Home > Hackett on withdrawal from Senate race"I made this decision reluctantly,only

Hackett on withdrawal from Senate race"I made this decision reluctantly,only after repeated requests

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 15 February 2006
8 comments

Wars and conflicts Parties USA

Cincinnati, OH - Paul Hackett released the following statement today to his friends and supporters regarding his withdrawal from the campaign for U.S. Senate in Ohio.

Today I am announcing that I am withdrawing from the race for United States Senate. I made this decision reluctantly, only after repeated requests by party leaders, as well as behind the scenes machinations, that were intended to hurt my campaign.

But there was no quid pro quo. I will not be running in the Second Congressional District nor for any other elective office. This decision is final, and not subject to reconsideration.

I told the voters from the beginning that I am not a career politician and never aspired to be—that I was about leadership, service and commitment.

Similarly, I told party officials that I had given my word to other good Democrats, who will take the fight to the Second District, that I would not run. In reliance on my word they entered the race. I said it. I meant it. I stand by it. At the end of the day, my word is my bond and I will take it to my grave.

Thus ends my 11 month political career. Although it is an overused political clichй, I really will be spending more time with my family, something I wasn’t able to do because my service to country in the political realm continued after my return from Iraq. Perhaps my wonderful wife Suzi said it best after we made this decision when she said "Honey, welcome home." I really did marry up.

To my friends and supporters, I pledge that I will continue to fight and to speak out on the issues I believe in. As long as I have the microphone, I will serve as your voice.

It is with my deepest respect and humility that I thank each and every one of you for the support you extended to our campaign to take back America, and personally to me and my family. Together we made a difference. We changed the debate on the Iraq War, we inspired countless veterans to continue their service by running for office as Democrats and we made people believe again. We must continue to believe.

Remember, we must retool our party. We must do more than simply aspire to deliver greatness; we must have the commitment and will to fight for what is great about our party and our country; Peace, prosperity and the freedoms that define our democracy.

Rock on.

Paul Hackett

Forum posts

  • Did the illegal wiretaps find out something he doesn’t want revealed? I know blackmail is such an ugly word, but it popped up its head more than once as I read this article.

  • Maybe Hackett’s decision not to run has something to do with what he might have done in Iraq. No one is going to vote for a suspected war criminal.

    • Maybe Hackett served in an illegal war by the president because he thought he was doing the right thing. It is NO SIN to do your DUTY, after all-this country backed this war and the president. Those like me, who did not, were called traitors, unAmerican, ect. No matter my whole family has served in some capacity for this country in more than one war. No one called the war illegal until well into the war-except me-but no one listened...

      So is this what it has come to? The double edged sword of, "you’ve honorably served your country, but since you are using that as an asset, the DNC/RNC will call you a war criminal for your participation". And these are the same idots that say "we cannot cut and run" from this war.

      More proof politicians use the military as nothing more than personal mercenaries and a back drop for photo ops. They DO NOT support the troops. Object to the war? Well, you must be a sissy. So you went when your unit and country called? You must be a killer, or a war criminal.
      Which is why everyone who sent Paul Hackett and ALL of our soldiers into Iraq, can go straight to hell.

      I have a dream....The MP’s walk into the White House and say "Mr. President, we are here to arrest you for high crimes against the United States." Bush says, "I AM the Commander in Cheif! You don’t have the rank to arrest me!" To which the MP replies, "No Sir, But I do have the authority."

    • Your dream looks so cool...only in our minds, but if it were to happen it would be so damn cool! And the MP would be supported worldwide for PERFORMING HIS DUTY TO DEFEND AMERICA AND AMERICANS.

    • What an awesome scenario-kgb56

    • Won’t ever happen.

      Whitey America does not work that way. In case you have not noticed White Americans want this war. They want Empire. They elected leaders who will give them what they want.

      One can argue until you are blue in the face but it is not the MSM’s fault nor the fault of the leaders. Tell me, from where do the people working for MSM come from? From where did the ruling class come from, but Whitey America.

      Whitey America wants to be able to say that they were "taken in" by these entities so that they may think that God will judge them at their face value such that they may find a peaceful afterlife.

      But not realize the all knowing creator.

      Yes, many will go on and on about how the war and Empire is unfair but there is nothing you can do to overcome the viseral (spoken and unspoken) hate that Whitey American has for Arabs and Muslims. Nothing.

  • If you read the full article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, you would see that the "repeated requests" were from Dem party bigwigs who had asked him to enter the Senate race, then now have changed their minds so that they can run a "party man" instead, which Hackett is not. These Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of NY, sort of stabbed him in the back, asking him now to run for the House instead. They also went behind his back contacting his financial supporters to make the switch. I am a Democrat, but I don’t like these kind of tactics.

    • The same dynamics are at work in the 6th US Congressional District in Illinois. Christine Cegelis, Dem, ran against Henry Hyde 2 yrs. ago and got 44% of the vote. 44% of the vote. In DuPage County. A crimson county in a blue state. So that’s quite an accomplishment.

      Cegelis has established a grassroots base of support for this year’s election. Now, Rahm Emanuel, Dem hack (not to be confused w. Hackett) has picked another candidate who he thinks will win, and she is opposing Cegelis in the primary. He has chosen an Iraq war veteran who was severly injured in the war, so he’s trying to get mileage from that. Republicans can sit back and laugh at Dem’s divide and be conquered strategy that has been SO successful for the last 10 years.

      Let’s face it, the Democratic Party’s supposed "big tent" is still segregated by money, race and spine (most need transplants).