from the PD:
With his primary opponent out of the way, though not out of earshot, U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is re-tooling for his November battle against incumbent Republican Mike DeWine.
Among the campaign’s recent changes: Dan Lucas, the controversial interim campaign manager, is out. He left the campaign Sunday and moved back to Washington.
So Lucas is out. Why? Anyone see a press release? Anything on the Brown website? David wonders if this will be enough to satisfy the blogosphere. Not for me. We asked for them to come clean and ax the guy responsible. Quietly “retooling” is not what most want. Not to mention the only place you read about it is in the Brown Leak Line…er, um Openers.
Brown’s campaign also re-assigned a couple of staffers who worked on Internet communication to more traditional field work.
LOL. Better luck with field work Phil.
It’s still seems to point to the fact that Sherrod just wants it all to go away on it’s own and is showing no leadership in making it happen. What we are asking for is to demonstrate some leadership and I bet most all of us would come running. As yet we’re still hanging out watching. Russell thinks we don’t really matter anyways, so all good.
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(hat tip UAPA):
They touch upon (gloss over really) the primary debacle, but Brown stops fully short of giving those on the blogs and in the grassroots what they’ve been asking for. Sounds like the same old to me…damn. Even puts out the bogus “behind in polls” argument. I wish Jerry knew enough to ask him about the same poll that indicated Paul would pull ahead when both positive messages get out there. Sheesh. OH02 wants a MTB kiss and make up, which will never happen but would probably go south anyways.
PS: What polls have Brown ahead of DeWine? Did I miss those? – ah, yes. The DSCC one…not Rasmussen.
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Iraq teetering on civil war, Bush approval numbers lowest ever, the culture of corruption everywhere you look, and now this…Neoconservatism a failure. Francis Fukuyama, once a staunch support of the PNAC and all things Neocon, blasts the Bush administration and points to the failure that is the current global war on terror (hat tip C&L):
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psst, Pipeline from CNN (online video news streams) is free today. Check it out. Been using it for a while now and well worth the yearly subscription.
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(CNN):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Bush said his 2004 re-election victory over Sen. John Kerry was inadvertently aided by Osama bin Laden, The Washington Examiner newspaper reported Tuesday.
…”I thought it was going to help,” Bush said.
“I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn’t want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush.”
hmmm…former CIA operative releases a tape the Friday prior to an election in which Bush ran on fear of terrorism and 9/11. Pretty sneaky, sis!
Update: That gets me thinkin’…whatever happened to Osama bin Forgotten? Weren’t we just what 3 years ago smoking him out? Or was that having a smoke? I forget.
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Hackett sitting in for Bill Cunningham again today. Online stream available. Thus far I think he’s jumped the shark. He might have lost it. Audio later….Okay, maybe just a shaky start. He’s no radio pro (yet) either.
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I’ve been tough on Sherrod and his campaign. I disagree strongly with how some things have gone down, both by the candidate and by his staff. I make no bones about that. PBD recently put up a post in an attempt to find away out of the mess that is the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day Massacre. In the comments, Frank points to a daydream type scenario that got a comment from me.
Read the post and join in the discussion.
My comment: Damn Frank. I would sure love to see that happen, but fear it needed to have happened already to do any good. I think the bridge is toast.
Since about a day or two after the Valentine’s Day Massacre, I’ve been looking for a reason – someone give me a reason – to drop it and get behind the guy still in the race. All I’ve been able to find thus far are reasons to sit this one out. I don’t want to to that, but I also have seen the actions of the Brown campaign and Sherrod himself and they have NOT impressed me.
Sherrod had a big time opportunity to heal the wounds but has thus far passed. I imagine some might pass on him as well.
I really wish your scenario would come to life, but don’t see it happening. It would be a grand day in the ODP and among the netroots here to see it. Imagine Strickland on his whirlwind campaign, Sherrod taking on BushCo and DeWine, and Hackett giving them hell on the radio and on the road. It would be damn near unstoppable, but I think it is out of our reach to even hope that this happens.
Both sides need to give here, and there is enough ego to spread among a dozen in this one.
What I won’t do is forget how this went down and continue to try to expose it and prevent it from happening again. The bigger picture is too important to me.
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Paul is interviewed by Angie Coiro on Mother Jones Radio – an Air America show. Paul talks about the importance of getting out his message and how that was prevented due to the now famous “machinations”. Paul denies he wouldn’t do fundraising calls. His answer is a bit weak, but he called charges of not showing up at events “utterly false”.
They talk about “the photograph” some as well, where Paul repeats his challenge to publicly debate anyone with such a charge as war crimes against him.
(hat tip UAPA)
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The more I think about this UAE port deal, the more I think it is a straw man. Think about it. What do the Republicans need now going into the 2006 election season? Separation from Bush. He’s down right nucular at this point with rock bottom job approval numbers.
The UAE port deal gives them an issue that they can stand up and disagree with the POTUS on and gain such separation. Dems only enhance that by jumping up and down and screaming about it. This leaves open the playbook for the Dem opposition to not only be neutralized, but for the positions of Republicans in key races to be bolstered by standing up and opposing a lame ass president.
With as much as this administration has been ruling with fear and loathing of terrorism and evil doers, it just seems fishy that they’d honestly try to sell this. I smell a double reverse.
That’s not to say that Dems should not be raising a stink, but they will have trouble gaining traction and could lose all the political momentum if they break containment and allow the Republicans to get the reverse off clean. Sherrod is right to be out in front of this one (missed ya on the Hackett thing there bro), but it remains to be seen how this will play out. This could be the beginning of the Bush separation the Republicans so desperately need. How can we make sure that doesn’t happen?
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I thought the following would be good accompaniment for the following post:
(CBS) The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.
Just 30 percent approve of how Mr. Bush is handling the Iraq war, another all-time low.
Woooo….woooo…oooo…oooo..oooo
Also, check out this cool graphic: The Bush Death Spiral!
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from philly.com:
What I learned in the process is that, even though I’m a big Bruce Springsteen fan, I was not born to run. Serve yes, run for office no.
It’s too bad, too. The job of the DSCC and Schumer is to bring guys like Hackett into the process in such a way that they don’t come away with this feeling. Confirms what some staff have said about fundraising and what some Hackett detractors have argued about not being ready for prime time. I still put much of the blame on the Dem leadership and what Paul calls the Culture of Careerism:
In the end it wasn’t meant to be, and I was confronted with the clash between my culture of service, commitment and leadership, and the politicians’ culture of careerism.
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Is this a signal that someone wants Paul out of the limelight? Why would a letter from a Republican’s “lady friend” be coming out in the PeeDee Openers to attempt to disparage a candidate who isn’t even in the freakin’ race? Apparently someone wants Paul to stfu. I wonder who that someone is?:
On the day the world found out that Paul Hackett was dropping his Democratic Senate campaign, his law office in downtown Cincinnati was busy with another priority — soliciting an accident victim via form letter.
The ”lady friend” of a high-ranking Republican official in Hamilton County got a Feb. 14 letter from Hackett asking her to to drop by at no cost to find out how much money her injury might be worth.
(Check out the letter here, with the recipient’s name removed: Page one and page two.)
The GOP official said such letters from Hackett probably would have become Republican ammo against the Iraq War vet’s Senate dreams. He said they could have been used to portray Hackett as a greedy trial lawyer angling to drum up business with hopes of big paydays from insurance settlements.
The letter makes it clear Hackett found out about the accident after his law office combed through public records: ”We learned of your recent automobile accident from the police report which was filed as a result of your accident,” Hackett wrote.
I have to tell you…I couldn’t get my brain to move past “lady friend”. A Republican’s hooker got a letter from Paul? Ah the visuals on that one. You know what as well? I am sure – no absolutely positive – that there are no Republican lawyers who practice personal injury. Damn near positive.
Let the games continue…shit sure is fun for bloggin’!
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LOL…right now Paul is calling John Ryan live on the air. Audio later…
Hackett calls John Ryan on the air live at WLW (actually returns a call, but doesn’t get through – still a funny clip):
(sorry for the gaps, didn’t edit out the buffering from the streaming)
…more audio coming
Paul tells a caller to put down the crack pipe:
I did not get to listen to the entire show, but will tomorrow as Paul will be back on with Mike and they’ll be talking economy they say. What I did hear was classic Hackett. The reason he resonated so well with the netroots and alot of the grassroots Dems is he said what alot of us have been thinking for a long time. Some will call this a part of his ego-driven media blitz and bash Paul for speaking out. I say they should have thought about this when they were swiftboating and knee-capping him. This is huge trouble for the Brown campaign, but very good news for Dem reform in Ohio. It’s a correction mechanism and it appears to be much needed. Maybe at some point the leadership will get it…I’m certain after November they will.
I think PBD has some good thoughts on what Sherrod needs to do, but I’m not sure that it isn’t too late.
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via email:
Bryan Flannery, Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, announced today the addition of Anthony Fossaceca to his campaign team as Communications Director. Fossaceca most recently served as Campaign Manager for State Senator Eric Fingerhut in his bid for Governor.
“I’m excited to add one of Ohio’s brightest, young political talents to our team” Flannery said. “Anthony has worked side-by-side with some our state’s smartest and most respected political leaders. His experience and creativity will help our campaign build momentum as we move through the primary phase and on to November.”
full PR below break [click to continue…]
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The Nation: “The Better Choice in Ohio”
by Eric on February 27, 2006 · Comments
Yet another MSM “journalist” gets it wrong, and John Nichols should know better. He’s been in Ohio (former Blade writer and editor) and should no better than to write:
First of all, would The Nation shills please stop misrepresenting what that internal poll said? Please? Get the freakin’ facts on it here. This is bad journalism. The poll actually says Hackett pulls into the lead once voters get his message, which makes the charges against the Brown campaign and the Dem leadership all the worse – they prevented the better candidate from competing in the election! No other way to spin that. I won’t argue that Brown is the “stronger progressive candidate”, but we are talking about winning here in Ohio John – we do not care for any moral progressive victory. We’ve had plenty of those, thanks.
Sure, maybe the home of Brown in the NE was soft on Hackett, but I’m going to bet once both messages got out there it would be really close. Listen, what’s done is done – no matter how wrong – but would “journalists” stop distorting and misrepresenting polls to make them feel better about their party turning Rovian? I beg of you.
And come back to Ohio sometime John. You might have seen the 3-1 turnout for Paul in many places that Brown visited days later. All over the state.
(hat tip grandpaboy, who also comments)
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