Audio


About 150 people showed up at the Grassroots Reception for the opening of the Hackett for Ohio office in Columbus.

Hackett’s Speech

This is the best I’ve ever heard Hackett before a crowd. Upbeat. Positive. Focused. The exact opposite of Saturday’s ambush.

I also got a chance to interview Hackett afterwards about the PD story of him secretly being a Republican:

Ohio 2nd: Have you ever voted for a Republican President?

Hackett: I can tell you every President I ever voted for: Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Perot, Perot, Gore, Kerry.

Ohio 2nd: OK Can you name any Republicans you did vote for.

Hackett: Maybe down ticket. Maybe judges . Hamilton, Clermont County.

Ohio 2nd: So when you were on the Milford City Council what Party did you run for?

Hackett: Non Partisan. I never had to declare… I’ve told you this story before. I’ve always called myself an independent until they impeached Clinton. A guy I never voted for. I thought it was B.S. what they did to him. I said, it’s time to choose sides. Call me a Democrat.


During the reception there was a lot of rumors flying around: Did Chuck Schumer really try to scuttle a big cheese fundraiser for Hackett in NYC? Is it true that the Brown/Strickland lovefest is on the rocks and they’re not opening several offices together as planned? Has Sherrod still not been able to hire a Campaign Manager or Field Director? So is it true that there’s still a lot of bad blood over the ODP chair fight?

More:

UPDATE: Renee in Ohio has posted a diary over @ Kos with a transcript.

Paul was on Randi Rhode’s show today.

MP3 Audio

(I’m adding links to audio @ each section – Editor)

Complete Audio Part 1
Complete Audio Part 2

Hey gang, Mrs. E here andI’m going to try my hand at live blogging here or some version of as I dont know if i have connection yet.

We just go here and a fierce speaking african american woman is speaking now. Whew it’s too early for me to be excited.

Each candidate gets 15 mins to speak.

Lots of people here.

1 – House Democratic Leader Rep. Joyce Beatty
2 – Judge William O’Neill, Candidate for Supreme Court

10:20- standing room only. No big names here yet. Well I dont think they anticipated this many people. I dont know who i speaking now. He’s going for supreme court judge i think.

Ya’ll forgive my typos…i hate laptops. Curse my big hands.

10:23- O’Neil is his name. He’s talking about the whole Noe scandal. He says judges do raise money. Chandra is here.

William O'NeillO’Neil is good. Common sense…knows the boundries of the courts.

Lots of Hackett shirts filing in alittle late…no sign of the man yet.

O’neil says he isnt taking money from anyone. “No money from no body” is his actual line. Very funny comming from a guy ina suit. He’s a strong beliver in grassroots effortHe is going to print from his home and hope to get volunteer help to distribute.

10:33- Jeff Laser, a law student, is speaking for Judge Jennifer Bruner running for Sec of State. sorry if i mispell. She was an election lawyer for years and served with Sherrod Brown. She’s running against a republican from Cincinnati. She actually has experience in election law. He says there were only 4 counts of voter fraud. That’s interesting. They make it sound like its running rampant.

10:38- Speaker for Mark Dan,Richard Ole? is speaking.. Dan is a cndidate for AG. He wants to get rid of the play to pay system. Dan has a lawsuit against Taft. Someone asked if Dan would fire all the attys currently working at the AG(most are outsourced). Richard thinks he wouldwant to keep it in house.

3 – Subodh Chandra, Candidate for Attorney General

Chandra 10:44- Subodh Chandra is on now. His name means good knowledge. Ive never heard Chandra before. He’s a fun guy..father of tripplets. Few people know about what the AG office doesor how important the office is. He is engaging the audience. He says HB3 is unconstitutional….big round of applause. He would join the lawsuit saying NCLB sucks….wow this guy is on fire. I cant type and listen. Chandra beat jim petro in court over predatory lending but now in the supreme court. “Maybe what we need now is an american indian to go against the sacred cows”…or something like that…..great line! He has a record of being fiscal conservative. Petro spent 48mil on outside councils??….Seriously?

Someone would ask how he would get Ohio to start funding the education system as required by law. He says he would try to create a factual background of an intention disregard for the law.

Oh I suck at this….multi-talented I am not. Chandra has alot of good things to say. He is making perfect sense. I am impressed. He’s very into upholding the word of law.

Standing room only now.

4 – Rep. Ted Strickland, Candidate for Governor

Ted Strickland11:03- Ted Strickland is up….alot of supporters. Ive never seen him before either….ooo comming close in a election isnt good enough we cant come close anymore, we have to win….hmm…who is he talking about. He wants Dems to be just as commited as any right winged zealot. We’ve got to have an agenda. The republicans greatest sin is their failure to the people of ohio. His main agenda is jobs are read for ohioian and ohioians are ready for jobs. He’s a good speaker. He will require an energy audit for Ohio,if elected. Conservation is important. He thinks Ohio can be innovators on new energy plans. Ohio is the 3rd user of ethanol but we dont produce.. Eww..is he for ethanol? ok,production would be good. He wil deal with education on every level. Starting with the first years as they are most important. Ohio state state funding is about 13%. Somebody has to pay for all the things we need to do. It’s not free. Great! Will move the tax burden from the working to the wealthy. Question- hiow can we vote for him without honest elections. Answer:-elect jennifer bruner.- hesays we have time to audit the system and see what we can do. We need to educate the members of the board of elections. He has raised about 3 million dollars.Theres a woman standing over my shoulder while Ted is talking. very funny.

Question about abortion. Not sure if answered the questions. Question- does he support single payer healthcare— he is becomming convinced we must. He’s opposed to vouchers. Charter schools should be held accountable as the same standard as public schools. He got the endorsement of ohio teachers association? alot of applause. Hard to hear. $250k to production and research of EDA fuel?~~ bio disel?

He left to a standing O…cool. It’s lunch time,pizza comming. man this is too much work. not sure how Mr. E does it.

11:27- min wage petition.Ohio is below the govt standard at $4.25. Wow…really?? They want to raise min wage to $6.25.

11:33- bad idea to have pizza moving while someone is trying to speak. Peaple have to talk while they eat. Alot info to process. Im going to go back to Strickland.

It’s very cool to see so many dems around. All walks of life and i do believe there are more than 3 black people here. Cool…. I do get lonely sometimes. I’ve been asked if I wanted to a Brown Sticker. No thanks. I need a Hackett sticker. ( I didnt really say that, I just said no) 11:41- We’re free to talk among ourselves….opp nope.. free mike now…pretty dangerous.

Lots oh Hackett shirts walking around…very cool.

Now that I can think some, I must say Chandra is very passionate about the law. Do smart people like him actually get elected? That would be way neat. There is a guy running for the 7th district congress. Dan Sars, I think. We’ve met him before at DFA events, very smart, good guy.. He’s got a long haul over there but he’s upbeat and realistic. Sooner or later he says. It’s a big republican stronghold over there.

Mr. E has left me to go mingle. I gotta gooo

Fingerhut is scheduled to speak at 2:30, I want to hear him. I think I was one of the four who voted for him last cycle. Counters say about 250 here. It’s a decent modest number.

5 – Bryan Flannery, Candidate for Governor

12:27- Brian Flannery running for Govenor. He’s a regular guy with passion. He works in healthcare industries. He’s not wearing a tie…or a dress shirt. He kinda seems mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. He says we are being buried by lack of leadership. Thinks he can fix school funding by defining what education mean. He says you dont run for office just because. This man wants to make a difference.

The difference between he and strickland. He has a plan to make school funding constitutional. How will he fund it? change the tax code. oo someone has asked him about immigration.- forcing a prevailing wage. he running out of time couldnt really answer.

6 – Hugh Quill, Candidate for Treasurer

12:43- Hugh Quill- for treasurer. Hes been Montgomery County treasurer for about 12 years. He wants to walk around and talk but too many cant hear him. He’s a stand up guy, humble. He thinks you must trust the voters. He’s made some decisions that people werent happy about but it was in their best interest. He is all for competition in order for taxpayers to get the best deals. Not one dime in principle has been lost in investments on his watch. He’s earned a half million dollars for Mont co in investment and hes never invested in beanie babies or gold coins. He’s got a long history of getting stuff done. Very cool. He’s got alot of examples and getting the job done. He is very much a boss. He’s got everyone full attention here. We understand him. The job’s very simple, not pleasant all the time but hes the doer. This is a man you want in charge of your money. Neat. Someone asked about using state fund for faith based initiatives. He says we dont think we need to use state means to get closer to God. Excellent. This guy is dollar and cents, bottom line.

12:58- Quill is using more time because Sherrod Brown is late. Looks like his people are here huddled in the hall.

7 – Rep. Sherrod Brown, Candidate for U.S. Senate

1:04- Sherrod Brown has entered the building About 6 people stood up for Brown clapping. The same people who are wearing Strickland shirts as well. He starts off with the story about the bird pin and the miners and union. I think im going to listen and then comment. Throwing out the great deeds of the progressives. clean water, social security, civil rights, air bags in cars. Question- politicans and lobbyist. should congressman be allowed to be lobbyist. he says no. Union guy asked what he could do for labor now. Bernie Sanders pushed him to get into this race and is one of his best friends in congress. He says in the senate he would be against future trade agreements. Question-how important is it to work with the international community. ……They hate this administration not the US people. We should have a play in soving the healthcare and econmic problems around the world like AIDS or TB. Introduces his wife, who won a pulitzer. Whew…trade trade trade….not telling me anything. Question on caring for service men and women…..its going to expensive to help them, didnt answer the question. Question- how can he help education- fully fund NCLB and IDDA. title 1 and 9. talking care of pell grants.

20-or so folks stand for him as he leaves. ooo…too many people in my way…I probably wont get to meet Brown. ahhh…probably just as well.

8 – Rep. Barbara Sykes, Candidate for Auditor

1:25- Barbara Sykes for auditor from Akron ohio. She was councilwoman in 1983-first african american woman to do that. She want to do the auditing to restore the trust back the citizens. If you give me your money, I will report back to you whats happening with your money. Yeah!! We need to stop wanting to be things and start wanting to DO things. This woman is TOUGH and means business. Few will cross her. She’s exciting. 20 peeps standing O as she leaves.

1:45-AJ Wagoner- Supreme court judge. “Justice belongs to God, men can only uphold the law.’…..nice. Lots of qoutes. MLK soft spoken guy. very nice.

I’m feeling it’s almost Hackett time!!

9 – Richard Cordray, Candidate for Treasurer

Richard Chordray? for State Treasurer from Franklin County. Black caucus has endorsements and Strickland and personal endorsements for 74 of the 88 counties. Still going on about who endorses him and how much money he has. Doesnt compare to Quill. Alot of talking about family values and wedge issues. Not sure what any of this has to do with treasurer.

10 – Paul Hackett, Candidate for U.S. Senate

Hackett TIME! 2:27- Paul is standing by the door now waiting for his turn to speak. Tan wool sportscoat and light blue shirt. I havent seen Paul in awhile. Yep, he is still a nice specimen.

2:29- He’s up- his humble beginings.
Doesnt need washington to tell him how to worship his God.

He’s calling out Brown..not sure why….What can Brown do in Senate that he didnt do in crongress…lots of boos. Someone yelled he should attack the republicans and not fellow democrats. Hackett supporter vs Brown supporters in the seats…whoo maybe a catfight. Nevermind….both sides backed down. Question time! This should be fun.

If Sherrod Brown wins he will support all the great democrats. Until then he is playing to win and has an opponent The hecklers apologized. Paul is unfazed says that is what America is about. I do love this man.

Asked how he vote on NCLB-he wants to see the proposal. He is open to change it if not down right get rid of it. Depends on the approval of other teachers and educators.

What would he do first as a legislator. He would revamp themilitary spending. and then the tax code.

How will help college student with loans. Girl from Kent state has $45k in loans. ……not sure what he said on that.

Question on cleaning up nuclear waste from woman from Pike county.. He admits not being knowledgable but knows there some containable stuff.

Question- how can we prove we are stronger on national security. He wont let anyone question his service.

Question….what will you do to hold the republicans who are corrupt. He will continue to hold them accountable and shed light. Asked to expand on his small business idea.

Question about how he would handle the war. Paul-”Bring them home”

He is turning them around. alot of energy in the room now. Very interesting. alot of applause. no one standing except me.

11 – Sen. Eric Fingerhut, Candidate for Governor

2:51- Eric Fingerhut- We have to grow the economical base of ohio. Make Ohio the choice for Business We need to focus on making Ohio a place companies want to be. freeze college tution, include adults up to 200% of proverty line in medicare, doesnt want to wipe out residency laws, for the cleanup of vacant industrial sites. He really wants to win. He is very enthusiastic. Lots of ideas. He differs from the standard democratic line but different ideas are good.

12 – Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune

Todd Portune-

Im sorry yall babygirl is tired of sitting here. I dont want to hear anymore republicans..blah blah blah. I’ll see ya when we get home. I need the drive to process what I think about what happend.

ODP-hamilton-co-06-02-03.mp3

Sorry for the noise at the beginning. The audio features Jerry Springing, Hamilton County Commissioner Tod Portune, and ODP Chair Chris Redfern. Redfern seemed at times to be channeling Howard Dean, Paul Hackett and a Vegas lounge comedian.

UPDATE: Mighty Enquirer political reporter Howard Wilkinson has blogged (blogged?!) on the event

UPDATE 2: Zack Morris at Drinking Liberally Cincinnati liveblogged the event.

HCDO Event

On this day dedicated to the life of Martin Luther King, I point people to his once again timely speech Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence.

So I hear.

Majority-report-hackett-11-18-05.mp3

Plunderbund has audio of Hackett on Friday’s Ed Schultz show. This picture is from the event:

Fighting Dems

aamr102505-paul_hackett.mp3

Paul Hackett has featured last night on The Daily Kos and Majority Report’s weekly Fighting Dems segment. This was Hackett at his best. There’s been a lot of static on the internet lately about this race. This interview really put things back into perspective. If you want to know why I back Hackett, listen to this interview.

Here’s my favorite quote:

I am not running against Mr. Brown, Congressman Brown, and I am not running against Mike DeWine. I am fighting for all Ohioans, and by extension of being in the US Senate all Americans. That’s my fight. That’s what I’m here for. I’m not here for the title, it doesn’t interest me. I’m not there for the money, it’s a pay cut. I’m there because I want America because I want it to be better off than what I received it and I want to pass it off to my children and my grandchildren. So, that’s my fight. That’s my cause, and, that’s how I plan to fight it. Now, if Congressman Brown or Congressman DeWine take exception to my critique of Washington DC or the status quo, I can’t help that. That’s not my mission. My mission is to fight a good fight for Ohioans and Americans.


The audio of the broadcast is based on the postcast over @ Air America Place.

Media in trouble has a great review of Paul’s appearance.

BTW, here’s where you can help.

NPR hosted an interesting debate with David Sirota, John Zogby & Bill Burton, spokesman for the DCCC, on the Iraq war. Once again Paul Hackett was a focus.

Zogby and Sirota are maintaining that Iraq must be a central issue for the Democratic Party while the DCCC feels that local issues are key. Burton maintains that local issues were really the key in the Hackett race and that Iraq wasn’t that significant. That simply isn’t true.

As someone who watched the race virtually from day one Hackett couldn’t help but talk about Iraq. Iraq was what people wanted to discuss. Iraq was on everyone’s mind. As the race went on it became more and more of a focus simply because people were, and still are, desperate for answers, and Paul Hackett was the only candidate who seemed capable of talking about it from an honest perspective.


Also of interest is the article in The Nation on the failure of the Democrat strategic class:

…the Democratic strategic class, consisting of the party’s leading foreign policy thinkers, could have provided a powerful check on a reckless Administration intent on rushing to war. Instead, it bears partial responsibility for the war’s costs: more than 1,800 American fatalities, thousands of maimed and wounded US soldiers, many more dead Iraqi civilians, spiraling worldwide anti-Americanism, surging world oil prices, a new breeding ground for Al Qaeda, multiplying terror attacks abroad and mounting economic insecurity at home.

At the same time, talking tough on Iraq has been a disastrous moral, tactical and political miscalculation for Democrats. A recent Democracy Corps poll found that Iraq tops the list of factors motivating voter discontent toward President Bush. “This is a country almost settled on the need for change,” political consultants Stan Greenberg and James Carville write. Yet Democrats will only prosper if they pose “sharp choices,” something the strategic class has been unwilling or unable to do. A few small progressive think tanks, helped by the dissident establishment, have tried to pry open badly needed institutional space for a bolder national security policy. A few courageous elected officials are attempting to drum up Congressional support for withdrawal. Thus far, the hawks have drowned them out. Unless and until the strategic class transforms or declines in stature, the Democrats beholden to them will be doomed to repeat their Iraq mistakes.

Hughes for America has Hackett’s retort to Rush’s last minute attack:

That’s typical for that fatass drug addict to come up with something like that. There’s a guy … I didn’t hear this, but actually when I was on drill this weekend, I’ve got to tell you, he lost a lot of Republican supporters with his comments. Because they were coming up to me, telling me, “I can’t believe he said that! Besides that, he called you a soldier. He doesn’t know the difference between a soldier and a marine!”

So generally, the consensus is Rush doesn’t know squat about patriotism. He’s typical of the new Republican. He’s got a lot of lip and he doesn’t walk the walk. (more…)


UPDATE: Hackett is scoring a lot of points on the crosspost @ DKos. He might really be onto something taking it to Rush. Al Franken has already shown that it is a very popular activity.

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