# The Hackett Factor: Portent of Disaster or Harbiner of Doom? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379 "2005-08-03T00:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/41 "2005-08-03T11:54:19Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m moving to Cincinnati in a month. Just what am I walking into politically? Apparently the governor is in a scandal, but I’m from New Jersey so I’m used to that. I’ve never lived there, but I have all kinds of friends and family there. It’s sort of a quintessential midwestern town in most aspects, but its politics are more conservative than even most Southern cities its size. For instance, there were no nudie bars in Cincinnati proper for many years because of local ordinances; I think there may be one now. On the other hand, you have Bogart’s, Graeter’s, and way more top-notch butchers per capita than just about anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/42 "2005-08-03T12:29:02Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > I’m moving to Cincinnati in a month. Just what am I walking into politically? Apparently the governor is in a scandal, but I’m from New Jersey so I’m used to that 😉 . Note: I live in Ohio. Point the first: By reputation Cincinnati is the most conservative large city in the USA. Point the second: Republican Governor Taft isn’t so much involved in a scandal as an overbearing miasma of incompetence. From investing pension funds in rare coins (what next? Beanie Babies?) to general economic fecklessness he’s down to between 15-20% approval. He is, for all intents, _hors de combat_ on the political scene. Even the national republican party would like him to fall into a black hole and not be associated with they’re brand again. Current aspirers to the Governor’s office include Ken Blackwell, R Secretary of State and Ted Strickland, longtime Democratic member of the US House Representatives. There will be others as well. Of course, we’re also the state that produced Jim Traficant. God help us all. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/43 "2005-08-03T14:58:54Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > I’m moving to Cincinnati in a month. Just what am I walking into politically? Apparently the governor is in a scandal, but I’m from New Jersey so I’m used to that . To add to the above couple of posts… Metro Cincinnati is strongly conservative, but I don’t think it’s that people are more conservative than other conservatives. It’s just that there are more of them than usual. Also, this is the home of the [giant Jesus](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289119)! However, there are such creatures known as “Democrats” in the area. Their natural habitat is basically within the city limits of Cincinnati. FWIW, last year voters in the city did repeal a law that denied protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation. If you are a liberal and living in the suburbs, though, it just might be your personal political hell. Oh, and a friendly word of advice: learn to love the chili or you’ll be run out of town. 😉 > [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Of course, we’re also the state that produced Jim Traficant. God help us all. Don’t forget Jerry Springer, former Cincy mayor! ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/44 "2005-08-03T15:26:40Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I think it will ultimately send a message to the extreme right wing of the party that maybe they aren’t as invincible as they think they are. Hopefully a centrist movement grows out of it. I think it will only teach the monkeys to fling the poo harder next time. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/45 "2005-08-03T18:49:43Z")
I think the question to ponder is if Bush is going to be a liability to congressmen running for re-election at the midterm. His popularity is down and in districts that are close, usually the President can show up and make a few speeches and help out. But if he can’t… ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/46 "2005-08-03T19:30:32Z")
Wait, so this isn’t a thread about how the Flyers need to improve their goaltending? :smack: carry on ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/47 "2005-08-03T20:43:16Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > I’m moving to Cincinnati in a month. Just what am I walking into politically? Apparently the governor is in a scandal, but I’m from New Jersey so I’m used to that 😉 . The city itself is pretty Democratic. There are only two Republicans on the nine-member City Council, and the mayor is a Democrat. Like most small-town city politics, however, the elected officials are pretty much useless; they tend to play toward their own personal constituencies and spend more time hamming it up for the cameras and the papers than actually working out an agenda or consistent set of policies. There are a total of four current local politicians who I believe are worth a spit; 1. David Crowley (D, Council): He owns a bar in a rather swanky hillside arts & entertainment neighborhood, but he’s a good guy. Typical overeducated liberal elite, but he’s honest. 2. Chris Smitherman (I [well, technically, Charterite, but you don’t need to know that right now], Council): A young financial planner, who happens to be African American. He’s something of a firebrand, and was called a “smart-mouthed little punk” by the county prosecutor for criticizing the insularity of the police department. My kind of dude. 3. Mark Mallory (D, State Senate): He’s not afraid to stake out actual policy positions in a legislature that’s completely hostile to his ideas. I’ve met him a few times, and he’s an incredibly thoughtful guy. He’s running for mayor, but he’ll probably lose. 4. Todd Portune (D, County Commission): The only Dem in a county-wide office. He’s also a pretty thoughtful guy, and isn’t afraid to vociferously defend social services or put the screws to the local power elites. Mayor Charlie, despite being a Democrat, is a complete chump and a tool of the business community. He might as well be a Republican, but he comes from something of a local democratic dynasty. His likely successor, David Pepper, is also a Democrat. He’s the son of the former CEO of P&G, and recently proposed to raise the penalty for posession of small amounts of pot from a $100 ticket to a year in jail. Whatever. Thanks to the miracle of political districting, the first and second congressional districs split the city itself between them, rounding out the majority of their votes with the more conservative suburbs. I’m sure depriving the Democrats of a natural constituency was the _last_ thing on the (GOP-controlled) Legislature’s mind when they drew the map up. Oh, and I’ve lived here all my life, and I can’t _stand_ the chili. Well, except on cheese coneys. Goetta, however, is the shit. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/48 "2005-08-03T20:55:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And, of course, that’s a _harbinger_ of doom. What about the _carabiner_ of doom? And the _carabineer_? Always getting the short shrift, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/49 "2005-08-03T21:02:34Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > From investing pension funds in rare coins (what next? Beanie Babies?) You’re not that far off. Along with the rare coins, some of the funds from that Worker’s Comp Bureau were “invested” in wine and race horses. “Invested.” Right. Gotcha. And I’m heavily invested in fast food; got a bunch of french fries stored under the couch cushions. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/50 "2005-08-03T22:38:55Z")
Is this anywhere near Ohio’s 20th district, where former hostage [Terry Anderson](http://www.answers.com/topic/terry-anderson) was defeated by his Republican, incumbent opponent who had the balls to imply that he was soft on terror? From an [article](http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid%3A3078) on the web: [snip] This wasn’t even Padgett’s worst. That was reserved for a flier that showed a photo of Anderson interviewing one of his Hezbollah captors years after Anderson’s hostage release. It was positioned next to an out-of-context quote from Anderson (which appeared in The Athens News in October 2001) about trying to understand the motivations of people in the Middle East, along with Padgett’s charge that Anderson is “soft on terrorism” and part of the “blame America first” crowd." [snip] ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/51 "2005-08-03T23:05:36Z")
Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. Taft is an incompetent buffoon. I’m not in Oh-2 but I was rooting for Hackett to eke out a victory. I can’t stand when people blindly vote party lines. Argh! I’d rather vote for an honest person who I’m at political odds with over a corrupt person who waves my party’s banner. As for the next election, I won’t be voting for anyone who is close to Gov. Taft because something is rotten in the state of Ohio and it’s starting to stink up the place. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/52 "2005-08-04T06:24:14Z")
I haven’t been following the Hackett election too closely, but what’s this I hear about 4,000+ votes for Schmidt “suddenly” turning up five minutes before the election was over? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/53 "2005-08-04T06:47:57Z")
I’ve heard no such thing, myself, and I watched pretty close. But there are some mighty twitchy sphincters in Washington tonight. This is one of the solidest Tighty Righty districts out there, and this Hackett guy ran on a “fuck Bush” platform against a ton of money and damn near did it. This is good. Could have been better, but this is good. If Ms Schmidt had only had a bit more direct support from GeeDubya, she might have still managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. GeeDubya isn’t a lame duck, he’s an albatross. A _radioactive_ albatross. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/54 "2005-08-04T06:55:49Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > I haven’t been following the Hackett election too closely, but what’s this I hear about 4,000+ votes for Schmidt “suddenly” turning up five minutes before the election was over? I heard something about that on Air America today, but it was Randi Rhodes so who knows? A quick Google turns up a lot of blogs mentioning the 4,000 vote margin of victory but nothing I could see regarding shenanigans or votes suddenly appearing. Not that it would surprise me to find out that the Republicans cheated, but I haven’t seen or heard anything other than RR. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/55 "2005-08-04T11:18:26Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I heard something about that on Air America today, but it was Randi Rhodes so who knows? A quick Google turns up a lot of blogs mentioning the 4,000 vote margin of victory but nothing I could see regarding shenanigans or votes suddenly appearing. > > Not that it would surprise me to find out that the Republicans cheated, but I haven’t seen or heard anything other than RR. Well, the votes did show up “suddenly,” but for those of us watching the proceedings, it was clear that a large number of votes from about 100 precincts were being hand counted, and most people recognized that they could go for Schmidt, which they did. It had been 50/50 for a long while, so perhaps it felt to some like a surprise dumping of votes. I agree that this is a good thing. A very good thing. It would have been icing to have actually turned the seat, but it’s still fine. Some feel strongly that without the victory, it doesn’t matter. I wonder how confused these people were by the first _Rocky_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/56 "2005-08-04T12:47:52Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > Is this anywhere near Ohio’s 20th district, where former hostage [Terry Anderson](http://www.answers.com/topic/terry-anderson) was defeated by his Republican, incumbent opponent who had the balls to imply that he was soft on terror? > > From an [article](http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid%3A3078) on the web: > > [snip] This wasn’t even Padgett’s worst. That was reserved for a flier that showed a photo of Anderson interviewing one of his Hezbollah captors years after Anderson’s hostage release. It was positioned next to an out-of-context quote from Anderson (which appeared in The Athens News in October 2001) about trying to understand the motivations of people in the Middle East, along with Padgett’s charge that Anderson is “soft on terrorism” and part of the “blame America first” crowd." [snip] That would be my district down here in Marietta. You wouldn’t **believe** the loca TV commercials Padgett ran. Pix of Anderson backed by the flames of hell and so forth. The personal animosity was so great towards the end that during a debate here Anderson made his opening statement then said he wouldn’t share a stage with someone with so little character as Padgett and left. My mind was actually made up against Padgett because of those ads. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/57 "2005-08-05T00:15:56Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Wait, so this isn’t a thread about how the Flyers need to improve their goaltending? :smack: Hell, I can’t believe that no one has made a Mike Heimerdinger joke yet. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/58 "2005-08-05T00:43:28Z")
Please tell me that’s the name of a major Republican honcho who’s involved in a scandal with Jeff Gannon, investigative journalist and man-ho extraordinaire. That would be better than a pony. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379/59 "2005-08-05T19:38:44Z")
It would appear that Hackett’s near win is no fluke. There’s growing anger at the ongoing loss of life in Iraq, more and more questioning of whether it’s worth it, among the people of Ohio who should be most solidly behind the Bush administration. [More dead bring anguish, anger in Ohio](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/05/more_dead_bring_anguish_anger_in_ohio/): > [@](#): > > This week’s events shook the Buckeye State to its core, as communities across the northern half of the state lost sons to Operation Iraqi Freedom, all members of the Brook Park-based H&S unit of the 25th Marines, which has had hundreds of reservists called up for duty. Nine of the dead were in one Columbus-based company. > > While other states have suffered spates of casualties, Ohio’s loss of 14 reservists in two days, after losing two others a week earlier, was one of the war’s harshest blows to hit a civilian area – and seemed to trigger a new benchmark in public grief and discontent with the war’s casualties. > > Ohioans describe their state as patriotic and supportive of the troops. The state last year gave a narrow, critical win to an incumbent president defending his decision to send soldiers to fight in Iraq. But the shock of the recent deaths – combined with growing worries that the 2 1/2-year-old conflict remains unresolved – has more residents wondering whether the sacrifice has been worth it. > > [snip] > > ''For the most part, this city has supported the war," [a Tallmadge city council member] said. ''But this town is a very close-knit community. Everybody knows everybody. This is pretty much devastating. People are saying, ‘Why are we here now? Let’s get out – it’s enough.’ When it hits close to home – that’s enough." > > Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran who narrowly lost a special election for an Ohio seat in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, said Ohioans – particularly those in military families – remain a patriotic group. But they are beginning to question why the United States is still in Iraq, and what is being accomplished there, he added. > > ''The meaning of [the deaths] of these patriots who were just killed is further evidence of the failure of this administration to do anything over there worthwhile," said Hackett, a reserve US Marine major who was heading to Washington, D.C., yesterday for training. ''Why did they die? What did they die for? The search for weapons of mass destruction? No. To topple a dictator and make his people free? No. Free to do what?" Hackett said, referring to dangers on the streets of Iraq. > > [snip] > > The reverberations from Ohio reached Bush yesterday, as he remarked from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that ''the community outside of Cleveland, Brook Park, Ohio, suffered mightily over the last couple of days" and that ''I hope they can take comfort in the fact that millions of their fellow citizens pray for them." > > The president added that ''we will stay the course, we will finish the job in Iraq." The job, Bush explained, is to ''help the Iraqis develop a democracy." > > For many Ohioans, especially those who supported the Iraq war as a means to fight terrorism, the lengthening mission to promote democracy is a less passionate cause. > > Dawes, the Vietnam veteran from Brook Park whose nephew was among those killed, questioned what the United States was gaining in Iraq, beyond military contracts for large corporations. > > ''The rich man has got richer, and the poor man has lost his kids," Dawes said. ''That’s the way it was [in Vietnam], and that’s the way it is now." **Bricker** , with all due respect, how can you look at such evidence of growing disaffection in one of the Republicans’ core constituencies and still be so sanguine about the 2006 elections? Unless you expect the news from Iraq to become tremendously better over the next year, doesn’t it seem far more likely that opposition to the war, and to the administration and party that got us into it, will strengthen rather than dwindling? If the Democrats put up more Hacketts to run against the Republicans, I predict a marked shift in the balance of power in Congress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hackett-factor-portent-of-disaster-or-harbiner-of-doom/315379.md?page=2)