In just a few days from now, people in southwestern Ohio’s 2nd congressional district will get the chance to strike a blow against all the lies of the Bush Administration and the Republican federal government. Anti-war candidate Democrat Paul Hackett is standing up to the elite establishment’s candidate, Republican Jean Schmidt.
In this campaign, Jean Schmidt has played dirty all the way. Her campaign manager, Joe Braun, has gone around the Internet threatening to sue bloggers who write negative things about the Jean Schmidt campaign, offering the shrill threat, “I am an attorney!” In the meantime, through Republican consultant Eric Minamyer, the Schmidt campaign has called in the dark forces of Swift Boat Veteran campaign attacks against Paul Hackett – attacks that were so obviously untrue that the Schmidt campaign had to admit it had lied.
Then there have been Jean Schmidt’s strange promises, like the promise Schmidt made to serve as a member of Congress and the president of Cincinnati Right to Life at the same time. This promise has led to serious questions about who Jean Schmidt really intends to serve in the Congress – the people of Ohio’s 2nd district or the extremist agenda of a far right fringe organization.
Paul Hackett was an underdog from the start. The last member of Congress to represent the 2nd district routinely won with over 70 percent of the vote. However, it looks like a good number of the people of southwestern Ohio are waking up to the dangerous lack of ethics in the Jean Schmidt campaign. As of this week, Paul Hackett has closed to within 5 percent of Jean Schmidt – a near dead heat. In a devastating blow to Jean Schmidt, The Cincinnati Post has suprised its readers by endorsing Hackett for Congress instead of Schmidt.
None of the experts expected this much of a close race. In our earlier coverage of the Hackett race, cynics predicted that Paul Hackett didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. I guess that makes Hackett the snowball that could.
Still, Paul Hackett needs your help to get over the final hump. In these last days of the campaign, and on the August 2nd election day, you can provide direct assistance to the Paul Hackett for Congress campaign even if you can’t make it to Ohio in person. From the fantastic Western blog Left in the West, we get the news that the Hackett campaign is looking for people to assist with its phone banks. Call the Hamilton County Democratic Party at 513.421.0495 and tell them you want to help – and you can help Ohio take the first step in kicking the corrupt Republicans out of Congress in 2006.
