Hackett Won't Get Shot at Another 'Almost' Victory

You may remember angry Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett who was the pride of the left when he ran for a House seat in Ohio last fall (posts here and here). Hackett's narrow loss was proclaimed an 'almost' victory by the left (?), and Hackett vowed to return to politics with a run against Sen. Mike DeWine.

Well, how quickly the heroes fall. Hackett has been shoved aside by the Dem party, and has now abandoned politics altogether.

Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and vociferous critic of President George W. Bush, announced Monday that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate from Ohio.

Hackett told the New York Times that Senators Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., pushed him aside for Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Hackett was facing Brown in the Democratic primary for the right to take on Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine.

"I made this decision reluctantly,” he said in a statement, "only after repeated requests from party leaders as well as behind-the-scenes machinations that were intended to hurt my campaign.”

Hackett explained those "behind-the-scenes machinations” to the Times, claiming Democratic leaders had been calling his donors and urging them to stop supporting his candidacy.

He told the Times he felt betrayed. "For me, this is a second betrayal,” he said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me.”

Time to get a real job, Paul.

For all those angry Iraq war vets out there that are being recruited as Dem candidates, take fair warning. Your usefulness to the Dem party is limited, and subject to change.