Hackett dropping out

I wasn't sure what to think when I first saw a Kos diary saying that Hackett was leaving the Senate race in this Kos diary: Hackett Quitting Politics, Rips Dems. Wondered if it was just more rumors flying, but it linked to a New York Times article, Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics.

Ohio 2nd has this to say, in part:

Since I received word of the story from Paul's campaign manager I'm assuming that it's legit. The final nail in the coffin must have been the getting the call from Harry Reid.

I hope they know what they are doing, because I don't.

Here are some quotes from the New York Times article:

Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent.
...
"This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me," said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state's filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race.

"For me, this is a second betrayal," Mr. Hackett said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me."
...
Mr. Hackett said he was unwilling to run for the Congressional seat because he had given his word to three Democratic candidates that he would not enter that race.

"The party keeps saying for me not to worry about those promises because in politics they are broken all the time," said Mr. Hackett, who plans to return to his practice as a lawyer in the Cincinnati area. "I don't work that way. My word is my bond."

And finally, from Buckeye Senate Blog:

Write Your Message To Paul Here
He worked damn hard these last few months. Leave your comments, I'm sure he reads them.

Maybe I'll write something later. Right now I need to see what it is my bad wolf is growling about, and decide if I need to talk her out of it or not.

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