David Sirota, veteran campaign aide and strategist for Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer writes an interesting article on the Ohio Senate situation between Paul Hackett and Sherod Brown and comes to
this conclusion
For those partisans concerned only with having a Democrat win the Ohio Senate race, there is no better candidate than Brown. He is the one who possesses the most tools to take on and defeat the incumbent, and has no major weakness in comparison with Hackett. Similarly,
for activists and idealists who are concerned with putting not just any Democrat but a proven progressive in the Senate, Brown is the man. You can look at his long voting record and rest assured that to elect him is to elect one of the most committed and tenacious progressives in American politics. And for those inane pundits who think that Brown's reversal of his candidacy announcement will actually be an issue that influences voters in a primary that is six months away, get real, and
take a tip from Democratic blogger Chris Bowers. "Simply because Brown changed his mind does not count as a mark against him in my book," Bowers writes. "So freakin' what? This is politics, not a game of golf."
But this doesn't mean that Hackett should just go away. He has far more political options than Brown in terms of offices he can run for (Brown has already run and won election to nonfederal statewide offices, meaning he really cannot go back and run for one again). Hackett could, for instance, keep his powder dry and wait to run for another statewide office in the future, either for another Senate seat in for a lower-tier statewide race. In the latter contest, Hackett would be a front-runner not only for the Democratic nomination but also for a general election win.
Better yet, Hackett could, in 2006, rerun the congressional race he recently came so close to winning. By election day next autumn, there will likely be an even more favorable climate for him to win that race, as the GOP's ongoing corruption scandals amplify the country's anti-incumbent sentiment. Additionally, Brown will have every incentive to once again help Hackett with resources and organizing, as an inflated Democratic turnout in Hackett's Cincinnati district could be the deathblow for Republicans in a statewide race.
Think about it: A situation like this, even by mathematical standards, is better than having Hackett and Brown run against each other or having Hackett running for the Senate and Brown holding on to his Akron congressional seat. If Brown stayed put and Democrats used Hackett to compete for the Senate seat, the party would be forfeiting any chance to pick up the Cincinnati House seat, as there is no Democrat other than Hackett who has a chance to win that district. The better alternative is for Democrats to have Brown run for the Senate and have Hackett run for the Cincinnati House seat, with a potential net gain of two Democratic seats, not just one (Brown's current House seat, because of redistricting, is safely Democratic and would be retained).
Democrats rightly criticize the Republican Party for being an autocratic, corporate-structured entity that is disciplined to the point of squelching the democratic process -- even within its own ranks. But situations like the one brewing in Ohio show that every now and again, Democrats might consider taking a lesson from their opponents and exerting some discipline of their own. That would require the party, the activists, and the candidates to swallow individual loyalties and egos to make sure the party has the most powerful overall ticket -- a ticket that doesn't make primary roadkill out its best candidates and maximizes the party's chances to gain the most seats.
That ticket in Ohio is obvious on every level to any honest observer. It is a Brown-for-Senate and Hackett-for-Congress ticket that the Republican Party fears in the worst way -- as long as Democrats have the discipline to make that ticket a reality.
I've been saying this ever since Brown got back into the Race. Why fight like cats and dogs over the nomination for one office when we can win two? Paul's a great guy and I contributed to his House race. I'll gladly do it again. Folks, let's cool off, wise up and fight smart. We can decimate the Republicans in Ohio if we just play it smart.