Hey DNC, Hackett MUST Run Against DeWine

[ruggerson]

You gotta give Ohioans a vote where they can protest Jean Schmidt.

Hackett is the only way we all can loudly tell her how totally fucked up she is.

Paul Hackett for US Senate!

[Pam-Moby]

1. I am not from Ohio, but Hackett rocks

[marmar]

2. You've also got to give Ohians a vote...

with machines that aren't hotwired. There's something very foul down there.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. I view it as a bellwether choice

I really do. If we nominate Brown we just don't get it, and all this blogging and passion is mostly irrelevant. You've got to evaluate the individual state, district or race and identify the proper nominee. In Ohio and against an incumbent that's unquestionably Hackett.

You're not going to run a liberal apparently without extraordinary charisma like Sherrod Brown and evict a senatorial incumbent in Ohio, a state which defaults 2-4 points red. We may have only short term potential to take back some of these seats in Ohio, with the state economy in the dumps and the problems of the GOP officials.

I guess the counter argument is Brown should run for senate and if Hackett wants to challenge Schmidt directly he needs to run against her again. That ignores the reality of that district. I've looked at the historical partisan numbers. In a standard election we can't win.

[Lady President]

4. Read more about Brown

I have nothing against Hackett. I'll certainly vote for him if he is the nominee, but I disagree that his style will sway Ohio voters. He lacks funds, experience and finesse (which to some is a plus). I also think Schmidt just put her district back in play.

Are you from Ohio? Just curious because a lot of out-of-staters think they "get" Ohio. This backfired in a big way when the Kerry camp brought in all out-of-state staffers who thought they understood our people.

Feel free to call Brown a liberal. However, charisma is in the eye of the beholder, and I think Brown has far more than Hackett.

[Awsi Dooger]

5. I've written before that I would prefer Brown in office

And that in a different state I'd nominate Brown.

I don't think either one of those statements is remotely relevant to next November. My ongoing belief is to oust an incumbent you need a special type of candidate, someone who pulls from the other side and can ignite the normally contented types who lazily default to the incumbent or don't vote at all. I handicap Hackett as definitely closer to that mode than Brown.

No, I'm hardly from Ohio. I've studied statewide trends in every state for nearly 10 years and know that Ohio is basically 2-4 points GOP leaning compared to the national average. Even in a year with an atrocious state economy it still went 2 points for Bush. If it were 2-4 points Democratic leaning I'd have no troubled nominating Brown, in fact I'd probably prefer it.

But in this polarized era you're playing with minute margins and against an incumbent I don't think you can afford to play against the natural partisanship of the state by nominating someone who will be labeled liberal. In an open race I'd have much less problem with nominating Brown.

Brown may be more charismatic than I think. I've hedged in that regard in some posts, writing "someone who is apparently not considered charismatic." Admittedly I've not seen much of him and am relying on majority assessment on this board and a few others, in regard to his personality.

[autorank]

6. There is no candidate I support more than Paul Hackett for Senate.

He ran a great race, won the rural counties in his district by 60%-40% but somehow lost the more populated areas 58%-42%. Oh sure, that really happened. This was a stunning debut by a courageous politician not afraid to call a bum a bum.

Hackett will win the vote but not the election unless somebody kicks some Diebold ass in Ohio and real soon. The issues to clean up elections there were favored 50%-30% pre special election but ended up losing 50%-30%. Oh sure that happened too. Coudn't have been the 80% of the votes cast on "new and improved" Diebold machines (that we're never allowed to audit, "trade secrets" ya know).

If you want to see what happened to Hackett take a look at this.