David Sirota Is Wrong

In a recent piece in the American Prospect David Sirota writes that Paul Hackett should back out of the Ohio Senate race and either keep his powder dry or run again against Jean Schmidt. I respect David Sirota a lot, but he is wrong about both of these assertions.

A lot of A-list Democratic politicians in Ohio have spent the better part of a decade keeping their powder dry and what has that gotten us? Twelve years of oligarchic republican rule. Our congressmen and women spent most of those years protecting their little fiefdoms, Sherrod Brown included. By sitting in the most Democratic districts and never moving up to challenge in statewide elections, they have ruined our ability to build a bench of quality candidates. I been yelling the past few cycles to either step up or step aside. Hackett has stepped up and has momentum. You don't shut that down, you strike when the iron is hot.

As for Sirota's dream ticket of Brown for Senate and Hackett for Congress, forget about it. It was an extraordinary effort for Hackett to get close to Schmidt in a special election. I had said prior to the election that if turnout went over 23% Hackett would lose. It would be a suicide mission for Hackett to run against even a lousy candidate like Schmidt in that district in an on year general election, and would thus knock the bloom off of the rose.

Hackett's only other real options are to move to another statewide race like AG, Secretary of State, or Auditor. These are bureaucratic jobs though and I don't see Hackett as a bureaucratic kind of guy even though he would be a fifty-fifty shot to take any of those three.

Hackett does need to run statewide in this cycle if he chooses to run in the future, and he may not choose to do so, to build name ID. I think that even if he were to lose to Brown in a Senate primary, it would be a better thing for his career than the other options.

I don't know if Hackett can beat Brown, and it would be a shame to have Brown out of politics given the money he raises for other Democratic candidates, but I think a Senate primary is the best thing for Hackett and the Ohio Democratic party.