relationships with local media first.

I have supported both Hackett and Brown financially and would have rallied behind either candidate, but on balance believe Sherrod Brown has the greater potential for success. The fact that he has ten times more money on hand says less about Brown or Hackett than about our country's regrettable state of campaign financing. Brown knows he will need upwards of $10 million to counter the campaign sleaze which a well-funded Dewine campaign has in store for him. Not only does Sherrod have the capacity to raise those amounts, he has the courage to vote for meaningful campaign finance reform if he is elected to the US Senate.


A final note on the alleged SwiftBoating.

I remain to be convinced that this actually occurred or if it did, that a Brown campaign operative was involved-- we in Ohio are blessed with an active, well-financed rightwing disinformation infrastructure.

But if it did-- even through a casual whisper campaign-- it is utterly unacceptable and the responsible person must be fired immediately and publicly.

Paul Hackett may have some shortcomings but lack of honor isn't one of them.

[wakeme2008]

1. You make a BAD Assumption

That Brown will be running against Devine.

I would not count on it. The Repug leaders are doing their polls and if it looks that Sherrod "Ted Kenney" Brown is beating Devine, Devine will retire to spend more time with his family and a Ringer in the form of a Movie Star or Football coach/player will be his replacement.

[Kukesa]

2. Maybe we can get George Clooney to run for us? Ha! nt

[SteppingRazor]

3. I really, really doubt that will happen...

First, DeWine isn't getting killed. It's a three point margin, probably within the margin of error of the poll. Certainly nothing, and I mean nothing, to abandon an incumbent candidate for.

Second, this is Ohio, not California. Yanking the incumbent that the voters know to replace him with some carpetbagging celebrity would be a crushing, stupid mistake, and the Ohio GOP is smart enough to know that

[farmbo]

4. To the contrary...Dewine will stay in and this race will be razor thin

Ohio's political alleys are littered with the bodies of people who have underestimated Mike Dewine.

He will not drop out and he will run a well-financed if not effective campaign.

Sherrod Brown has his hands full but he is a known quantity in Ohio, he has an impeccable progressive voting record, and can win it for us.

[WilliamPitt]

5. Hey, expert

It's "DeWine."

If you're going to mkake procalamations from the mount, spell the names right.

[tnlefty]

8. mkake? might want to fix that.

n/t

[Kukesa]

9. Sometimes we Buckeyes call him DeWino. nt

[formernaderite]

6. If Paul was swiftboated ....then I take back what I've previously posted

otherwise, he started sounding like a prima dona. If Reid or any other democratic leadership had ANYTHING to do with an underhanded campaign...THAT will be a death knell to the democratic party.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Sherrod Brown is not the issue, Schumer and Reid are!

They were behind the swiftboating of Hackett, the sabotaging of Hackett's donors, and slap in the face to all Ohio Democrats when they decided that they knew better than the primary voters what was best for Ohio.

[The Magistrate]

10. Not Really, Ma'am

The real issue is defeating as many Republicans as possible, so that they lose majority status in the Senate and the House. Whjat seems likely to further this is good; what seems likely not to advance it, or to retard it, is bad....

[RazzleDazzle]

11. Then why hasn't the Brown campaign issued a REAL denial?

Hmmmmm? Would be very simple to do. Instead they've sounded guiltier than I'd have guessed:

Hackett backers suspected the smear was being floated by Sherrod Brown’s campaign. A senior Brown staffer angrily dismissed the charge this week as “ridiculous.”

Brown campaign spokesperson Joanna Kuebler declined to respond to the rumors. She offered this prepared statement: “This campaign has never been about Paul Hackett or about Sherrod Brown. This campaign is about the hard working people of Ohio, and what Republican corruption has done to them.”

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2006/02/hackett_drops_out.html


Utterly pathetic "denial" only lends credibility to the suspicions.

[OzarkDem]

13. Because there's nothing to deny. n/t

[RazzleDazzle]

15. On the contrary. There's quite a bit to deny.

Interesting that you can't see it or won't admit it. Whichever is the case, sad.

[OzarkDem]

12. Funny thing about the whispering campaign

no one heard about it except for Hackett's campaign and purportedly, Reid's office.

If it existed, it never got outside Hackett's campaign office until after he pulled out of the race.

[DancingBear]

14. Dead wrong

People knew.

You didn't - that's obvious.

But people knew.

[Kukesa]

16. Yes they did, DB, and maybe Ozark knew, too. nt

[Algorem]

17. Name some.