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Wednesday, August 03, 2005

OH-02: C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-0-N

Posted by Bob Brigham

As Paul Hackett would say, "ROCK ON!"

Raise your glass to fighting in every district, in every state, every day. When the assholes in D.C. (cc) write off a district a district, my answer is FUCK THEM. Because Democrats want to fight and we'll do it ourselves. There are no roadblocks -- let's get some shit done. People are going crazy celebrating tonight, the 2006 backlash will be huge.

(From Tim Tagaris:) We are sitting in the bar right now, literally blogging this together. The mood is jubilant as we look forward to 2006. When Howard Dean was elected as DNC Chair, he made a promise to fight in every precinct, in every district, and in every state. For the past several weeks the future of the party, the grassroots, came together and fought a fight that the pundit political class said wasn't worth fighting. Consider this the opening salvo of the 2006 election cycle. I sat five feet away from Paul Hackett tonight as he talked to Jean Schmidt--he congratulated her and told him to say hello to the president for him ("the S.O.B")--This is take no prisoners now. The Republican Party is on notice. For that matter, the Democratic Party establishment is on notice; get with the program or we will leave you behind. We have a country to take back.

Posted at 01:29 AM in Ohio | Technorati

Comments

I got up a 3 AM this morning, just hoping that Hackett had gotten within 15 points of his Repugnant opponent.
Finding that he came within 4 points of beating an virtually invincible Ohio Republican machine in his district made the interrupted sleep well worth it!
Thanks much to Bob for keeping us so well informed, and for everyone involved for giving us such a morale boost.
(I doubt the Shrub will be doing any more recess appointments, or the Repug Senators will be marching on the White House.)
Jack

Posted by: Jack Ballinger at August 3, 2005 04:21 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The fifty state strategy looks pretty good right now.......

Posted by: redst3 at August 3, 2005 04:52 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I like this blog and certainly appreciate your efforts in southern OH. This sends a shot to Rove's nose that will be telling. The next step is to ramp up locally organized candidate recruitment efforts across the country. I've got posts on this at my site, DKos and Booman. There's an opportunity to energize people and help them take Congress (and legislatures) Back.

Posted by: philinmaine at August 3, 2005 08:35 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Fuck them, indeed. And I agree, that applies equally to the R's as well as weak-kneed dino's in D.C. - lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. Last night was proof in action that people really do have the power.

Thanks for all the updates, it was really a thrill ride last night...

ROCK ON!

Posted by: austinjtc at August 3, 2005 08:48 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Survey says: 48% of Ohio's 2nd district agree Rush Limbaugh's statements on Hackett's service were un-American; the other 52% apparently don't respect American troops.

Hey, if many Republicans can make such broad generalities, why can't I?

Posted by: SOS_independent at August 3, 2005 09:16 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

okay. this is the blog that got me all charged up about hackett. i realize that this was a special election, but it's time to find out who we focus on next.

who/where/what is the next special project?

Posted by: glitch p-udding at August 3, 2005 09:31 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I apprecitate the comments above especially about where to focus next (glitch p-udding). But I think its time the party (DCCC), the fundraising community and operatives put their money where their mouth is. This race could have been won. And I think we should view this through the lens of "we didn't do enough." Hackett lost by 3,500 votes of the roughly 112,000 that were cast. If this were Gingrich in 1994, he would have been pissed off, not happy. Lets get pissed about this party's failure here and tell Paul he needs to stay in Ohio.

Posted by: ssonti at August 3, 2005 09:40 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

For the next special project, try helping in a similar race in Maryland. I am running against incumbent republican Roscoe Bartlett. I am an Iraq war veteran, having served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. During the Major Combat phase, I was the Intelligence Liaison Officer to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (1MEF). I also deployed three times to Bosnia. Having served my country for 20 years, I want to continue to serve in Congress. They clearly need some help there.
You can learn more about me at www.DuckForCongress.com.

Andrew Duck
Congressional Candidate
Maryland's Sixth District

Posted by: AJDuck at August 3, 2005 10:06 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I can tell you this much...i'm fired up. But the key to this whole thing is to spread out. The netroots cannot raise enough in 2006 unless it grows.

Tell all your like-minded friends to get online. Tell them to canvass. Tell them to infiltrate their local Democratic Party. Tell them to read Lakoff. Tell them to read "Start Making Sense".

This indeed is a watershed event. A man who called the POTUS a son of a bitch and a chickenhawk in a heavy Republican district was able to get 48% of the vote. Damn, people!

Posted by: ericv at August 3, 2005 10:11 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Watching Schmidt's victory speech last night made me sick. She is such a sore loser. She never once said anything about Paul giving her a good race. All she did was say that his negative political ads would not work because he was avoiding the issue. That is the key talking point the RNC has and the main target for the DNC to destroy.

It was an overwhelming victory for Democrats last night. Two of the larger counties in OH-2 are a unique mix. Both Warren and Clermont are mainly either white middle-upper/upper class or confederate flags on the truck rednecks. The area she was banking on doing the strongest in was the farm lands of the rural eastern counties and she ended up not doing as well as she thought there. As matter of fact those "gauranteed" counties for Schmidt ended up almost giving it to Hackett. Perhaps that is the most overwhelming sign that the DNC is on the move!

I'm glad to see Rush Limbaugh showed his true colors yesterday in not supporting our troops. The war is the best tool the repugs have right now and it is falling apart. Next we got to infiltrate the religous fanatics on the far right, then the RNC will not have a chance!

Posted by: IntoxiNation at August 3, 2005 10:26 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. I was tracking the results all night from my home in Baltimore, and about peed my pants when waiting for those final 91 precincts. Awesome F'n job guys. This is what can happen with boots on the ground.

Now, a point about the 50-state/435-district strategy. First, this was a special election with an extraordinary candidate running for an openseat against an R nominee who emerged from a bitterly divided primary. We're not going to have Paul Hackett's running for every solidly Republican-held seat in '06. I wish we would, and there certainly are a number of them already out there (my fellow PA Kerry alum Patrick Murphy, for example). But we do need to be somewhat realistic about which races we have a shot at winning. There are also going to 435 races simultaneously run--the focus we had as a collective netroots on this one specific race will not be seen in the general election. Also, not all Republicans are as inciteful to us activists as Jean Schmidt. While David Dreier may piss us off with his never-ending Ahnuld ass-kissing, he doesn't wear the faces of fallen soldiers on his chest at every event.

I guess my point is this, while I've been seeing the Hackett result portrayed as proof that we need to spend resources and compete in every district, and that "Gov. Dean is right", let's put things in perspective: The Netroots most definitely *can* be effective when sufficiently motivated and when they are focused. My fear is that the Netroots will now get away from that focus in a rush to believe that we can change the fortunes of every race.

Anyways, once again, F'n Awesome guys n' gals. Best $50 political contribution I ever gave. =]

Posted by: docciavelli at August 3, 2005 10:26 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Looking at the picies of that loonybin's celebration last night... It looked as if Ohio State just won the national championship - after beating Kent State at home by a last second field goal.

Posted by: Dr. Squid at August 3, 2005 10:45 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

docciavelli,

You have put a lot of thought into next year's races and that's great, but i disagree. its time now to start contesting all of these races. If not now? When? We will never win in Utah or Mississippi or Idaho until we start getting in the race. lose by 10 in '06, win by 4 in '08 and then prove yourself when you get in.

Hackett's 4 point loss followed a losing race in '04 of 44 points. we can and will move forward with 50 state. I just know it....

Posted by: redst3 at August 3, 2005 12:11 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Hacket used a clip of the President regarding Iraq, deceived voters into thinking he's a conservative Republican and you are celebrating?

You people are NUTS thinking you have ANYTHING for 2006.

The only way you will win is if you deceive.

You democrats stand for NOTHING do you understand that?

Hackett LIED to get voters to vote for him.

Not only that, Shmidt didn't even run as a conservative and Republicans stayed home in DROVES.

Enjoy your so called victory. It's amazing, every loss you have you consider a victory. You people are crazy - and you loose.

We have the House, Senate, White House.

Have a nice day :-)

Love always
Scott Westerhold
anti-environmentalist...lol

Posted by: ScottW at August 3, 2005 06:36 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

While I'm happy that Paul Hackett did so well I'm NOT C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-N-G. We was robbed...again.
Check out Billmon 8-02-05 for past election irregularities in Clarmont, Warren, and Butler Counties.
Also check out the time line. Everybody is on the board by 09:07 PM
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS SPECIAL ELECTION HAMILTON COUNTY, OH
EXCEPT PRC CNT - CLERMONT CO. —191 — 0 0.00%

Note!10:29 PM Clarmont County Board of Elections www.clermontelections.org/
Message: Internet Service Unavailable

Counting was delayed due to humidity- in a freeking air conditioned building? I checked and Accuweather says
Time Temp (° F) RealFeel (° F) Rel.Hum.
Noon 91 98 41
1pm 92 104 35
2pm 94 105 35
3pm 93 98 36
4pm 95 97 33
5pm 90 94 46
6pm 92 91 36
7pm 84 87 60
8pm 79 83 64
9pm 77 81 68
10pm 72 78 87
11pm 71 76 86
Mid 70 75 89

10:41 PM 91 precincts to count, by hand or installing a pre-programmed PROM (which added
another 9,451 votes for Schmidt, compared to just 6,300 or so for Hackett.

10:49:17 PM Final Tally
Special General 2005 Clarmont County Board of Elections 191 of 191 Precincts Reporting

JEAN SCHMIDT 1158 16162 0 17320 58.09%
PAUL HACKETT 750 11689 0 12439 41.72%
Write In Votes 3 56 0 59 0.20%
Total Votes t 1911 27907 0 29818 100.00%

Time to call in the lawyers.
Beetlejuice

Posted by: Beetlejuice at August 3, 2005 09:43 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Beetlejuice -- ABSOLUTELY, time to stand up and demand a fair and complete accounting and a review of any and all irregularities. For SHMIDT's sake, for if she DID win, she deserves to hold the office without any cloud over her head.

But my real post is to Andrew Duck, who hopefully is reading the whole blog and comments, and not just posting his appeal for money and thinking that all internet users are nothing more than an ATM machine.

Andrew -- I would be happy to contribute to your campaign. All you have to do is promise to not concede until EVERY SINGLE VOTE has been counted and EVERY SINGLE ELECTION IRRAGULARITY (not matter how trivial) HAS BEEN FULLY INVESTIGATED. If you can promise THAT and actually live up to it, then I will give you money. Otherwise, you can go some place very warm.

Charlie L
Portland, OR
CLL2001@gmail.com

Posted by: CyberChas at August 4, 2005 02:53 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Charlie,

As someone who is giving a lot of volunteer time to the Andrew Duck campaign, I can tell you we are working hard to raise money, visibility for the campaign and ultimately a seat in the House. If we ever thought there were campaign irregularities, we would see the process through to the end. We're serious about bringing change to our District in Maryland and to the country. We'd be delighted to have your support.

Posted by: Tammy at August 15, 2005 04:25 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Charlie,
I am happy to take a pledge to make sure every vote is counted and every irregularity investigated before I concede. But that is easy, as I do not plan to concede at all. I plan to win. If you are going to wait until I have lived up to that promise, please mail your check to my victory fund.
And when it comes to going to "some place very warm" we used to joke about the heat in the desert. My buddy would check the Staff Weather Officer's report and say "It's 120, but with the wind chill it only feels like 112!"
But Washington, DC this week is worse. Not only do we have a heat index of 105, but we have Republicans running the White House, the Senate, and the House. Talk about miserable. I cannot change the heat, but I plan to change one seat in the House.
I am facing a Republican (Roscoe Bartlett - R)who claims he will balance the budget, while voting for the biggest deficit ever. He says he wants a smaller government, while voting for the biggest government ever. And he says he supports the troops, even when he chose not to serve in WWII, when he was needed. He also voted against funding for veterans' medical care.
Best of all, he says he is for term limits, even when he is running for his eighth term. We will give him term limits. We will win.
I would appreciate any help you can give.

Andrew Duck
Iraq War Veteran
Congressional Candidate, MD 6th District

Posted by: AJDuck at August 15, 2005 09:34 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment