Democrats Can’t Hackett

by Paul Hackett Photo

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?!

Yes. OK. A messy primary is less than ideal as a precursor to a must-win Senate showdown. But if Sherrod is really the top Democrat for the job — if his name truly is "gold" with Ohio voters — shouldn’t he be able to prove that through, you know, an electoral process? What does it say about his electability that top Democrats felt it necessary to play king-maker and shield him from his popular, populist competition?

Whatever bruises Brown might have picked up in a spirited primary, they’re clearly better than the self-inflicted damage the party suffers by knee-capping the most colorful outsider in politics today — and alienating Iraq vets nationwide:

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

"It is an outrage that the Democratic Party has forced Hackett out of the race," adds Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America PAC director Jon Smoltz. "Hackett brought credibility on the number one issue facing the nation — the war in Iraq. The Democratic Party loses credibility on that issue because he is no longer running, and because they had a hand in his decision."

Mike Lyon, director of Band of Brothers, which has been recruiting Iraq War vets as candidates told the Times: "Alienating Hackett is not just a bad idea for the party, but it also sends a chill through the rest of the 56 or so veterans that we’ve worked to run for Congress. Now is a time for Democrats to be courting, not blocking, veterans who want to run."

Paul Hackett was the best story the Democrats had running. He was the general leading the upsurge of "Fighting Dems" — whom the national media is already gushing over as principled patriots who speak their minds, keep their promises and don’t back down from challenges. Now, Hackett’s gone. Not because he lost in a fair fight. But because the Democratic establishment equipped him with concrete shoes and tossed him overboard.

Somewhere, Karl Rove is laughing.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...