It's Easy to Be Hard and Hard to Be Smart(TIME,Joe Klein on Paul Hackett)

[Algorem]

http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1151749,00.html

Will attitude, opinions, and very little information be enough to win the primary elections?

Posted Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006

"The republican party has been hijacked by religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of other religious nuts around the world," said Paul Hackett, a recent Iraq-war combat veteran who is running for the U.S. Senate from Ohio. As you may have surmised, Hackett is a Democrat, and his statement, to the Columbus Dispatch, raised an immediate call by the Ohio G.O.P. for an apology. "I said it," Hackett replied. "I meant it. I stand by it." In fact, he has taken to repeating it at every stop along the campaign trail.

Which sent me hurtling to Ohio last week to check out the first hot contest of the 2006 election, the primary election between Hackett and a traditional lunch-pail-liberal Congressman named Sherrod Brown, which will be decided in a May 2 vote. The winner will meet incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine in the fall. It is a race with national implications—winning Ohio has become the holy grail for Democrats—but it also raises an interesting stylistic question for both parties: Is this one of those "outsider" years when the public rises up and cleans out the Congress? Hackett is, flagrantly, an amateur; Brown first ran for office soon after graduating from Yale in 1974, and he has been running ever since.

I caught up with Hackett—a tall, Hollywood-handsome sort—as he strode into a wings joint just outside Marion. At 43, he is a successful lawyer whose Marine reserve unit was deposited in the toughest part of Iraq, Ramadi and later Fallujah, in August 2004. When he arrived home—indeed, as he was embracing his wife—his best friend told him that the local congressional seat was open and that he should run for it. He did, lost well to the heavily favored Republican Jean Schmidt and received lots of positive national attention. With hardly a breath, he turned around and began his Senate campaign, after some prodding from the national-party hierarchy.

At the wings joint, he approached a small crowd of potential supporters with a combative abrasiveness that made Howard Dean seem like Mister Rogers. "I'm a strong Democrat from the great state of Ohio and damned proud of it," he thundered. "What does the Democratic Party stand for? Limited government. Strong national defense. Fair trade. Fiscal responsibility." Limited government? That was the fun part: "I don't want to send someone to Washington to invade my private life, control what goes on in my kid's school, get involved in the decisions made by my wife and her physician or to find out how many guns there are in Hackett's gun safe." He paused, looking for a reaction from any wussified, gun-hating Dems in the crowd. Finding none, he seemed lost. He didn't rise to his preferred state of indignation until the question period, when he was asked about Iraq. "The war is over. Bring 'em home. The war on terrorism is a war of ideas. We have a saying in the Marines: It's easy to be hard and hard to be smart." ...

[xchrom]

1. klein winds up liking sherrod brown.

me? i think hackett is a smart enough guy -- he is lawyer after all -- to learn how to do a good job.

democrats today have to do two things at once -- deal with the issues of the people-- and know how to deal with the republicans desisively.

in no uncertain terms.

[Boo Boo]

2. If Hackett is determined to stick with the quip about religious fanatics

in the GOP, he should change "Osama bin Laden" to "Taliban" or something like that. Using bin Laden makes it too easy for 'pubes to deflect with an outraged response, which diverts attention from the substance of the remark. Besides, one must admit that there is a major difference between bin Laden and fundy 'pubes, yes? Something to do with mass murder?

Hope he keeps it together. I'd like to see the Iraq Vets that are coming into the Dem party succeed.

[thebigidea]

3. whereas they can compare us to OBL all the live long day

assured that there will never be any outraged response.

[Boo Boo]

4. Man, ya got that right.

I like the fact that Hackett stuck to his guns: I said it, I meant it, and I stand by it. I would'nt have said it myself, but OTOH I think backing down would be a big mistake. And, as you say, they do it all the time and they sure don't seem to pay a price for it.

[carpe diem]

5. considering the way Klein insists on dumping on any Democrat...

who show some fight and gives the worst behavior of most Repubs a pass...if he's supporting Brown over Hackett, I'm more convinced than ever that Hackett is the way to go...

[cybildisobedience]

6. agreed

Of COURSE Joe Klein would like Brown....and he'd love the Dems to just sit in a corner and thank the Repukes for kicking them.

[bpilgrim]

7. Will attitude, opinions, and very little information be enough to win the

works for the reTHUGs & no one in the M$M questions them :shrug:

peace