Why is Sherrod Brown smiling at me from the DU sidebar

[The Witch]

Does anyone around here actually prefer him to Paul Hackett?
:shrug: I don't even live in Ohio, but I'm just curious/asking...

[Walt Starr]

1. It's a paid ad

I know, I am backing HAckett, too.

Brown is a good Democrat and he has done a lot of service for Ohio, though.

[eyesroll]

2. Lessee -- a veteran, progressive legislator with name recognition

and a good record on which to run...or a newcomer who nobody outside the netroots and his own area of Ohio has ever heard of?

Whyever would someone prefer Sherrod Brown to Paul Hackett?

(No disrespect for Hackett. But people here tend to forget it's not James Trafficant who stepped into the race -- it's a good solid candidate.)

(BTW: Sherrod Brown is smiling at you because his campaign paid for it.)

[sendero]

5. The whole scenario..

`.... would be completely different had Brown not told Hackett he wasn't going to run.

As for which candidate has the better chance, well I vote Hackett for reasons I've already spelled out.

But those are all just opinions, let's have a primary and the folks of Ohio will get to make the choice.

[eyesroll]

10. That's a good point (assuming all the gossip about who told who what is

true.)

Then again, I'm not in Ohio, so I don't really have a horse in this race personally, and I'm not a fan in general of "vote solely for who has the best chance to beat the Republican" strategizing (although I don't discount name recognition as a factor) because, well, that's what got us Kerry.

[sendero]

17. An interesting point..

.... though in my defense I never thought Kerry was the "electable" candidate :)

[mod mom]

6. Hackett is an attorney and definitely NO TRAFFICANT. The comparison is

absurd!

[eyesroll]

7. I meant Brown.

People here got all pissed off last week when Brown announced. "How dare he derail Hackett!" they cried.

Like I said -- it's not like some nutjob with name recongition is getting into the race, but from the way people were reacting, one might think Satan himself got into the race. You've got two good candidates there.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. Trafficant was being compared to Brown.

And the statement was that Brown is far FAR from being a bad Congressman.

[cmd]

3. There are a lot of us who support Sherrod

That is not to say that Paul Hackett is not a good candidate. He is. Sherrod is also an excellect candidate. Get to know him. I've heard him, walked in a demonstration against Bush with him and followed his career for a long time. He, too, has the fire that DUers admire.

[mod mom]

4. Sherrod Brown is a good man and a progressive, but Paul Hackett

can direct more republican votes away from Mike Dewine. Paul recently ran in a OH District 02 congressional race and nearly won (some of us on ER + D believe he did especially after a one hour delay with final votes due to "high humidity"). this is a big deal in a district that went 70% for bu$h. the republican incumbent Sen Dewine has not been directly connected to either OH scandals or *'s. Also Brown is from Northern (read hi dem) Ohio while Hackett is from Cincinnati (South).

Although I like Brown, he is a lifetime politician (at a time when that is frowned upon) and Hackett is an outspoken recent Iraq War Vet. I am backing Hackett !

[wtmusic]

8. He wants to sell you a car

but a good, progressive, democratic car

*kicks tire*

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. A better question is who will fill his seat?

He's apparently popular with his constituents. What are we (via this Ohio race) giving up for him to run in the Senatorial race?

[Ms. Toad]

21. That is precisely my concern.

I don't want to trade him for a less progressive representative. The district will almost certainly stay Democratic - but short of Kucinich or Kaptor there's no one else even close in terms of a good solid equality and justice record.

Would I like to see him as a senator - absolutely. Do I think he can beat DeWine - don't know. He may be too liberal to win a statewide office in Ohio in the current climate. I'd rather not take the chance that he will be completely gone.

[SteppingRazor]

12. I like'em both, but I like Hackett in '06 and Brown against Voinovich in..

2008. By then, Hackett will be forgotten. Yesterday's news. But Brown will still be a popular Ohio Democrat. With Hackett, you've gotta strike while the iron is hot. If we play it this way in Ohio, we could have two Dem senators from Ohio by the time it's over.

[asthmaticeog]

14. Interesting perspective.

I'm going to mull that over. Right now, I'm firmly in favor of Brown precisely because Hackett is mostly a 'net celeb who's never won public office before (though his showing was utterly spectacular - damn!) and Brown's record kicks ass. And honestly, I don't think I'll ever favor an untested legislator in the Senate. I've said this before, but my dream scenario is Hackett coming up north and running for the congressional seat Brown will be vacating when he shows DeWine the Senate's exit door.

[nashville_brook]

13. i know it's a "paid" ad -- but it still feels skeevy

seems like supporting one candidate over another.

i owned a newpaper -- i know about advertising and how it works. i also know how it can offend readers -- causing dischord and giving the impression you "support" something you don't. looks like this might be a syndicated ad -- part of a package deal.

fact remains: this feels like a poke in the eye to folks who are working HARD on the vet's grassroots campaign. how can we get something up to support hackett? oh wait, we don't HAVE to pay to promote hackett b/c he has so many grassroots supporters starting threads.

not trying to complain -- just saying, this has a skeevy feeling.

[eyesroll]

16. I've worked in publishing for most of my adult life.

An ad is an ad -- sure, you have to be careful about placement and so forth (you don't put Crest next to Colgate unless it's in a special section about toothpaste or something). And most publishers will yank an ad that's patently offensive.

But we run maybe 18-30 ads a month, and if it's clearly an ad (either by design or by marking it "advertisement" or "sponsor"), I don't believe anyone actually thinks we endorse the products being advertised.

[Pithy Cherub]

15. The blogosphere fell in love with Hackett. Brown knows

he needs to reach out to see if he can feel some of that ATM blogospgere love, time and attention.

Brown plainly did not handle his entry into this senate race at all well.

Hackett:loveya: still has and is going to get much love.

[ohio_liberal]

19. Brown has some savvy bloggers working for him

Hell, he had a website up in just a few days. Hackett has some really good blogger support as well. It's gonna be interesting, to say the least.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. Cause somebody has to pay the bills

[Cocoa]

20. Brown is a natural for DU

if elected he would be among the two or three most progressive senators, if not #1.

If Bernie Sanders were elected as well, the Senate would be transformed.