Ohio

There has been some noise on blogs today about Ohio. Major Paul Hackett, the Cincinnati attorney-turned-war hero who almost cause a huge upset in an August special Congressional election, recently announced he would run for the U.S. Senate against Senator Mike DeWine. This was after seemingly every other state Democrat disclaimed interest in running. Well, hold on a minute.

Congressman Sherrod Brown from Akron has announced he will run. He had previously discounted himself from running, and at the time was the Democrats' best shot.

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he still is.

I know I'm in the minority among Democratic bloggers when I say this, but, while Paul Hackett seems to be a likable fellow and he did do a good job in the special election, I just don't see how it qualifies him to run for the U.S. Senate against a two-term incumbent.

We're not talking about a Congressional race running against a woman with a way of putting her foot in her mouth; We're talking big show. We're talking statewide, targeted battleground, Bush coming in, Democrats coming in, Rove's attack machine. We need somebody who's ready for a big fight.

Don't get me wrong here. Paul Hackett is a hero in every sense of the word. But that doesn't qualify him to be a U.S. Senator. I think he needs to set his sights a tad bit lower, then aim up eventually.

If he takes down Congresswoman Jean Schmidt in 2006, then he has the credit to run for Senate in 2010. If he runs for Lt. Governor or Attorney General in 2006, then by all means, bring on Voinovich! But not now. This isn't his time.

I hope Major Hackett will see that a bloody primary isn't in the party's best interest, and I hope he pulls out of the race. By the way, I think he would be great as Ted Strickland's Lt. Governor running mate.

But, tonight let me make my endorsement (for what it's worth...which could be up to 79 cents) official. Sherrod Brown for Senate. Take Down The Corruption.

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COMING SOON
I'll be talking about my opinion on whether Harriet Miers should be confirmed, I'll be talking about Jerry Kilgore's (crumbling) campaign, and also, very likely responding to a response I recently got in a comments area. I do love really good, mean, bloody fights controversy, you know