Oh no, not again

Update: There is a post from Paul Hackett at Blog for America.

Another update, from the DNC blog, Howard Dean's words about Paul Hackett's withdrawal from the race:

As you know, Iraq veteran Paul Hackett left the race for U.S. Senate in Ohio today. In his campaigns, Paul had the courage to stand up and speak out for what he believes in. That is how Democrats will win elections and take this country back for the people who built it. Our country and our party are better off when people like Paul step up and run for office, up and down the ballot, in every election. I also want you to know that it is the policy of the Democratic National Committee not to intervene in contested primaries. We need more people running for office at every level, gaining experience and bringing new voices into our party. I want to thank Paul Hackett for inspiring so many people to be part of the political process, including many of the "Fighting Dems" running for office across the country.

Keep up the fight, Howard

From Chapter 18 of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now.

If you're not familiar with the book, you probably need to read the rest of the chapter to get the context. But it's amazing how there seems to be an appropriate Douglas Adams quote to fit *any* occasion. At least, that's what Demetrius and I think. (Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie!)

But last night's news of Paul Hackett yielding to party pressure to drop out of the race felt all to familiar to many of us.

listener wrote:

Shame on the Democrats!
This is just like what happened to Howard in Iowa!
Who do they think they are!?!!

And SusanD wrote:

How dare Reid and Schumer tell any candidate they can't run? As long as you follow all the steps and file all the papers, isn't it up to the voters?

It IS Kerry all over again, and this time I'm not playing that.

It is *utterly* recognizable and all too familiar to those of us who supported Howard Dean. And just when I would like to be celebrating what Howard Dean has accomplished in his first year as Chair, and maybe doing a fun post for Valentine's Day, party insiders go and make me feel like *this* again. Once again, I feel like we're being told, "That's cute all the stuff you're doing. You've got such spunk. But you don't count--we make the calls. Now, fall in line, and start writing checks."

Equally predictable is the scolding some fellow bloggers immediately offer when we balk at that "fall in line" part.

There is nothing official on the Hackett blog yet, but if you scroll to "Recent Entries", there are some similar sentiments to what was expressed above in the community blogs.

At least the post Low Turnout Reported at BuckeyeSenate gave me a chuckle.

But, just as fair warning, any fellow Democrats who start *today*, while this injury is still raw, A) extolling Brown's virtues, B) saying it's a good thing that we can "unite" now, or, worst of all, C) chastising us and asking incredulously "Don't you know what's at stake here?", can bite me. And I suspect I'm far from being the only person who feels that way.

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