OH-10: Hackett Gives Kucinich the Metaphorical Finger; Endorses Palmer
I'm on vacation. Swear. But as much as I tried, I couldn't pass this one up:
Iraq war veteran and short-time U.S. Senate candidate Paul Hackett tomorrow will announce his support for Rosemary Palmer, who's trying to move Dennis Kucinich out of Congress.
Palmer, running for the 10th Congressional District nomination, has a tough challenge, but if Hackett were to truly get involved, he might draw some attention for Palmer.
Palmer's 23-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was killed in Iraq two years ago. A former teacher, Palmer says that Kucinich seems too preoccupied with his quest to become president to represent the district well.
Hackett, a Cincinnati attorney, was a rising political star when he launched a campaign for U.S. Senate last year, having been wooed by Senate Democrats. But then-U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown decided to get in the race, and Hackett got out. He felt used and angry and let people know it. But he and Brown eventually made nice and Brown is now a senator.
Hackett's involvement in Palmer's race "adds instant credibility," says Anthony Fossaceca, Palmer's campaign manager. It tells voters that she's serious and that, like Hackett, she's willing to go against the grain, he says.
"And it means a lot more now coming from Paul," Fossaceca says, "who doesn't do many of these."
I hate to say it (because I'm still a Hackett head at heart), but the 'ole man don't have quite as much swing as he did in '05-'06. Still, Hackett's a huge get and his name should mean more in Ohio's 10th Congressional District than anywhere else in the country. Afterall, incumbent Dennis Kucinich recently staked his Congressional seat on doing the so-called "principled thing" by siding with the Republicans on matters involving the Iraq war in protest until his position of zeroing out funding for the war is adopted. Hackett was first the mainstream Democrat to come out tooth and nail, campaigning against the Iraq War. Since then he's fought tirelessly for the fighting Dems, vote vets, and other progressive causes dedicated to supporting our troops and ending the Iraq War. Point blank, Hackett's endorsement in OH-10 - to a candidate other than Dennis - is a resounding vote of no confidence within the grassroots for Kucinich's controversial Iraq position.
And Hackett's support couldn't go to a candidate who's personally lost more in this war, or who's a finer representation of someone bent on setting right a wrong. Rosemary Palmer got involved in Ohio politics in 2005, supporting Dennis Kucinich for his fierce anti-war position after she lost her son was to Iraq. However, Rosemary' obviously questioned Dennis' approach to ending the Iraq War, since she's now running against the very man she initially supported.
Personally, I support Dennis' intent concerning Iraq, but I think he's lost sight of how to realistically bring our men and women home. If you agree with me, and apparently Major Hackett, won't you consider giving $5 to Rosemary?
that a congressman is supposed to be more than a mouthpiece for your favorite causes. The job has responsibilities that need to be fulfilled, and the actions need to match the rhetoric. It takes more than hot air to get the people's business done. You have to be willing to work with others to craft solutions.
You could, you know, just hire him as a PR person for your favorite antiwar and gay advocacy groups, and you'd still have your talking head, while the rest of us might get a shot at actually being represented in Congress by someone willing to do the work.
Can't say I blame him for having lost interest in the job, though. I'm sure his mail order bride finds running around the country campaigning for the presidency far more glamorous, and a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Nice cheap shot at Elizabeth Kucinich~ very progresive comment...
you are revealing yourself as a hateful jerk~ sorry, it's gotta be said.
and that she was revealing herself as a hateful jerk by insulting a woman who did nothing to her by insinuating that she is a "mail-order bride". Not to mention insulting mail-order brides, as if those pitiful women have a lot of choices in life~
I think those kinds of comments show a person who isn't trying very hard to make a valid point~ that was a cheap shot.
If someone doesn't want to look like a jerk, then they should be more prudent in the direction and scope of thier attacks.
have a nice day, anonymous!
Please remember that at essence we are on the same side, along with Kucinich and his wife, and Paul Hackett, and Sherrod Brown, and you and me, and every decent patriotic American.
I'll pass on the "kissing of your ass", but thank you for the kind invitation.
I don't live in OH-10, but what the party does across the country reflects on every other candidate. We didn't work our asses off in Connecticut in an effort to ditch Joe neocon Lieberman in order to drag the party kicking and screaming that tiny amount to the left for the pleasure of watching the rest of the party in other parts of the country losing their effin' minds on right wing crack.
No offense to Palmer, but the Dems need more Kucinich type candidates. There is nothing controversial about Kucinich's Iraq position. Most Americans agree with it.
Connecticut Man1
I have no problem with Congressman Kucinich and his positions... I have a big problem with Presidential candidate Kucinich.
Kucinich running for President in 04 made sense to me because he was in the minority in the House and the Republicans made it all but impossible for Democrats to get things done. Now that he's in the majority there's no excuse for doing his job. We don't have time for these sorts of vanity exercises. Sure, getting things done in Congress is a pain in the ass, but if he doesn't like it, he should quit his job.
Still, I have no clue as to what game Hackett is playing. He made up publically with Sherrod Brown but he never made up privately over the outstanding business between him and the Party. If I was the nationals I'd be thinking that he's got a lot of shit kicking left in him and maybe sit down with him and address his grievances. Not that those china loving bulls will ever do anything involving forthought.
Being a Hackett fan is always an adventure much in the spirit of such films as Saw and Hostel.
http://blog.oh02.com/
I'm not looking for a friend in Dennis, and I'm not looking for a movement. I'm looking for someone willing to do what the job description requires. He isn't that someone. I don't reward all talk and no action and if more people felt the way I do, we might have a government that works, instead of the dysfunctional mess we've got.
If pretty talk is all you've got, don't do it on my dime when I'm paying you to be my congressman.