Paul Hackett, a popular Democratic candidate in Ohio’s Senate race has dropped out of the contest, and has announced his withdrawal from politics. On first glance you would immediately believe that health problems are prompting Hackett’s decision. Nope. Hackett’s getting out due to the ‘mafia like’ tactics brought on by his ‘friends’ – Senator Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.
Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent.
During the last two weeks, he said, state and national Democratic Party leaders have urged him to drop his Senate campaign and again run for Congress.
“This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me,” said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state’s filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race.
You see, it’s all about grabbing a seat and holding power, not about the ideas, the plans, or the implementation of positive solutions for the problems America faces. It’s not about what you do in office, it’s what you do to keep your office.
Democratic leaders say Representative Brown, a seven-term incumbent from Avon, has a far better chance of toppling Senator DeWine.
“It boils down to who we think can pull the most votes in November against DeWine,” said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. “And in Ohio, Brown’s name is golden. It’s just that simple.”
Mr. Fern added that Mr. Brown’s fund-raising abilities made him the better Senate candidate. By the end of last year, Mr. Brown had already amassed $2.37 million, 10 times what Mr. Hackett had raised.
Electability, then reelectability.
I’m not about to accuse the Democrats of exclusively using strategies like this, since I believe it’s a bipartisan problem. And you know what? It’s our fault. We Americans get all excited about electing ‘our guy’ to Congress, or to the Presidency, then suddenly, the excitement stops. We don’t actually require that our leaders do anything, or so it seems. If we did care, we wouldn’t reelect the same ‘ol bloviating do nothing wind bags term after term after term. We buy into their election year promises, giveaways, and pandering. We become intoxicated by their smile, their ‘can do’ attitude, and their sudden burst of leadership. It’s really about feeling good, and when you hear your guy selling patriotism with all the pomp and circumstance, you naturally want to stand up and cheer. Yet, when we see the same guy sitting on a congressional committee panel droning on and on using big words that don’t really mean anything, we change the channel.
But, it is what it is and there doesn’t seem to be anything that will change it, unless of course, Americans engage and become interested in the future of their country.
Don’t hold your breath on that happening anytime soon.