Reply #45: He proved more than that.

[VolcanoJen]

Hackett proved that he could bring national attention to an obscure special election. Granted, it was the only game in town, but there's something about hunky Marine Iraq veterans that makes TV news producers snap to attention.

After the cameras were on him, Hackett pursued his opponent like a tiger. He creatively posed for TV interviews in front of print shops with neon "RUBBER STAMP" signs glowing in the background (I just loved that!). He called Bush a chickenhawk, and then he did it again, and then he refused to back down. Again, and again, and again.

He turned the special election into a referendum on President Bush and the war in Iraq, and he damn near won in an historically Republican district. If he'd had just a few more weeks, I really believe he could have pulled it off.

You're absolutely correct about the politics of the Brown situation, and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out, and who emerges as the victor... if we don't have to endure a bloody primary, that is.

I have nothing but respect for Sherrod Brown, but I don't think it's his time, and I'd like to see him wait and challenge Voinovich instead.