Posted on 01/18/2006 9:10:04 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Senate candidate not shy about his opinions in local weekend appearance
2006-01-17 By Jonathan Hunt Athens NEWS Writer
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Paul Hackett displayed some of the straight talking that is giving him a maverick reputation Saturday afternoon at the Athens Community Center.
Party leaders view the Marine Corps reservist, Iraq War veteran and attorney from Cincinnati as a uniquely electable Democrat because of his military service and straightforward style. Hackett lacks political experience, but minces no words on what he sees as a failed policy in Iraq, and in his support for Second Amendment gun rights for U.S. citizens.
"I'm not a professional politician, and I say that with pride," Hackett said Saturday to a mostly enthusiastic audience of about 100. "I don't see that as a problem."
Hackett will challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville if he can beat Democratic U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown of Lorain in the May primary election. While Brown is a veteran Buckeye officeholder who's been hanging around Ohio politics for decades, Hackett's a fresh-faced outsider with the clear ability to move a crowd.
"It's no good anymore to sit around the dinner table and complain," he asserted, despite nursing a cold. "We've all got to get involved."
When Hackett returned from his tour of duty in Iraq in March 2005, he said, he was unhappy to see the Terri Schiavo drama dominating headlines instead of the urgent problems he had just witnessed overseas. This was "almost an epiphany," he recalled, and it spurred him to run for Congress, along with a little prodding from friends.
Hackett nearly pulled off an upset victory last summer in Ohio's heavily Republican 2nd U.S. House District. His close loss in an August special election to Republican Jean Schmidt caught the eye of national-level Democrats, and Hackett said he now has a staff of more than 30 people, including some fundraising personnel used successfully by Howard Dean in the 2004 presidential primaries.
Once in office, Schmidt contributed to a recent bad streak for Ohio Republicans by questioning Pennsylvania Congressman and decorated Vietnam War hero Jack Murtha's patriotism on the U.S. House floor. Murtha had called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Schmidt's actions - she wore an American flag-themed suit during the House proceedings - were seen by some as overkill.
Hackett wants to turn around the "guns, God and gays" mantra that worked so well for Republicans in 2004 by touting Democrats as the true party of limited government. He can cite the ballooning national debt since Bill Clinton's presidency, and he can cast abortion and gay-rights restrictions as examples of government intrusion by religious zealots, all without alienating the liberal base. However, there's a sticking point: guns.
Like Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, the popular Democratic U.S. Congressman who represents most of Athens County, Hackett is veering away from his party's traditional support for gun control. On Saturday, before an Athens audience, it appeared he still has some convincing to do to convert the choir.
"The Democratic Party is wrong on the Second Amendment," declared Hackett, acknowledging he'll likely lose some votes for taking this position.
Athens resident Dana Carlson asked Hackett if he could support any gun-control legislation, such as renewing the assault-weapons ban. The senatorial candidate replied that, many times, specific distinctions about various types of firepower are lost in emotional, anti-gun reactions by liberals. Many people like to buy and shoot special types of guns, according to Hackett, for the same reason people buy sports cars. "It's just damn fun," he said.
Kyle Smiddie of Meigs County told Hackett his message would resonate with younger people around the region, and encouraged the candidate to visit sites off the beaten path to reach potential voters.
Hackett, a self-described Catholic of Scots-Irish descent, seems no more inclined to weave religion into his personal appeal than most Democrats, and he strongly favors separation of church and state. Hackett said politics and religion don't mix. "It's worked pretty good for 200 years," he said. "I don't think we should go backward on it.
"(Moderate Republicans) know their party has been hijacked by religious fanatics," he added. "(The far right are) listening to God. They're not going to listen to me."
Hackett's no policy wonk, and he lacks certain details about how he would approach health-care reform and energy-independence issues. He's better at painting an overall picture of social justice concerns, a la 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. And he knew how to stir up a left-leaning Athens crowd.
"I don't define a decent job as being a greeter at Wal-Mart," Hackett said to applause. "Wal-Mart is dismantling the American dream."
A hefty $2,000 of the price of every new General Motors vehicle bought by consumers now goes to cover autoworkers' health care, he said, which is more than the cost of steel the car is built with. "We've got a problem," contended Hackett.
The strategy Hackett outlined would "solidify" Democrats' longstanding base among organized labor and northeast Ohio voters, while bringing back the votes of moderates, independents and rural Ohioans. By all indications, he'll try to do this via a blend of economic populism and libertarian-like positions on government meddling.
"Sherrod Brown's a good Democrat," he said. "(But) we've got to think about winning general elections and not primaries."
As proof he can appeal to conservative, rural voters, the candidate cited his August performance in Adams, Brown, Pike and Scioto counties, where he handily outpaced Schmidt.
"John Kerry got hammered in those counties," said Hackett.
Something the candidate didn't do at the Athens appearance was play up his military service. What he did in Iraq, Hackett said, was "nothing particularly unique or special."
President Bush should bring soldiers home from Iraq now, he said. After the speech, Hackett clarified his feeling that a phased withdrawal is inevitable. "I think the process should begin now," he explained, saying that nothing he saw while serving in the dangerous Ar Ramadi area of the country led him to expect much U.S. success in democratic Iraqi nation-building.
Hackett said he expects it will cost $15 million to be competitive against DeWine, and he hopes to persuade 1 million people to each contribute $15 to his campaign.
This guy needs to go down hard!
His first vote would be for harry reid as Senate majority leader.
The worst thing we have going for us is not predatory gay priests; it's a whole generation of half-churched politicians who use their religious credentials to bolster their support for baby-butchery.
He just made sure that it would appear right at the top of the article.
I wonder if he had the same sadness watching the Carl Rove story, the Hurrican Katrina story, the Runaway Bride story, the Holloway Story, the Peterson trial story, the Michael Jackson story, the Abramoff story, the Valerie Plame story, or any of the other stupid stories "dominate" the news.
It is a false democrat propaganda point that the congress wasted a lot of time on Shiavo. The entire Shiavo thing took place over a couple of days, and it was during a normal break so they would have been HOME if not for the action. Even Bush came back from a vacation to sign it.
The idea that Shiavo kept congress from doing more important stuff is just a lie.
The idea that Shiavo's TV coverage was because of republicans is even MORE of a lie.
The idea that we should elect someone to congress because they are unhappy with TV coverage choices is scary.
I agree, but DeWine really isn't much better. I will never vote for DeWine again.
We need a serious conservative challenger in the primary to take DeWine out of the running then we can have an election between a Republican and a Democrat instead of an election between two liberals.
Hackett's no policy wonk, and he lacks certain details about how he would approach health-care reform and energy-independence issues. He's better at painting an overall picture of social justice concerns, a la 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. And he knew how to stir up a left-leaning Athens crowd.
"lacks certain details" means he has no idea, therefore no plan. He can talk to Democrats.. wow...I'm impressed.
ping
She made a single-word error, using his name directly when criticizing him. It was a NOTHING story. Hopefully, a voter in Ohio worried about the poor job situation, and other real-life issues, will get MAD if someone tells them they should care about a personal slight committed in the heat of the moment.
1. Troops Out Now Mentality
2. Pro-Abortion
3. Pro-Socialized Health Care
4. "Wal-Mart is dismantling the American dream"
5. was "nothing particularly unique or special." in Iraq
Sorry Hack. Not for this conservative... oh wait.
6. Pro-Gun
Oh yeah, I am totally with you now. I am sure every conservative stands with me on this one, ya jackass!
if control of the senate were not in question i certainly wouldn't vote for DeWine.
That will be hard to do since they seem to think he wins even when he loses.
They actually touted his defeat as a success in the last election since it was close. By that reasoning, John Kerry and Al Gore are huge winners too.
I can live with this mindset if the results stay the same.
Nothing fresh faced about this lying conniving traitor to his country.
Hackett was unapologetic Tuesday for the comments in a newspaper story, saying religious fanatics of any flavor should be ashamed."I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it," he said.
Hackett said in a Sunday column in the Columbus Dispatch: "The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world."
Basically, he's suggesting that conservative Christians blow up world trade centers and murder 3000 living souls.
Hackett is an anti-christian bigot.
Will some Marine lawyers post some info on his war record. Hackett is portrayed as a combat leader, but in civilian life he is a lawyer, did he work in a different capacity in the military?
Dewine is a total RINO and will never see a dime or an ounce of support from me.
Since Hackett is so pro-gun and Dewine has a mixed record, Hackett will surely get the NRA endorsement if he wins the primary, which is trouble for Dewine.
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