For what it's worth, I agree with Kos and Greg on Paul Hackett's announcement that he's dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination for Senator in Ohio. I'm sorry to see him go, and I'm sorry he feels he was done wrong along the way, but that's life in the big city. Much as the netroots helped Hackett in his strong campaign for OH-02 last year, Sherrod Brown's organization helped him at least as much. Like Atrios, I was fine with the prospect of a Hackett/Brown primary and wasn't terribly worried about it having a negative effect on the Dems' prospects in November - I seem to recall the Republicans surviving all of their nasty and expensive Senatorial primaries nationwide in 2002 with few ill effects. But like Archpundit, I surely don't blame Rahm Emanuel for trying to convince the one person who could credibly make OH-02 a competitive race to have another go at it. That's Emanuel's job, and he'd have been derelict at it if he hadn't tried.
So. My sincere thanks to Paul Hackett for all he did, and my sincere hopes for a change of heart on his decision to get out of politics for good. Best of luck in the future.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 14, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBackHoly smokes - this cheney thing - i just realized Bush is the first president to be only a heartbeat away from the vice-presidency.
Posted by: john pitcavage on February 14, 2006 6:18 PMI'm really sorry to see Paul Hackett drop out, feeling as he does. I was also sorry he didn't decide to give congress another try. It would have been delicious to see whats-her-face, who took underhanded shots at Murtha, beaten by Hackett. There's still a little time left. I hope Hackett has a change of heart.
I also hate seeing some of the blogspots hitting at Sherrod Brown. Sherrod is a fantastic man and a great Democrat. I've known Sherrod since 1972, when he was one of the kids who drove all over Ohio, meeting other McGovern volunteers at truckstops, at 2AM to hand-off yardsigns and bumperstickers. A lot of them stayed with the party and went on to be fantastic organizers and office holders. When we left Ohio, Sherrod was Secretary of State, Tony Hall was a Congressman and Tommy Sawyer was Mayor of Akron. After I was in Houston, it was a joy to turn on C-SPAN and see all three of them, members of the United States Congress. Congress was a great place then. Both the Congress and Senate canl be again, but it's going to take everyone working together.
Posted by: Mary on February 15, 2006 5:07 PM