The PD comes out with a piece on Hackett this morning. His camp still isn't happy with Brown's flip flop by the sounds of it
Not surprisingly, Brown's reversal has infuriated the Hackett camp. Hackett not only had begun assembling a staff in recent weeks, he also had bought a $130,000 motor home for campaigning around the state, says friend and adviser Michael Brautigam.
Ouch ! Buy a big bus to tour the state and then Whamo ! That had to sting.
The Stinging, according the the PD didn't end there.
"He did that when he firmly committed to the race, right after Brown looked him in the eye, and said, 'I'm not running. Good luck,' " said Brautigam. "Politicians who shake someone's hand, look a person in the eye and say one thing and then do exactly the opposite is what's wrong with politics in America today."
Brautigam said Hackett is considering his options this weekend while on drill duty with the Marine Reserves. He said Hackett was dismayed by a phone call Thursday from New York Sen. Charles Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, hinting "that Paul should get out of the race." Hackett is "not interested in getting in a bloody internecine fight in a primary when the real target should be Mike DeWine," Brautigam said. But if Hackett doesn't run for the Senate, he said, he's likely to bow out of politics.
They egg him on to run, then fry that egg all over his face. Ahhh Ohio Politics. The politics of party destruction.
"Paul is truly not a professional politician. Being stabbed in the back by the Democratic Party will likely cause Paul to go back to his family and his small business, and the Democrats will continue their addiction to losing," said Brautigam.
Sounds like Hackett bought a bus and then got dumped on by the Democrat party machine. I'd be pissed too. If this costs the Ohio Democratic party a candidate of the quality of a Paul Hackett it provides a perfect glimpse into why Ohio Democrats have been in such disarray for over a decade.
Unlike Hackett, a self-described conservative Democrat and gun-rights supporter, Brown might struggle to attract swing voters. He had the second-highest liberal voting score (85.7 percent) in Ohio's congressional delegation in 2004, according to the National Journal. The magazine labeled DeWine a centrist in 2004, with a 48.2 liberal score and a 51.8 conservative score.
For Brown, life certainly would be easier if Hackett withdrew. But beating DeWine is no sure thing.
You can see just what an uphill challenge lies ahead for Democrats in Ohio from a poll released today by the Dispatch on the Governors race.
For a breif primer on the whole gun issue and how it plays in this race - here is a link
The PD throws in a little from the blogs too
Even if Hackett backs out quickly, the dustup is likely to leave some scars. On the blogs, where much campaign money is generated these days, liberal activists clearly were torn last week. Some welcomed Brown as the real thing - a solid liberal with the organizational and fund-raising know-how to mount a sophisticated statewide challenge to DeWine. Others derided him for Hamlet-like indecisiveness and criticized him for double-crossing a fellow Democrat who had the potential to lure crossover voters.
Sounds about right.
The Ohio media arent going to like this much I suspect. They are hardly the bastion of liberal ideals, and losing a chance to follow around a straight talking Marine is going to be a blow. Now they get to report on a crusty Senate race between political establishments.
Just reading the tone of recent reports, it's apparent Brown has created a horrible mess for both himself and Democrats, and if he wants to have any chance of success is going to have to show some incredible political talent to get back on track. You can almost smell the press ready to pounce.
Is Hackett staying in the race ? Right now I would give it less than 50/50. Though if i were him I would be seriously thinking about it just to get even. He is the only candidate in the race who has nothing to lose and everything to gain.