Equal Time

Just when I thought the Democratic Party had finally shored up some sensitive spots and was poised for a run at evening up the Congressional score, they go out and shoot themselves in the foot (apologies to the Vice President for borrowing this analogy in a story that doesn’t concern him).

Iraq war veteran and outspoken critic of President Bush, Paul Hackett (no, not the former Jets coach), is dropping out of the race for a Senate seat in Ohio and now says he may retire from politics all together.

Sure, the logic makes sense. Sherrod Brown is a 7-term congressman, widely popular and a fundraising dynamo. Locking horns with Hackett in a Democratic primary would only serve to weaken the cause of unseating GOP incumbent Senator Mike DeWine. But logic doesn’t tell the whole story; Hackett is a “new” Democrat – he can position himself as anti-war yet strong on terror, a champion of ethical values and of America’s position as the world’s lone superpower. With the ever-expanding reach of the Christian Right threatening to overcome pockets of resistance, the Democratic Party needs more leaders like Hackett to step up and show the country what being a 21st Century liberal really means.

Then again, a lot of the same things were said in early 2004 about General Wesley Clark…then the guy started talking. Yikes.