Somewhere Karl Rove must be laughing

[Flabbergasted]

Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics

By IAN URBINA
Published: February 14, 2006
Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio's closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders.

Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent.

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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/politics/14ohio.html?_r=2&oref=login&oref=slogin

Democrats Can't Hackett

Maybe Dick Cheney can't shoot straight, but at least he didn't shoot himself in the face. Sadly, you can't say the same for the leadership of the Democratic party.
Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid and Rahm Emanuel have not only strong-armed Iraq War vet Paul Hackett out of the Ohio senate race, but out of politics altogether.

And for what? To give Eagle Scout Sherrod Brown a clear shot at the Senate?!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/nataffdaily/story/9309253/democrats_cant_hackett?rnd=1140067597973&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1212

[Cocoa]

1. Eagle Scout Sherrod Brown is my idea of a dem

fuck Karl Rove.

and fuck Rolling Stone. What do they know about Eagle Scout Sherrod Brown? Have they ever had any space between their ads for a single item about any of the work he has done in Congress?

[brentspeak]

4. Hey, if Brown was smart enough to declare for the Senate

the first time around, I'd be all for him. Hackett would have chosen to run for the Schmidt seat, and none of this garbage would have happened. We wouldn't be having this discussion right now.

But that's just alternative reality. Brown and the Democratic Powers That Be screwed everything up royally. I don't expect Brown's going to get the Democratic grassroots support for his campaign that he otherwise would have gotten had he not been such a colossal dunce.

[Cocoa]

5. I respect that

but fuck Rolling Stone and their ignorance of Eagle Scout Sherrod Brown.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Famous Eagle Scouts: Charles Whitman, Marion Barry, Fred Phelps

Among America's pantheon of sacrosanct icons is that of the Eagle Scout -- incorruptible defender of honor and virtue. The Eagle Scout is the youthful guardian of our most basic values and traditions. He is simultaneously the epitome of both the dorky patriot as well as idealistic overachiever. He is America's future, destined for great things: military careerist, CIA asset, elected officeholder, captain of industry.

To maintain this Norman Rockwell image in the public mind, the Boy Scouts of America is constantly hyping the astronauts and other successful types who once earned the Eagle Scout rank. Understandably, they don't like to talk about Eagles who went wrong: the pedophiles, murderers, corporate crooks, etc. They sweep the bad apples under the rug, and pretend that they were never Boy Scouts at all.

Ironically, it is precisely this policy of quiet "unpersoning" that fosters tall tales about notorious fallen Eagles, like Charles Manson, G. Gordon Liddy, Oliver North, and Bill Gates. None of these men were actually Eagles (although Gates almost made it -- gave up sometime after earning the rank of Life Scout). These rumors won't cease as long as the BSA just pretends to ignore the whole controversy.

http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/eagle-scouts/

[Cocoa]

8. this stinks

this crap really sucks.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Brown's record has never been the issue

and this fascination with Eagle Scouts is irrelevant!

[Cocoa]

10. I've long suspected that "Brown's record has never been the issue"

all this stuff about wanting the dems to stand up for progressive causes is just a big fraud. For some people, it's just a stance, just a pose, just a fake excuse to attack the dems. Confronted with a real progressive, they throw the most inane Rove-style shit at him. Just as I thought. Just a big fake.

[IndianaGreen]

11. We are bitching about Schumer and Reid while you guys are avoiding

the issue of their role in this sad affair by talking about Brown's record, a record which none of us have ever questioned.

[Cocoa]

12. Brown is your worst nightmare

a hard target.

Go ahead, ignore Brown's record, even though it makes no sense from a "leftist" who supposedly wants the dems to stand for something. Go ahead, keep posting all the dirt you can find about a guy that is doing just that. Keep changing the subject to a more comfortable one, to your easy targets Schumer and Reid.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Brown is not the issue, and never has been the issue

But some of you that support the tactics used by Reid & Co are trying to deflect criticism directed at the Belway Gang by using poor Sherrod Brown as a strawman.

If you are truly Brown supporters, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

[Cocoa]

14. I never posted any dirt about Hackett

in fact I donated money to his campaign.

[IndianaGreen]

15. Then I don't see why we are arguing

Sherrod Brown has a long and distinguished progressive record. No argument there from me.

Emmanuel, Schumer, and Reid are arrogant sonofbitches that think they know what the voters need better than us stupid peasants that live between the coasts.

[Cocoa]

17. very disingenuous

you've been tearing down Brown with shit as inane as the Skull and Bones shit.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Skull and Bones? Now you are really gone bonkers!

You better apologize for such a smear, which anyone else can easily check out!

I suppose this means you are indeed one of the apologists for Reid & Co and that your outrage about what you claim people are saying about Brown is rather phony.

[Mind_your_head]

2. I guess that means there isn't any Democratic Party.....

It's all controlled and manipulated. It's all Disneyland make-believe.

Perhaps Independents will speak to the things that many democrats yearn for. Yes, it's 'starting over', but it's better than going with a party that betrays you at EVERY IMPORTANT TURN!

[FrenchieCat]

3. In Disneyland, you actually get more Freedom....

Cause you get to choose what ride you're gonna get on.

In this world, we just all have to climb onboard, even if we don't fucking want to!

[Doremus]

6. Rolling Stone speaks the truth. Straight talk, it's what's going to win

the election. No more equivocating, apologetic, namby pamby weasel words. Just straight, honest words like "Bush lied," "this is a war based on lies," and so forth. Then, having uttered them, statements like "I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it."

Eagle Scout progressives can't do us one whit of good if they aren't elected. And they aren't elected unless they know how to speak forcefully and without flinching.

Is Sherrod up to it? I don't see it.

[incapsulated]

16. I wish people would actually read the Rolling Stone article

Rather than freaking over two words of it (although I admit it was a diss).