Can't Hackett

Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics - New York Times

Can't say the writing wasn't on the wall for a while here. Paul Hackett drops out of the Ohio Senate race and doesn't mince words on his way out:

Mr. Hackett staged a surprisingly strong Congressional run last year in an overwhelmingly Republican district and gained national prominence for his scathing criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War. It was his performance in the Congressional race that led party leaders to recruit him for the Senate race.

But for the last two weeks, he said, state and national Democratic Party leaders have urged him to drop his Senate campaign and again run for Congress.

"This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me," said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state's filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race.

"For me, this is a second betrayal," Mr. Hackett said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me."

Coupla things. First ... Paul ... stop your whining. Look back to the near-term history of your own race for Ohio's Second district. Was it not you, yourself, and a handful of other primary contestants that tried to mount a concerted effort to keep the election out of the reach of Charlie Sanders last year? Don't whine that someone else did to you what you essentially did to someone else.

Second ... a grand sum of nobody has ever said that there's fear to support you within Democratic circles. That's a slap in the face of the folks who busted their butt to get to Ohio to help you in the Congressional race. Remember, there's a difference between someone who speaks their mind and a loose cannon. The former tend to have a more lasting voice than the latter.

At the end of the day, it should shock nobody that Sherrod Brown is the strongest Dem in the state to tackle a statewide effort. He's been through more elections. He's won some, too. Mind you, he's not entirely my cup of tea. So I don't offer that lightly. Brown is far too protectionist for my own taste. But welcome to Ohio ... where the union-friendly, northern Ohio Dems dominate.

Had the animosity Hackett expresses been genuine, then by all means ... stick it out. Take on Sherrod Brown, watch where the bulk of Democratic primary votes come from, and accept defeat graciously on E-day. But bowing out with a poison arrow isn't becoming in politics and only underscores how accurate the "insiders" were in favoring Brown over you in the first place.

Exit the stage with a bit of dignity next time. This one did you no service.

UPDATE: Kos has some quality perspective on this:

To be clear -- Hackett didn't stand a chance. He had a tenth of Brown's money, and that was before party people allegedly tried to stop Hackett's donors from giving. His field operation in the special election was literally put together and implemented by Dan Lucas. Who is Dan Lucas? Sherrod Brown's campaign manager. Hackett's netroots effort in the special election was put together by Tim Tagaris. And while Tim is now at the DNC, he helped put together Brown's netroots operation.

So it was Brown's people who helped put together the nuts and bolts of Hackett's special election campaign, and they were now working for their boss -- Sherrod Brown.

To be further clear, Brown announced his candidacy before Hackett did. Yes, Reid and Schumer were urging Hackett to run, but he wouldn't commit to running. Labor Day, the traditional announcement day for most candidates, came and went with Hackett refusing to say what his plans were. So after waiting and waiting and waiting, Brown essentially said "f*** it" and got in. It was only after news of Brown's impending announcement were leaked that Hackett decided to commit to the race.

Bottom line? Hackett didn't stand a chance, he wasn't backstabbed by his party since Brown's candidacy was announced before his was (if he'd only committed sooner, Brown might've stayed out), and the party wasn't out to screw him, they were out to get him to run in the House.

It's also worth highlighting the work that Sherrod Brown did to help launch the campaign in Ohio's second district to a level that got some DCCC attention. The accomplishments of that race may fall far greater on the candidate, Hackett, but Brown's role cannot be hidden. There's a reason that he's got on his staff many of the operational folk associated with the OH2 race.

UPDATE 2.0: Apparently Hackett isn't the only Dem to withdraw from a race in Ohio today. Eric Fingerhut has dropped out of the race for Governor:

"When I entered the race for governor, I did so with the expectation that I would be able to run an aggressive, well-funded campaign for the Democratic nomination. Despite my best efforts, and the efforts of many others, it has now become clear that this will not be the case. Therefore, I have made the decision to withdraw from the race, and will not be filing the papers necessary this week to get my name on the May 2006 Democratic Primary ballot."

Clearly, not as big a story as above. But Fingerhut will ultimately go down as the candidate that the DSCC should have gotten behind more strongly for his 2004 Senate campaign. Win or lose, it would have benefitted the Presidential campaign greatly to have a more competitive statewide campaign. Fingerhut ended up with a mere 36% after being outspent something like a gazillion-to-one by Senator Voinovich. Had national leaders not written off Fingerhut's campaign, imagine what could have been if - say - 180,000 more folks (give or take)were flushed out to vote Dem in Ohio by a more active statewide campaign. Remember that the next time you complain about a Supreme Court ruling or two over the remainder of your life and then tell me there's not some method to the "Run.Everywhere" madness.

Suffice it to say that the Dem ballot in Ohio gets a good deal clearer. The downside here, however, is that the only candidate worth any rooting interest out of me in the state is the candidate for Attorney General, Subo Chandra. Give 'em hell Subo!