Posted on 02/14/2006 8:39:49 AM PST by SonofLiberty1
Democrats Dump Iraq War Veteran Candidate for Senate By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor February 14, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran hailed as a rising Democratic star by party leaders last summer, has dropped out of the race for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat, and he's not happy about it.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Sens. Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid forced Hackett to step aside so Rep. Sherrod Brown could run against incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine.
Schumer and Reid are the same Democrats who persuaded Hackett to run last August, Hackett said. They apparently changed their minds because they think Rep. Brown stands a better chance of winning the Senate seat.
Democrat leaders want Hackett to run for a U.S. House seat instead, but he has refused.
"This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me," the New York Times quoted Hackett as saying.
Hackett said Democrat leaders have been calling his donors and asking them to stop contributing to Hackett's Senate campaign. "For me, this is a second betrayal," Hackett was quoted as saying.
"First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me."
In August, Hackett ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election in Ohio. Republican Jean Schmidt defeated Hackett 52 to 48 percent, but Democrats nevertheless were buoyed by what they called Hackett's strong showing in a staunchly Republican district.
Democrat blogs were buzzing with the news of Hackett's withdrawal on Tuesday.
"I can't f*** believe this," one angry liberal wrote on a popular Democrat blogsite.
But Kos, of the Daily Kos website, said Democrats were afraid of an untested candidate in a high-profile Senate race. "To be clear," wrote the blogger, "Hackett didn't stand a chance [in the primary]. He had a tenth of Brown's money, and that was before [Democrat leaders] allegedly tried to stop Hackett's donors from giving."
Kos also noted that Brown announced his candidacy before Hackett did.
"It would have been a tough slog," he concluded.
But over at the Democratic Underground website, many bloggers expressed dismay, if not anger: This is the day the [D]emocratic [P]arty will die. It will never change, they always push the new guys out," one blogger wrote.
Boo Hoo Whiney Baby.
I just love that Schumer went behind his back and told people not to donate to him.
We should all say to Mr. Hackett:
"Welcome to the Republican Party"
Lord knows, the Ohio Republicans have had a bit of a struggle lately. With him and the black Attorney General who's running for governor, maybe we can put Ohio back FIRMLY in the (R) column, instead of sweating out the crap that the idiots in Cleveland (Kucinich AND Tubbs-Jones) tried on us back in '04!
Got screwed by the commissars of the Dem party, didja??
These other vets running under Dem rubric are gonna face same fate.
They know he lost in a special election where dems showed up to vote in large numbers, republicans didn't. In an off-year election, he would get his butt handed to him.
No way!
We should all say to Mr. Hackett: "Welcome to the Republican Party"
Aren't Dewhine and Buckets Voinovich bad enough??
We should all say to Mr. Hackett:
"Welcome to the Republican Party"
Paul Hackett is Cindy Sheehan-lite. He's made such rank comments against Bush and the war to achieve near treasonous status.
Anyway, the Dems. have made a mistake pulling Hackett. His sheer flamboyance as a candidate would have brought out the Democratic base in Ohio to vote for him. Sherrod Brown, whoever that is, will inspire no one. Count this seat as now a safe GOP seat.
Aside from his position on Iraq, everything I have read about this guy seems to indicate he would be a conservative. I think I even recall him saying that illegal aliens in this country should be deported. I wonder if Dean had a word with him about that...
LOL!
Fair's fair. He betrayed his fellow soliders, after all.
I thnk Hackett was a Conservative in disguise and Schumer didn't want to take the chance.
"For me, this is a second betrayal," Hackett was quoted as saying.
Only a Democrat weevil would trust these back-stabbing, lying dumb butt "crats" by believing anything they say or swear to.
Hacket why are you surprised or shocked that you have been "gilflerted" by this bunch of slime balls?
Didn't you know they devour their own being the cannibals they have proved themselves to be on every issue in doubt?
Wake up and smell the "carrion"!
"When you dine with the devil, bring a long spoon."
Looks like affirmative action to me.
Supposedly he is pro-2nd amendment, but is very anti-business.
He is also pro-homosexual marriage. I guess he's a hybrid of Buchanan and hillary.
Ken Blackwell...learn to say his name and not his skin color.
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