Republican Edges Out Iraq Veteran for Ohio Congress Seat(NYT take)

New York Times ^ | 8/3/05 | James Dao

[Dane]

Republican Edges Out Iraq Veteran for Ohio Congress Seat

By JAMES DAO Published: August 3, 2005

CINCINNATI, Aug 2 - A former Republican state legislator narrowly won a special Congressional election in southern Ohio on Tuesday, ending an underdog bid by her Democratic opponent to become the first combat veteran from the Iraq war to serve in Congress.

With all of the precincts reporting, Jean Schmidt, the Republican, had nearly 52 percent of the vote, edging out her challenger, Paul L. Hackett, a major in the Marine Forces Reserve, by about 4,000 votes.

"Voters declared that they support our president and approve of his leadership," Ms. Schmidt, 53, told supporters gathered at a suburban Holiday Inn late Tuesday evening. "They want us to stay the course so the enemies of freedom cannot bring their terrorism to our shores again."

SNIP

"Tonight was a victory for democracy," Mr. Hackett, 43, told supporters at a downtown Cincinnati theater. "People had a real choice." Mr. Hackett has said he expects to sign up for another tour of duty in Iraq, possibly next summer.

SNIP

Mr. Hackett called Mr. Bush a "chicken hawk" for failing to serve in Vietnam and "a cheerleader for the enemy" for challenging Islamic militants to "bring it on" against American troops. He also sharply questioned his policies on tax cuts and Social Security.

But in a nod to Mr. Bush's popularity here, Mr. Hackett used a clip of the president praising military veterans in a television commercial, prompting the Republican National Committee to issue a letter of protest against his campaign.

[Dane]

Wow I guess the word democrat these days, is like box office poison.

Notice how Hackett is an Iraq Veteran and not the democrat nominee.

[inkling]

Apparently, he tried to run as Dubya's soulmate. Thankfully, the majority of voters saw through his Dem deception.

[okie01]

Notice how Hackett is an Iraq Veteran and not the democrat nominee.

What happened, apparently, is that a little-known Republican defeated a well-funded Democrat running as a Republican.

[Ann Archy]

Thanks to Rush!!!

[billclintonwillrotinhell]

Mr. Hackett has said he expects to sign up for another tour of duty in Iraq, possibly next summer.

Whatever his politics are, it sure appears this guy loves his country and wants to serve it anyway he can. Something tells me we haven't heard the last from him in the political arena.

[CyberAnt]

They had a whole lot of help from Rush Limbaugh this morning .. he put the ad on his website .. and it was stunning in it's deception. No mention of him being a democrat.

[BoBToMatoE]

If its anyone who is a cheerleader for our enemies abroad, it is the NYT and the Washington ComPost.

[Minuteman23]

Notice how Hackett is an Iraq Veteran and not the democrat nominee.

I noticed the same thing in every report I heard about this election today. The bias couldn't be more obvious.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

This was a significant victory for the Republican party, and bodes well for the upcoming 2006 elections. Folks should realize that "special" elections that occur out of the ordinary election cycle can be kooky and unpredictable. The usual low voter turnout at these elections make anything possible. Even though for many years this was a "safe" Republican seat, the Democrat Party threw everthing they had in trying to win this seat. Mr. Hackett and his left-wing cohorts tried the "Republican Lite" way, but failed because the American people saw through the left-wing hate for GW Bush. I suspect, that unless the Democrat Party sees the light, the mid-term elections of 2006 will not go well for them, and they will lose seats again as they did in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

[goldstategop]

Its like Democrats are allergic to their party's label. And here we were all thinking Dr. Demento was going to turn things around. What happened? (laughing)

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks to Rush!!!

Yep, I heard Rush today and he buried that lying p.o.s. Hackett. In all seriousness, Rush likely had a significant impact on that election.

[goldstategop]

My take exactly. Unless the Democrats start being honest about who they are and listen to the American people, they're going to have their behinds handed to them next year. I can say this honestly since liberals don't take good advice from conservatives - they'd rather keep on losing just to spite us.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[A CA Guy]

Think of the many millions that Democrats threw at this candidate that Republicans did not spend on theirs.

[Lancey Howard]

According to Rush, this clown served as a "military liaison" and didn't et anywhere near combat. Apparently he went to Iraq just to pad his resume. He doesn't "love his country" any more than Michael Moore loves his country.

Regards,
LH

[Lancey Howard]

The Democrats CANNOT be honest. It's important to remember who comprises the Democrat "base" - - athiests, Marxists, condom throwers, Hollywood drunks, abortion enthusiasts, welfare breeders, gold-chained union thugs, professional race victims, screeching feminists, and every other variety of loser, parasite, malcontent, and weirdo.

The rats are totally boxed in by their base and have nowhere to go.

[goldstategop]

Money isn't everything. The Democrats have latched onto George Lakoff but appear to have forgotten the key to successful marketing is to have a saleable product that people want to buy. For them the trouble is few people are interested in what liberalism represents. So they have to mislead people about their product and even that goes only so far. In OH, it didn't take them where they hoped they would be this morning.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[A CA Guy]

Exactly, they can not run speaking their true minds.

[rlmorel]

Exactly.

I think it was Richard Nixon who said "If the American People knew the true nature of Alger Hiss, they would boil him in oil."

Democrats cannot let their true nature be shown to the general American electorate, because they will almost always reject it on the whole.

Their only chance is to dissemble, couch, mislead and lie outright. They seem to think nobody ever writes down what they say. Well, that has been changing over the past 15-20 years with the advent of the Internet.

[kcvl]

Democrat Paul L. Hackett III, a personal injury lawyer, is worth between $650,000 and $1.6 million, according to his disclosure report.

That doesn't include Hackett's home in the posh Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill.

snip

Democrats had hoped that a victory by Hackett would not only be a sharp blow to Bush's national standing but also set a template for future campaigns by Democratic war veterans.

But Republicans viewed Hackett's attacks as a call to arms, and they poured money and resources into the district to ensure his defeat. Bush taped a telephone message to voters, and the National Republican Congressional Committee bought $325,000 in air time for a TV spot this past weekend.

snip

In the final days of the campaign, Schmidt accused the Hackett campaign of misleading voters by claiming that he would be the first Iraq war veteran to serve in Congress. In fact, the Schmidt campaign said, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill., has been serving in the Iraq war as a Navy Reserve officer.

[kcvl]

Paul L. Hackett making a campaign stop at a veterans' memorial in Blue Ash, Ohio.