I'm tired of this "Hackett is a victim" nonsense

[FreedomAngel82]

You're forgetting a very important thing with this whole ordeal. In the end HACKETT is the one who DROPPED OUT. HE is the one who did not give voters a choice. HE is the one who can not handle peer pressure. If he can't handle members within the democratic party how the hell is he going to handle the republican smear machine? He can't handle peer pressure so how is he going to do in the Senate if someone pressures him or blackmails him into voting a certain way etc? Hackett has failed twice now to show he's a political fighter. He can talk tough but he can't fight tough. The first time was when he "lost" to Schmidtt. I remember people encouraging him to have a recount and someone in the election reform board got to meet him and talk to him about election reform. What did Hackett do? He went on vacation with his family! Now he's going around smearing Brown and Brown's campaign and acting like a whiny baby who isn't a star like they thought he was. Now we know too from David Sirota that they were planning on attacking Brown as being weak on defense by voting against the "Patriot Act" and intelligence in the 90's. I'm sorry but we already have enough wimps in high position in the leadership and if Hackett can't even control his own campaign maybe it isn't his time yet. He should try something else smaller like Brown and build his way up. Being in the Senate is big boy politics. Thanks for letting me rant.

[Botany]

1. I live in Ohio

He got screwed ..... end of story.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. So why did he back down?

Did you not read my post? HE screwed you over.

[Botany]

25. Reasons

1. The same people who encouraged him to run went behind his back to support his
opponent.

2. He could not run in in the Congressional race because he had given his word (something
he takes to heart) that he would not re enter the race @ a later date to the 3 dems running
in the primary in house district #2

3. The same good old boy system that has failed to stand up to the republicans also made
back room deals to Brown to give him their support ..... this is the same shit that has helped
the dem party show up like a limp unit on a wedding night, for many years now.

4. Calls were made to key contributors telling them not to support Hackett .... Reid, Schummer,
and Ron Emanuel I am looking @ you.

5. Allegedly Dept of Defense Photos made their way into the hands of one Dan Lucas of the Brown
campaign who showed them around the state to dem county leaders and accused Hackett of war crimes.
:tinfoilhat: My guess this is classic Rove ... attack @ the other person's strength. Hackett had been
on graves detail after the battle of Fullahuja (SP ????) and pix were taken of him around dead Iraqis.

6. Hackett had asked Brown if he was going to run and Brown said no ... then he got in the race.

7. Hackett not being a fighter is laughable

8. He narrow defeat by Schmidt (the data from that race is HIGHLY SUSPECT of fraud which helped Schmidt)
Was truly amazing .... that is a very conservative area .... if he pulled #s like he did there then his
chances in the general were much better then Brown's.

[ClassWarrior]

44. Links?

NGU.

[IndianaGreen]

79. Look it up in DU! (or check post #28)

Plenty of threads were posted about this last week. Do a DU "search" or just Googgle it!

[Snivi Yllom]

70. nice summary

[ClassWarrior]

How did he get screwed by your living in Ohio?

NGU.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. I don't live in Ohio

Please read profiles.

[ClassWarrior]

13. Botany does. Please check out who's responding to whom.

B-):thumbsup:

NGU.

[OzarkDem]

16. I live in Ohio

and FreedomAngel has it right.

[ClassWarrior]

19. I'm pretty sure she does.

Even though I don't live in Ohio.

NGU.

[seabeyond]

59. lol lol i dont live in ohio, and i think she has it right too. lol n/t

[VolcanoJen]

65. So sayeth the Voice of Ohio

I live in Ohio, and I say Botany's got it right.

And never the twain shall meet.

[Kukesa]

73. See post #7 -- read profiles. Where do you live? nt

[DancingBear]

84. Sure you do

The "OzarkDem" is just to throw us off, right?

Pitiful.

[OzarkDem]

93. Dude

Missouri is my home state, I've been living in Ohio for about 20 years now.

Once an Ozarker, always an Ozarker.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. In the corner it said they were replying to the original message

[ClassWarrior]

20. Ahhh... and notice that my message also doesn't have a number.

I posted simultaneously with someone else - and that screws it all up. Sorry...

B-)

NGU.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. It's all good

:shrug: I notice that happens sometime which does get confusing. :hug:

[Kukesa]

72. I live in Ohio, too. Botany's Correct. Let's go defeat DeWine. nt

[creeksneakers2]

2. Seeing what I see now

I'm glad he was pressured to get out.

[jobycom]

4. No kidding. Dude took us for a ride, and people defend him still?

Good riddance. Glad we found it out now instead of when it mattered.

[Rowdyboy]

21. We definitely dodged a bullet....

I respect the man and what he has accomplished tremendously but this race is too winnable to take a chance with as loose a cannon as Hackett. The actions of his paid staff since his withdrawal are just icing on the cake. He's good, but not ready for prime time politics.

[RazzleDazzle]

47. Right

And those other guys -- the ones from his own party who torpedoed him -- they're the REAL heroes here.

[jobycom]

56. Right

Torpedoed him into quitting. Right.

[OzarkDem]

58. Got proof?

No? Didn't think so.

[RazzleDazzle]

61. Yes, the same which you keep ignoring, hoping it'll go away

But I'll post it again:

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2006/02/hackett_drops_out.html

And don't forget: Schumer and Reid haven't denied their "alleged" parts either, just as the Brown camp hasn't denied their part. Tonight Brown's ofc finally had a full denial that they offered but ONLY involving ONE STAFFER, not the whole staff. Prior to this, Brown's staff had only non-denial denials which made them actually sound GUILTIER than I suspect they are.

[Doctor_J]

5. Hopefully this won't chase him out of politics altogether

I am encouraged that he joined Wes's PAC. In point of fact, we were all ga-ga over him (I still am) but he found the going too rough this time around, just as Clark did in 04. If he can put this behind him and find a new spot to contribute, he'll be a real asset to the party AND vice-versa.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. You do not know how the game is being played.

I got close to it, recently. Something very strange is happening out there with the DSCC and DCCC and it ain't very likeable. It ain't very heartening. It ain't pretty. It won't help a lot, in a lot of places.

Ask FogerRox. He knows what I am talking about. Ethically, I cannot go into details.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. And your proof is where now?

[ClassWarrior]

9. I see. It's all very nasty. But you aren't at liberty to tell us why.

Heard that one before... :eyes:

NGU.

[jobycom]

10. The fox crows at midnight. The cock bites the dog. I can so no more.

Ask BunnyBugs. He knows.

:rofl:

C'mon, TS, if you read that from a less respectable DUer than yourself, how would you take it? :rofl:

[Botany]

30. now you did it!

[jobycom]

40. LOL!

:rofl:

[sallyseven]

What is with the pictures etc that he spoke with

Tweedy tonight? Do you think he will return my 100 contribution?

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Pictures??

What are you talking about?

[Ashamed_American]

28. Regarding the pictures..

Rumors came out saying Hackett had been involved in war crimes. Pictures of him messing with dead bodies and the sort. This from Mother Jones:

|snip|

Swift boats soon appeared on the horizon. A whisper campaign started: Hackett committed war crimes in Iraq—and there were photos. “The first rumor that I heard was probably a month and a half ago,” Dave Lane, chair of the Clermont County Democratic Party, told me the day after Hackett pulled out of the race. “I heard it more than once that someone was distributing photos of Paul in Iraq with Iraqi war casualties with captions or suggestions that Paul had committed some sort of atrocities. Who did it? I have no idea. It sounds like a Republican M.O. to me, but I have no proof of that. But if it was someone on my side of the fence, I have a real problem with that. I have a hard time believing that a Democrat would do that to another Democrat.”

In late November, Hackett got a call from Sen. Harry Reid. “I hear there’s a photo of you mistreating bodies in Iraq. Is it true?” demanded the Senate minority leader. “No sir,” replied Hackett. To drive home his point, Hackett traveled to Washington to show Reid’s staff the photo in question. Hackett declined to send me the photo, but he insists that it shows another Marine—not Hackett—unloading a sealed body bag from a truck. “There was nothing disrespectful or unprofessional,” he insists. “That was a photo of a Marine doing his job. If you don’t like what they’re doing, don’t send Marines into war.”

A staffer in Reid’s office confirmed that Hackett had showed them several photos. “The ones I saw were part of a diary he kept while serving in Iraq and were in no way compromising. The one picture in question depicted Marines doing their work on what looked like a scorching day in Iraq,” said the aide.

But the whispering continued, and Hackett was troubled. “It creates doubt and suspicion,” Hackett told me, saying his close supporters were asking him privately about the rumors. “It tarnishes my very strength as a candidate, my military service. It’s like you take a handful of seeds, throw them up in the wind, and they blow all around and start growing. It really bothered me.”

Hackett backers suspected the smear was being floated by Sherrod Brown’s campaign. A senior Brown staffer angrily dismissed the charge this week as “ridiculous.”
|snip|


www.BlackEyedSundays.com

[FreedomAngel82]

32. I thought that was it but wanted to be sure

I also remember someone posted in another thread how a local democratic party leader was asked about this and she said it sounded more like something the republicans would do instead of a democrat in Ohio. And funny how they're blaming Brown with no proof when there is proof they were going to smear Brown.

[OzarkDem]

33. Welcome to DU

Funny thing about that smear campaign, no one heard any of it until after Hackett pulled out of the race.

There wasn't a single trace of it anywhere in the Ohio blogosphere or in the Dem political rumor mills. The only ones saying they heard the rumors are Hackett and some members of the Republican party. Interesting, no?

If it was a "whispering campaign" it didn't work very well.

[FreedomAngel82]

36. Oh that's right!

With McCain didn't it get around within republicans very quickly?

[VolcanoJen]

66. Not true, and you know that

Ozark, you've been in the Ohio Forum throughout this debate and you know that what you're saying is misleading.

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_02.html#113936

Shortly after Paul Hackett announced the end of his Senate Democratic primary fight against Rep. Sherrod Brown, The Plain Dealer asked the Iraq war veteran if one factor in his decision was a rumor that circulated in Democratic circles during the campaign that photos existed showing he committed war crimes in Iraq.

I know you dislike the Plain Dealer's Auster as a source, but I heard the rumors, she heard the rumors, plenty of other DUers heard the rumors, plenty of bloggers heard the rumors.

None of us, including respected journalists, wished to further propel what we viewed as a Republican smear campaign aimed at impugning the integrity of a Marine Major. They were rumors, whispers. Why slice our own throats by speaking truth to a lie? Is that how we do business in the Democratic Party? It wasn't out there, obviously... so why should we have acknowledged it?

Ed Schultz blew it out of the water, Mother Jones and the Plain Dealer followed.

Just because you weren't personally privy to "the rumor" doesn't mean the rumor didn't exist. The rumor didn't show up in the blogs, out of a sense of loyalty, and I know you can understand that.

But it certainly showed up in "the Dem political rumor mills." Maybe not the ones you were plugged into, though.

Another perspective.

[OzarkDem]

14. The I'll have to ignore what you said

We've had enough of unfounded rumors and allegations.

When you have something to back it up, let us know. Otherwise, it doesn't belong in the discussion.

[bilgewaterbill]

48. I'm so sick of this....

"I know some inside shit I can't tell you. Trust me"
Put up or shut the fuck up!

[Wetzelbill]

11. whether he got screwed over or not

his behavior now is pretty shameful. Brown was always the better candidate anyway.

[FreedomAngel82]

15. That's what I'm saying

Here's what I would have told him if he asked me and I was a campaign manager:

1) Tell whoever was doing all the calling to his donors to fuck off (maybe not in those words) and stay out of Ohio politics.

2) Call up the donors and tell them they had nothing to worry about. Try to also reach out and get other donors. Maybe even set up a Paypal account with his .com site if he was so worried about money.

3) Thank Reid and Schumer for the advice but no thanks.

We need people who can fight even within our party. And if he's going to back out of politics now because of this maybe he wasn't serious. Lots of democrats have had failed campaigns but they didn't back down did they? (Look to John Kerry, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Wes Clark, Dennis Kuicinch for example)

[OzarkDem]

12. His own staffers said he wouldn't raise money

he didn't want to do the hard work.

That's the downside of being a novice in politics, not understanding how much hard work and sacrifice goes into a campaign.

You have to get on the phone and make calls 8 or 10 hours a day.

You have to get out and go to all the meetings, rallies, events around the entire state.

You have to do more than give media interviews and expect people to raise money for you.

Hackett's not the first one to learn this hard lesson and he won't be the last.

We need new people in the party but we have to bring them into races at a lower level until they get more experience.

That's the case here, nothing more, nothing less. He knew he couldn't win and he pulled out, but he made the mistake of blaming it on others instead of taking responsibility himself. He touted a phony "whispering campaign" that no one ever heard of until the other day. Then his staffers revealed that he was planning to use Rove talking points to distort Brown's record in the race.

Sherrod Brown has always behaved in an exemplary manner, has always been a grassroots politician who believes the party should be run from the bottom up. He deserves better from fellow Democrats.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Right

I did hear that about his talking points from Rove which really makes me wonder about him. Every informed person knows the truth about the "Patriot Act." And yes you have to go to events you may even be uncomfortable with. I read another thread either here in GDPolitics or GD about him not wanting to go to events. His staff would put events in Ohio down on the schedule and than at the last minute decide not to go for whatever reason. He claimed they did it without his approval but I don't know. :shrug: Hackett was expecting more than likely a smooth sailing because of his popular run with Congress. I still do believe he won that race but he didn't fight that either sadly.

[jaysunb]

24. FYI

Good post !

I dropped a client/candidate today for all the reasons you listed above, and a few others. It really hurt, particularly since he is a fellow DFA'er and I encouraged him to run for State wide office in the first place.

Politics are intense and require a lot more than a good mug and silver tongue. A candidate must be completely focused and believe what he's saying. Americans won't support you with their money or vote if you're not willing to ask them directly.

[sendero]

26. Sure..

... we cannot mount a swiftboat attack against a republican but we can damn sure mount one against an inconvenient Dem.

Brown isn't going to win jack shit. You wait and see.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. So you have a crystal ball?

Wow! Hackett wasn't winning with democrats alone. He had 24% the week HE dropped out.

[FreedomAngel82]

29. Exactly!

If you go to archive.org look for Kerry in Iowa and one video is of him at a little town in Iowa. Kerry went there and lots of politicians skip over them. At the end the students at the school are interviewed and they talk about how excited they were to have Kerry come to their town and impressed they were and he got their vote. So you do have to show people that you care about them.

[OzarkDem]

41. The Dean meme is starting to sound very Rovian

Its appearing now in conservative news sources hoping to stir up Dems and muddy the waters.

[OzarkDem]

31. Its incredibly hard work

and statewide campaigns in Ohio are notoriously brutal and expensive. Brown himself has been raising money for several years for his race. Its not something you can do easily any longer, really a shame that candidates are required to raise so much money, its wrong and should be changed.

[FreedomAngel82]

35. How can it be changed though?

You have all sorts of media outlets you want to get to. It does suck but I don't know how it would be changed. Especially when people have to scrap pennies as it is for food, clothes and other bills.

[ClassWarrior]

42. Clean Elections Financing.

Free airtime. All kinds of ways.

NGU.

[FreedomAngel82]

49. I wish

Jimmy Carter has those standards and I wish when we take back the House and hopefully Senate too we can do all these changes. Kerry and Wellstone back in 1996 had a bill for campaign reform and I wish when we take back the government we could do that.

[formernaderite]

27. Brown is the better candidate and didn't need to do this...

It's a disgrace. They wanted a pseudo repub to run against Mean Jean...and they got someone with military credentials. Why they pushed him into running for even higher office is beyond me...but to think a soldier is going to back down. What a bunch of idiots. Brown is philisophically in tune with the democratic party base, so this is a real disappointment. I thought Hackett was acting like a prima dona, but now I'm convinced he was screwed. Stupid move.

[OzarkDem]

37. Do what?

What exactly has Brown done? Please provide something to substantiate your answer other than rumor.

He's done nothing more than run his own campaign.

[MercutioATC]

60. ...a campaign that he said he wasn't going to run.

Which is WHY Hackett entered the race in the first place.

Brown doesn't bear the brunt of the blame, but he's complicit.

[OzarkDem]

82. Until Hackett screwed up

You don't begin a $15 million dollar campaign for Senate by sitting on your ass and waiting over a MONTH past the deadline to announce you're running.

He was an amateur, ran a bad campaign.

Thank Brown for having the courage to step in and save the race.

[OzarkDem]

38. ,

[TacticalPeek]

39. Sounds pretty close to "it's Brown's turn".

Baloney.

The verdict on this will come on November 7. I foresee yet another Democratic foot shot, of which I am increasingly sick and tired.

[OzarkDem]

43. Don't quit your day job

If you lived in Ohio and knew anything about Sherrod Brown, you'd know Ohio Dems have been begging him to run for this seat for years and he turned them down because he knows how brutal statewide races are and was happy with his seat on the House Energy & Commerce Commission.

We've been begging him to run for years. He finally decides to do it and look who craps all over him - his fellow Dems. Or at least those who say they are.

[TacticalPeek]

51. "We've been begging him to run for years."

Too bad he told Hackett he would stay out.

If he had not done that, and then gone back on his word, I would have no problem with him.

[FreedomAngel82]

54. Aww so you don't like competition?

Gee last time I looked Hackett wasn't a god. People can run against him. In October 2005 he was interviewed by a local paper in Ohio and he said "I'm in the race now and I'm not going anywhere." Liar!

[TacticalPeek]

57. Can you find something I say to disagree with instead of making stuff up?

I did not say Hackett was a god.

I did not say people cannot run against him.

My point, which I hereby invite you to address, is that A) national Dem leadership encouraged Hackett to run for Senate when no one else showed interest, B) Hackett checked with Brown who said he was not going to run, C) Hackett passed up an almost sure shot at a win against Schmidt and instead entered the Senate race at the party's urging, D) Hackett assured other D candidates for Schmidt's seat that he would not come back in against them, thereby helping encourage good Dem candidates into that important race.

Then, Brown sees the polls going against Dewine, goes back on his commitment to Hackett and jumps into the race, and the national Dems, particularly Schumer, make the perfidy complete.

What part of that am I supposed to like?

[OzarkDem]

78. Until Hackett dropped the ball

Thank goodness Brown was there to get in the race, when Hackett was over a month late in getting his campaign started.

How the hell did he expect to raise $15 million to run against DeWine when his own campaign staff had to badger him into declaring his candidacy and starting the campaign.

He was an amatuer, not ready for prime time. I'm glad Brown stepped in and saved the race.

[VolcanoJen]

67. Yawn.

Is Brown the victim, or is Hackett the victim? Make up your mind.

You're doing a lovely job at tearing our state apart.

[FreedomAngel82]

50. LOL!!

Oh please. Give me a fucking break. I'm not from Ohio and I'm neither supporting Brown or Hackett since I am not from there. :eyes: Please get your facts straight.

[TacticalPeek]

55. "Please get your facts straight."

What facts would that be? I did not say you were from Ohio. Are you sure you're responding to the right post?

:shrug:

[RazzleDazzle]

45. You are too funny

Yeah, Hackett is a quitter. Or something.

Maybe just a wild-eyed realist who can read the fucking handwriting on the wall. He's got his own Dem party gunning against him (not so friendly and totally intentional "friendly fire"), striking what are intended to be death blows to both his ability to raise money and his reputation as a Vet, and you fault HIM for quitting.

I like it. Shows a certain creativity -- tho nothing too unusual in the "blame the victim" category. It's the kind of self-destructive thinking that Rove would like too.

Yeah, Hackett did it to himself. That's the ticket. Come to think of it, here, I can help you out: He asked for it. Try that one.

[OzarkDem]

46. Do you have some proof?

So far, Hackett hasn't been able to back up any of his accusations.

Do you know something or have some additional information?

[FreedomAngel82]

53. Thank you

So far it's all he said vs he said shit. So where's Hackett's proof?

[RazzleDazzle]

62. I keep posting published accounts which haven't been denied

by ANYone. You keep ignoring them or pretending they don't exist. Here it is, one more time:

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2006/02/hackett_drops_out.html

[VolcanoJen]

68. You're wasting your breath.

They're never going to read that article.

Don't you get it? You're either with them, or against them.

[OzarkDem]

94. And they still have no substance

The whispering campaign that no one ever heard.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it...

[FreedomAngel82]

52. Sorry you don't like the reality

It's the truth. Hackett DID NOT FIGHT! He did not stand up and stay in the primaries. He knew he was going to lose and wanted a cop-out and now is acting like a huge asshole towards Reid, Schumer and Brown and his campaign. Please don't you fucking dare put words in my mouth! Hackett is a quitter. He did NOT fight election fraud when people BEGGED HIM (he went on vacation!!!) to and he isn't fighting here either.

[RazzleDazzle]

63. Yeah, Hackett's a quitter all right

And thank God for it. I'm so glad he could see the handwriting on the wall, realize what a dead end his party had built for him while betraying their earlier support of him, and get the hell out while he was still politically alive and could conceivably go on to fight another day years in the future.

And of course he was going to lose -- you have your own party digging your grave, you're goddamned going to lose if it takes THEM rigging the voting machines -- and by this time, I'm thinking I wouldn't put it past them.

Why is it so fucking important to you to demonize this man? He's out of the primary, what skin is it off your nose? You're sounding a little hysterical in this post -- what's the deal? A little too emotionally over-invested, are you?

[OzarkDem]

80. Yes he is a quitter

and a whiny ass cry baby. Good riddance, let him go back to Rove where he belongs.

[DancingBear]

87. You're a Democrat, right?

Just checking.

[Dr Fate]

88. Meme: trash Hackett & defend the "strategists" at all costs!!!

The "strategists" who lost the last 3 elections, I might add.

[DancingBear]

90. I'm waiting for Donna Brazille to chime in

She's our secret weapon, you know. :)

Bet she signs on for Hillary '08.

[Dr Fate]

92. Proven losers, yet we get called "Karl Rove" for not trusting them anymore

n/t

[OzarkDem]

96. Prove your point

Post some links to facts about all the negative campaigns Brown has run before. He's served 7 terms in Congress and was Secy of State of Ohio - you should be able to come up with something, right?

While your at it, give us some examples where Brown has "pushed another candidate out of a race".

I'm waiting.

[Dr Fate]

97. I dont have a problem with being negative against Bush.

Why do I have to list negative things Brown did all of a sudden? By most accounts he is a good guy.

I never made any direct accusations against Brown-but I believe Hackett's story about being contacted by the DEM leadership.

[greenohio]

75. Well put RazzleDazzle. nt

[VolcanoJen]

64. It's like this, really.

Hackett would say it was smoke-filled back rooms, swiftboating and skullduggery, Brown would say Hackett didn't poll well, he was broke, and was a bad campaigner.

Brown would say that Hackett quit, Hackett would say that they made him quit.

And never the twain shall meet.

And I'm not any more over it than you are. It might take more than a week to heal these wounds, is that so difficult to understand?

Reminder: The opponent is Mike Dewine.

[ClassWarrior]

69. This is so correct-headed. Why did you spoil it by then spewing venom...

...over the rest of the thread?

NGU.

[CarlSheeler4U]

71. Nothing is over till we say it's over!!!!

We win a blue seat and we keep on supporting the best candidates for blue seats.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/19/1730/42036

Carl
Sheeler for US Senate
www.carlsheeler.com

Be a patriot and pass the bulletin board link to every person you know and every blog you can and ask the same from them, too.

[FlaNoKerry]

74. Important!! Please post this...I am new and cannot post yet...

Clint Curtis (vote rigging programmer who testified at the Conyers hearings), is running against Tom Feeney in FLA. Look at his website. He has put his life on the line for our elections! We started here....now he is not letting the ball drop...let's help him!
Please post on DU to help him in his race...and let's get his race highlighted! Thanks to all of you here..
:hi:

here is the website!
http://www.clintcurtis.com/

[Dr Fate]

76. Having your own party Swiftboat you tends to take some of the fight out.

It's one thing to fight the Repubs & media (which he proved he had no problem doing in his last race)- it's another when your party leader, Harry Reid is behind your back sabotaging your efforts and infiltrating your fundraising base- whcih is hard enought to build to begin with.

Part of me agrees with you, but part of me knows that having your own party screw you is quite a blow. An uneccessary blow at that.

Paul was prepared to take on Bush & the media (he proved it)- but not ready to take on smiling back-stabbers. So you are half right.

[OzarkDem]

77. Proof?

The "swiftboating" is being done by Hackett to Brown, not the reverse.

Hackett is basically an unknown. Up until a few years ago he was a Republican. I've never seen him run for office until this year and in both campaigns he's gone negative right from the beginning.

OTOH, I see a good, progressive Dem who has served 7 terms and never, ever, run a negative campaign.

The guy who is equipped to defeat DeWine is in the race. Hackett needs to cease his petty bashing and smearing if he wants to stay in the Dem party.

[Dr Fate]

83. Someone responded to your call for proof in post #62.

Sure, you saw Hackett go negative- against BUSH.

In any event, I'll take Hackett's word over the "strategists" who lost the last 3 elections anyday.

I believe Hackett when he says that party insiders contacted his fundraisers and spread rumors about him.

I dont think he is the liar you suggest he is at all.

[OzarkDem]

95. And there's still no proof

The only source for the article is Hackett's campaign.

Sorry but he needs to provide us with some evidence besides his word.

I'll repeat it again..

No one heard of this campaign but Hackett and a few Dem insiders

When the rumor came to Brown's campaign he squelched it

The rumor never made it into the public

It was never in a newspaper

It was never in a blog

It was never in the gossip grapevine

Believe me, if there was a whispering campaign it would have been around the state like wildfire

THERE WAS NOTHING

What would be interesting to know - who gave passed the rumor to the Brown campaign and tried to get them to run with it.

[Dr Fate]

98. I'll take Hackett's word over anonymous message board posts.

His account sounds about like what I would expect in many cases.

[IndianaGreen]

85. Brown is not going to carry the fundie vote in Ohio

and he won't appeal to those people that voted for Bush and are now disillusioned with him but that would have voted for Hackett.

[DancingBear]

89. IG, Brown can't get votes out of southern Ohio at gunpoint

The ONLY way he wins is if Bush continues to shit on the troops by doing things like the port fiasco.

If this happens, and if America finally wakes up to the fact that George is telling it to collectively go fuck itself, then the sea change comes, and then Brown wins.

Of course, in that scenario I could win Ohio.

Well, maybe not. :)

[PassingFair]

91. Sit down, shut up, vote for who the party tells you to.

How else will we assure the growth of the empire?

Now get back to pushing your underemployed children into the military.

P.S.: Why do you hate Democrats?

:sarcasm:

[IndianaGreen]

81. Don't forget the role of that Chuck Schumer scumbag!

Harry Reid didn't do this all by himself.

[Dr Fate]

86. I'll NEVER forget this or the Pro-Unitary Executive/anti-filibuster DEMS.

They are counting on me forgetting all this- no way.