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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

OH-Sen: I Didn't Say What I Said

Posted by DavidNYC

You might have been a bit confused if you read this AP story from yesterday:

“Hackett would have probably won this seat,” [DavidNYC], one of three founders of the liberal Web site SwingStateProject.com, contended in a blog posting Tuesday. “It's much harder for me to envision the 'northeastern Ohio liberal' Sherrod Brown breaking the 49-percent barrier, particularly with DeWine moving to the center.”

As it turns out, the quote in question belongs to SSP community member & regular commenter Mark. And actually, this is not a case of a lazy reporter failing to understand the difference between posts and comments.

I contacted the author (David Hammer) and he explained what happened. I had written the comment just above Mark's, which makes it plausibly look like the text below my name belonged to me, as opposed to the text above my name. Forgiveable, and no lasting harm done. (Though Mark, I'm sorry you missed your chance to have your name in lights!)

Anyhow, for the record, I don't agree with what was attributed to me. :) I think Sherrod is the stronger candidate - but that is the subject for another post.

P.S. I'm the sole founder of the SSP - you have only me to blame for this site!

Posted at 05:33 PM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Ohio | Technorati

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Comments

not to mention dewine moving to the center has negative connotations for him. THe only reason he is vulnerable is because he pissed off the right wing with the GO14 deal, and opposing ANWR so it leaves him without a natural base. However, Blackwell running could propell those people to the polls to vote for him and therefore just hold their nose and give Dewine a small victory. So, go Jim Petro!

Posted by: yomoma2424 at February 15, 2006 06:07 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

David, thanks for clearing that up. It would've been kinda cool to tell everybody that something I posted in a blog ended up in an AP article, but it certainly isn't the biggest disappointment I've faced this year...or even this week. Kind of interesting though that after three years of being a journalist, it isn't until I officially get out of the business before something I write gets piggybacked by the AP.

yomama, the conservatives may be pissed at DeWine, but do you doubt they'll be back on board by November? Particularly when Rove Co. effectively caricatures opponent Brown as the "flaming liberal of the year who MUST be stopped!!"? If DeWine thought his drift to the center was what was hurting him, he would have put the brakes on it immediately following the Gang of 14. Instead, he seems to be voting more with Democrats than his own party on pretty substantial legislation. With Hackett out of the mix, DeWine holds the center and wins back the right. I'd be very surprised if it played out differently. Brown CAN win, but only in the sense that longshots Harold Ford and Jim Pederson CAN win if the stars are lined up perfectly. For me, this race just dropped from our third most likely pick-up opportunity to, at best, our fifth.

Posted by: Mark at February 15, 2006 07:05 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

how could you possibly compare brown to pederson? Pederson is down 20 POINTS in the polls, while brown is leading. Ford is trailing slightly behind in rasmussen polls, and that is in a red state, much more hostile territory.

Posted by: yomoma2424 at February 15, 2006 07:41 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

yomama, Brown is better positioned than Pederson, but only slightly better than Ford in my opinion. If DeWine keeps voting like a Democrat, he gives swing voters little reason to vote for Brown, especially after Rove, Inc. complete their caricature of Brown that will make him radioactive in places like Portsmouth and Steubenville which Brown can't win statewide without a strong showing. I'm hoping future polls discredit me, but I think bad blood with Hackett supporters will only serve to give Brown reverse momentum just as DeWine proceeds with his impersonation of a moderate. Things just don't feel as optimistic for me in this race as they did a month ago, but I'll be more than happy to eat crow if I'm wrong because I do like Sherrod Brown.

Posted by: Mark at February 15, 2006 07:55 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

what im saying is that Dewine, compared to many members of his caucus actually IS a moderate in teh second tier after maine girls and chafee. look at the progressive punch scores for republicans. And i think THAT is why hes floundering, as everyone is pissed off at him. Same thing that happened to his son in the oh-02 primary will happen to him

Posted by: yomoma2424 at February 15, 2006 08:18 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

David, if you care to read it, here's what Howard Dean had to say re Hackett's leaving the senate race:

http://miaculpa.blogspot.com/2006/02/howard-dean-on-paul-hackett.html

Posted by: desi at February 15, 2006 11:20 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I think it's harder to paint someone as a flaming liberal (read for gays and against God and guns) when their main claim to fame is stopping things that hurt the working class like CAFTA and NAFTA.

It'll be an interesting hypothesis to test this time around. We'll see if Tom Frank was right in What's the matter with Kansas. Can a truly progressive, populist message (brought by someone that has political skills) beat down the Rovian slime machine?

Posted by: nada at February 16, 2006 05:14 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment