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Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Tidal

There is no doubt about it - tonight's results represent a tidal wave in Ohio (and perhaps national) politics. In 2004, the Democrat running in OH-02 lost by 44 points. Tonight, the Democrat, Paul Hackett, lost by a mere 4 points - just 4,000 votes out of over 114,000 cast. That's one-eleventh the prior margin, and that's fighting against one of the most corrupt state Republican parties in the land.

Tonight's results exceeded my wildest expectations. Don't get me wrong - I would have been overjoyed had Hackett won. But I am still thrilled, and his tremendous showing in an incredibly red district should buoy the hopes of Democrats everywhere. Tomorrow, we can begin the important task of dissecting the Hackett campaign's operations in fine detail, to figure out what contributed most to its success - to see what results this extraordinary lab experiment yielded.

But tonight, we should celebrate an amazing, against-all-odds showing by a strong, fearless Democrat. We all owe our thanks to Paul Hackett and to all the people who joined in this effort.

So, with that I say: Thank you, Maj. Hackett, and everyone who helped you reach this day.

Posted at 11:55 PM in 2005 Elections | Technorati

Comments

On one hand I'm also pleased that the percentage was so close.

On the other, I'm concerned that, as in the presidential race (via the exit polls), everything seemed to be going the way of the Democratic candidate until the last minute.

If we continue to accept these oh-so-close elections as real, the party is doomed to everlasting defeat with victory apparently just within our grasp.

Does no one in the Democratic camp find it the least bit suspicious that Major Hackett was winning until the last possible moment? Is no one concerned that Schmidt won *after* they turned off the computers and started counting by hand?

Is the Democratic party completely asleep?

Posted by: ShelaghC at August 3, 2005 12:53 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I know that liberals and Democrats would have viewed a Hackett victory as a success for their party, and for the Left.

But I was discussing, as the results were rolling in, this issue with traditionalist conservatives.

I actually think that a victory by Hackett, if framed correctly, would have provided ammunition to the traditionalist Right. (I may expand upon this when I update my blog... Basically, I was thinking today that a victory by Hackett could be cited as evidence that the "moderate" and statist/neocon policies of the GOP Establishment were costly to our party, and this would undermine claims of a "mandate" for said policies, which was claimed by some following the 2004 elections... where Ohio was the pivotal state.)

More on this later...

Posted by: Aakash at August 3, 2005 12:53 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment