The view from the balcony

Yesterday, I got into a wee bit of a disagreement with blogger GreyHair at Bending the Third Rail over the decision by Paul Hackett to withdraw from the Senate race in Ohio, and the Major's subsequent decision to trash the Democratic leadership for their "betrayal" of his campaign. Rather than give you a blow by blow account, I do ask that you read here and here for a bird's eye view of our difference of opinion.

If nothing else, our debate serves as a good example of civil discourse on a topic about which both participants feel passionately. Kudos to GreyHair for several thought-provoking arguments throughout his comments, and some especially good points concerning "political calculation" and "the tactics of triangulating."

I will, however, say the following in general: even a week after Major Hackett's announcement of withdrawal, the Liberal blogosphere is unfortunately still buzzing with condemnation of the Democratic Party as a whole for its allegedly "heinous" act of backstabbing. Senatorial candidate Sherrod Brown has taken a hit in the polls as well; in my opinion, this is due in some definite part to the vitriol being spewed against the Party by the Major's loyal supporters, not to mention Mr. Hackett himself.

We are, after all, the Party that historically loves eating its own - and then wondering aloud why the GOP continues to control all branches of government!

Paul Hackett was indeed a refreshing voice of candor and passion, in a Party that seems to have lost too many of those admirable qualities, and I'm saddened by his decision to walk away from politics altogether. Nevertheless, that very decision is an indication to a large extent of his political inexperience. And I would still contend that it's a sign of his true level of commitment - or, more accurately, quasi-commitment - to public service as an elected official.

And that's OK. God knows, the man has more than fulfilled his obligations to serve the nation, even if he'd never tossed his hat into the political ring in the first place. And it is certainly his right to have dreamed of becoming a U.S. Senator, and to settle for nothing less.

But he's gone now, gang. He's decided to leave the fight to others, and simply go home. The uphill battles in the Buckeye State to unseat Mike DeWine and Jean Schmidt are still there to be fought. So I hardly see the logic in continued attacks on the Democratic Party by Democrats themselves, especially when the Party strategy in Ohio could have yielded two Progressive wins come November, one in the Senate and one in the House.

Until, that is, the Major decided to call it a day.

As I've mentioned in this column before, one of my oldest, childhood friends happens to be the Democratic Hamilton County Commissioner in Ohio's 2nd District. He recently was selected as Vice-Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. And make no mistake - this is not just some party hack who waltzed to that position through cronyism or nepotism or favoritism or whatever "ism" you can think of.

This is an individual who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. A Democrat who was elected not once but twice to his office in Ohio's redder-than-red 2nd District - the first Dem to win that office in 37 years. In fact, in 2004 he received more actual votes than George Bush in the uber-conservative Southwest corner of the Buckeye State.

Obviously, the Commissioner is someone who knows how, even as a Democrat, to connect with voters on all sides of the political fence. Interestingly, he, too, was approached at an early stage about running against DeWine. And, in conversations I had with him last week via phone and e-mail, he provided an insider's view of the Hackett "situation," expressing his disappointment not only in the Major's decision to withdraw from politics, but also in Hackett's disparaging public comments, which are only serving to fuel infighting within the Party at the precise time we need unity to reclaim our nation.

The Commissioner's most recent e-mail to me elegantly summarizes, I think, Ohio's commitment to gaining some Progressive representation in Congress this November:

Out here in the heartland we are hoping that our key Democratic leaders are doing the right thing including actually working to bring the Party together; to heal wounds and to elect progressive voices to office. That is what I am trying to do and what Ohio's new party Chair, Chris Redfern, is trying to do.

The case of Major Hackett is one where there is still much time left to do the right thing, even if that does not include Hackett avenging his loss to Schmidt last summer after her own version of "Swift Boating" him. I know that Paul had his heart and his mind set on running for the Senate. In the end, I have to believe he knew he could not beat Sherrod Brown in the Primary, and so, he withdrew. The reality is Paul had about one tenth of the money on hand that Sherrod did and the big pockets of Democratic votes are largely in the northeast part of the state where Brown has won repeatedly and has served with distinction as a respected Member of the United States Congress.

The Democratic Leadership that finds itself bearing the brunt of criticism from Hackett and supporters alike did what it did out of the best interests of the party. After all, Party faithful have been insisting since the end of the last election that we place the best candidates with the best chances of winning in the races we can win. That was one of the big lessons of Colorado, where the Democrats turned the party around and began winning elections.

In this case Democrats have a great chance of winning both seats. But the pragmatic reality is Hackett would likely lose the Primary, but in the process would bruise Sherrod Brown - weakening him in the race against DeWine. Under that scenario we lose both races, instead of positioning ourselves in a way where Democrats win two seats in Washington D.C.

Personally I hope Paul will not withdraw from politics. He has been a rising star. And he had the ability to beat Jean Schmidt in a race that the existing candidates would have gladly stepped aside for Paul to run. That fact became known on Thursday.

The thing that is distressing is reading all of these e-mails bashing the Democratic Party because it did not support Paul in his bid, but instead "played favorites" in the race. Of course, "playing favorites" is exactly what the Party did in favor of Paul last summer. In that race the Party pulled out all of the stops for him and it almost resulted in Hackett upsetting Schmidt last August. The Party would gladly play that favorite again. Unfortunately Paul never gave us that chance.

Paul, of course, has the right to do whatever he wanted to do and to run in any race he desired. In the end the decision on whether to run or not was his and his alone.

Oh, I know what some of you are thinking: "Typical management spin!" But I've always known the Commissioner to be a rare individual of unimpeachable honesty and integrity, and an interesting source of frank political wisdom. Just check those credentials again. So I see no reason he would now choose to spin a tall tale.

Especially when he himself - like every political office holder - has had disagreements with Party leadership at several crucial junctures in the past. In that light, the most significant single thing he said to me last week, a simple fact that I think we should all recognize as being at the heart of any Hackett discussion, was this:

"The Party doesn't always do what we'd like, so I do understand Paul's frustrations. The difference is that I didn't quit."

A great deal of the lionization of Major Hackett is certainly deserved, and we are diminished by the loss of his voice. But the continuous demonization of Democratic Party leaders, and, by association, the remaining Ohio Senate and House candidates, is almost masochistically counterproductive.

If we on the Left want to get agitated about something, we should focus our energies on trying to convince Paul to rethink his decision, and help to put another Dem in the House. We should direct our attention to supporting Sherrod Brown with every weapon at our disposal, and speak out on behalf of all other Democratic candidates for offices large and small in the Buckeye State. And we should remember that our opponents are Mike DeWine and Jean Schmidt, and stop the misdirected, self-destructive squabbling amongst ourselves.

No matter how aggrieved he feels, Major Hackett made a choice. He decided to go home. Time for the rest of us to move forward with a unified voice, and hope that Paul keeps rooting for us from the balcony.