I shouldn't resent the response to Hackett losing, but I do

[LittleClarkie]

All the "Thank you, Paul" posts and "We're proud of you" posts are getting to me.

Where's the "You better fight! We want a recount! Hackett let me down!" threads.

Oh that's right. People liked Hackett. They didn't like John Kerry. That must be the difference.

[JohnKleeb]

1. Thats probably why

I have to say, I am proud of both Hackett and Kerry. Running for office in this country is a hard thing to do, and these guys are true patriots. I hope we see Mr. Hackett again someday.

[JI7]

3. if he could win the Senate in 2006

then this loss may probably even be worth it. either way i don't think his political career is over.

[JohnKleeb]

6. Neither do I, he sounds like a great guy and Kerrysque

[FreedomAngel82]

21. I don't think so either

Tuesday night I had a strong feeling that this isn't the end of Hackett. Maybe he's another John Kerry for this generation. :shrug: Remember Kerry lost his first time running too. I hope he doesn't go back to Iraq but stays here and fights. If Hackett is another Kerry he has big shoes to fill.

[ginnyinWI]

4. echoes of a young John Kerry

Young war vet against the war and the president.
A lawyer (ok Kerry became a lawyer later)
Lost first attempt at Congress.
Even has a small, stuffy election headquarters.

[JohnKleeb]

5. Hes older than Kerry was but yeah I can see it

[sandnsea]

8. He supports winning in Iraq

He was against going in, but he's for winning now. Funny how that fact has just been ignored and hasn't been distorted into waffler, fuzzy, or supporting Bush's war.

[JohnKleeb]

9. Thats how I come to feel about Iraq

The war was totally wrong but lets at least try to give the Iraqis something good.

[sandnsea]

11. I understand

But the same people who are supporting Hackett are the ones who also spew all over other Dems for having the exact same position. Very annoying.

[JohnKleeb]

12. I know, Ive envolved in my positions if you havent noticed

[sandnsea]

13. I'm not talking about you

Other posters. I think we're not communicating well tonight. :)

[JohnKleeb]

14. Sorry I am tired

Yeah I know who you mean.

[LittleClarkie]

15. I know, it's like breaking somebody's stuff and then leaving them with it

"Gee sorry. Gotta go. Bye." Zip!

And there are Iraqis I've heard interviewed who expect us to fulfill what we said we were going to do. Though I bet those Iraqis don't have alot of faith anymore.

[JohnKleeb]

19. Sorta like that

but to me its like this war was a terrible mistake, but lets at least try to get some good out of it. If the people of Iraq can live in a Democracy, it will be a good thing. Like John I dont support permanet bases there either.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. I heard an interview

on a state level radio show. Http://www.theforum.org I think is the link. It's a show called "The Round Table" where politicians come and speak and Harold Ford junior was there speaking either in July or June and he was saying how the Iraqi's don't trust us because we don't give them their necessities like water and electricity and a lot are having dehydration and malnutrition. It's SO like Vietnam all over again. We didn't learn.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Something good?

Have you read about their Constiution?! There are some parts that are better than ours but the women section sucks!

[JohnKleeb]

25. No I havent

I meant that I wanted the Iraqi to get real democracy someday.

[JI7]

2. Hackett ins't going to run for President in 2008

Kerry may so he is seen as a threat to whoever they support that's why you will hear negative responses even when he does something positive. that's why i always say it's a waste of time reasoning with many of them.

and you shouldn't feel resentment about response to Hackett. you should view it in itself as something good.

[karynnj]

10. I think you are right on this

I couldn't see why people would think that jockeying for position for your favorite candidate in a weird fringe of the party (most of DU) was a sensible thing to do, but there is a temptation and I feel strange adnitting to doing that to some degree. I have found myself listing Kerry's many stellar abilities and arguing that he's still the best choice. (I even have developed a pretty negative opinion of Hillaryn the current front runner- though she is at least a thousand times better than Bush. Part is that there is something there I don't trust, but if I'm really honest her greatest fault is that she is not John Kerry.)

There is another group of people who are coming from a different place. I know I believed Kerry when he said he said he would fight hard to win - and I thought he would. I still believe him when he says things - because what he says tends to match his actions. This group of people seem to feel betrayed because Kerry led them to believe he could win, then didn't. This is not logical - but some people aren't logical

[sandnsea]

7. And the warmonger support Bush's occupation threads

Because he does support the concept of winning in Iraq. I know what you mean, Hackett has already conceded and there are questions on the voting. It's just bizarre. The sad thing is, I think Hackett did so well because he had rock solid support. Nobody sending mixed messages, holding their nose, none of that stuff. It matters, and they still don't get it. The good news is, we really can win if we just get energized, unified, and go do it!

[Island Blue]

16. I didn't see all the responses last night,

and I'm not awake enough this morning to seek them all out, but I did check out the final numbers. Looks like Hackett made a real good showing, but I agree with you Little Clarkie - where are the threads screaming about Hackett being a quitter, etc. etc. I also think it's interesting that most of these folks who are raving about his charisma and personality probably live no where near Ohio and thus have never actually seen Hackett very much even on TV. (I'm not saying he isn't those things because I haven't seen him either - I'm just saying they are talking about something they probably don't know much about. What else is new?)

Having said all of that, I think Hackett made a very good showing in a heavily Repukes district but. I think we (Democrats in general) should interpret his good showing as another reflection of the growing dissatisfaction of Repukes with their own party, and use it to our advantage in '06 and beyond! We must not give in to the temptation of party infighting and show the American people that we offer a chance for true change.

In the meantime, I wonder how many Clark/Hackett threads will pop up in GD and/or GDP in the next few days?

[karynnj]

18. I am so glad you wrote this, I agree completely

To me this shows that Clinton may be very wrong on trying to position the Democrats to the right of Bush on Iraq. Hackett nearly won even after acalling Bush as SOB and a chickenhawk in a very Republican district. Imagine if Hillary agrees with her husband and becomes the nomine and the Republicans end up with Hagel. Hagel could possibly have a less PNAC (for lack of better words) position on Iraq resulting in Iraq either not being an issue or possibly, in a bizarre twist leaving our candidate wedded to the increasingly unpopular Bush position as the Republican runs from it.

At this point, all the potential candidates except Feingold, Clark, and Kerry seem to be following this position. (although I am not sure about Edwards or Biden - Edwards as the only things I've read from him deal with domestic issues, Biden because I can't follow his comments.)

On Clark's positions, I am basing it on what his DU supporters say, but I haven't heard him comment on what he would do now. I know he is on Fox, but my mind would explode if I watched enough Fox to catch him. I question it only as they have played games on both Clark's and Dean's positions pre 2004 - ignoring any 2002 statements (Dean) and comparing 2003 positions to Kerry's 2002 vote (ignoring the fact that Kerry's early 2003 statements are at least comparable to theirs - he publicly pleaded with Bush to let the inspections continue and actually called for regime change here when Bush invaded.)

I am also skeptical of their claims that Clark, who voted for Nixon and Reagan, is a truer liberal than Kerry - whose liberal credentials date back to his prep school years, where he was a rare Democrat among a sea of Republicans. I am willing to take his current positions at face value, but resent his supporters need to declare that he is not just a liberal but the most unquestionabale liberal in politics.

[FreedomAngel82]

24. I'm sure it's already starting in GD Politics

That's all is there is Clark, Clark, Clark. I like the guy alright but enough! I want to talk about other people too. I mostly stick to the Kerry group, astrology, 2004 and GD. It gets so annoying with all the Clark threads. All the guy has is national security issues. He doesn't have a record like Kerry does. Or even Dean as a governor. Anybody who someone suggest's that isn't Clark is quickly shunned away whether it's Edwards, Kerry, Richardson, Feingold or Bredesen.

[Mass]

17. I found the response to Hackett refreshing

(even if some people have clearly never heard him, let alone read his positions, and would be surprised to see he is not a bleeding-heart liberal).

What is disconcerting is the response to the candidate who had the best results in 30 years as a total incumbent (a sitting VP is not a total incumbent).

But I guess some people started jockeying for 08 on Nov 3.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. I know what you mean

I liked Mr. Hackett myself. Why aren't people up in arms about him doing recounts since it was close? :eyes: Anything to bash Kerry. It gets really old and Kerry truly is a hero.