Lieutenant Colonel Paul Lewis Hackett III (born October 21, 1963) is an Iraqi War lawyer and veteran who failed to seek election for the United States Congress of the Ohio Second District on August 2, 2005, a special election. Hackett, a Democrat, was almost defeated by Republican Jean Schmidt, a former member of the Ohio Council of Representatives, giving the best performance in the Republican district that was usually solid by the Democrats since the 1974 election. The Hacket campaign attracted national attention and large spending by both sides. It was seen by some observers as the first round of 2006 elections. In October 2005, Hackett said he would seek Democratic nominations in 2006 to challenge US Senator Mike DeWine; however, he quit the race on February 14, 2006, and said that he would return to his legal practice.
On April 9, 2009, Hackett, acting as defender for Sergeant. Ryan Weemer, USMC, was acquitted on the charge of killing a rebel in Fallujah on November 9, 2004, the Second Battle on the first day of Fallujah. Weemer had contacted Hackett two years earlier after he succeeded in representing the other Marines who were accused of violating the laws of war in Haditha in November 2005. Hackett represented Weemer pro bono. When asked why, Hackett stated that "The Marines protected me when I was in Fallujah, that's the most I can do." The hearing took place two weeks after 8 members of the military court were negotiated for 8 hours and announced his decision to release Weemer from all charges and specifications, for unplanned murder and neglect of duty.
Video Paul Hackett (politician)
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Hackett, who told The New York Times is six feet two and "fussy, profane, and fast with bawling rhetoric or mischievous jokes", was born in Cleveland, Ohio, son of Paul and Beth Hackett, who lives on when at Gates Mills. When the baby, his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where his father worked for the Pratt and Whitney aircraft engine company. Before Hackett started school, his family returned to Ohio when his father worked at the General Electric Company's engine division in Evendale, a suburb of Cincinnati. Hackett lives in the cities of Ohio, Wyoming, Montgomery, and Indian Hill, and attends Seven Hill Hills School and Indian Hill High School.
He has a B.A. from Case Western Reserve University and J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. Hackett also attended American University in Washington, D.C., studying under the Washington Semester University program in Journalism. Hackett was admitted to the Ohio bar on November 7, 1988, and practiced law in downtown Cincinnati with the Hackett Law Office, which he opened in 1994.
Hackett saw active duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1989 to 1992, and subsequently joined the Select Marine Corps Reserve. In 2004, he volunteered for active duty in the Iraq War, spending seven months as a civil service officer with the 4th Civil Affairs Group of the 1st Marine Division. He was assigned to Ramadi and supported the Fallujah campaign and reconstruction effort there. On October 21, 2004, a convoy under his command was hit by two roadside bombs, but Hackett was unharmed. He returned to Ohio in early 2005.
Hackett married Suzanne (Suzi) C. Hackett. They have three children, Grace (born 1997), Seamus (born 2000), and Liam (born 2003). The family lives on Indian Hill, a prosperous suburb of Cincinnati, on a small farm along the Little Miami River built in 1802.
Maps Paul Hackett (politician)
Milford council
Hackett was elected to the city council of Milford, Ohio, a town in Clermont and Hamilton County, in 1995 to replace Chris Imbus, who was summoned from office with votes from 410 to 86. In the May 2 recall vote, he lost businessman Jacques E. Smith to votes from 388 to 81. On Milford's board, he opposed attempts to sort back a piece of land to keep Milford's post office within the city limits. He resigned from the council in September 1998 to devote more time to his family and his legal practice and was replaced on the board by James Gradolf. When Hackett bought a house on Indian Hill in 2000, the purchase made the Cincinnati Enquirer 's column of the most expensive real-estate deals in the area.
Contest for Congress
Hackett decided to run for Congress because "with everything this country has given me, I feel it's not right for me to enjoy life at Indian Hill when the Marines are fighting and dying in Iraq," he told Cincinnati. Post . Hackett told his buddy Mike Brautigam, who met him at the airport after returning, had told him Rob Portman, a congressman since 1993, resigned to become United States Trade Representative and Hackett had to run for his seat. Hackett decided to enter the race before reaching home.
Special elections
Hackett faces Republican candidate Jean Schmidt on August 2, 2005, a special election. Schmidt, a former schoolteacher described by The New York Times as "small, tough, and intense, he radiates seriousness", has been a municipal counselor in the densely populated Miami City in northwestern Clermont County during eleven years before four years at Ohio House of Representatives.
The district is Republic. In 2004, 64 percent of the votes in the presidential election fell to George W. Bush. Rob Portman never gets less than 70 percent of the vote in his campaign, no Democrats have received more than 38 percent since the small loss of Thomas A. Luken to Willis D. Gradison in 1974, and no Democrats won the district in regular elections. since John J. Gilligan in 1964. (Luken held a seat in 1974 after winning a special election to replace William J. Keating, who resigned but lost the November election for a full term.) Amy Walter from Cook Cook Political Report says the Second District is the fifty-seventh Republic in America.
John Green, a professor of political science at the University of Akron in northeastern Ohio, told USA Today. "This is a very steep climb for him, this is the Republican district." Jane S. Anderson, a professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati who was unsuccessful in running for the Cincinnati city council and the Ohio House as a Democrat, told the Associated Press.
- It would be feasible for Democrats to put in the effort if only to keep the party energized. Even if Paul Hackett lost, it was very important for his party to get him to do well. It can be seen as a sign of opportunity for the Democrats in other GOP camps.
Hackett did not flinch with the composition of the Regency Republic, claiming:
- No party has this district. This is not a Republican district, it's not the Democratic district. This is actually the seat of the Second District residents. They deserve an opportunity to make informed decisions on who will represent them in Washington, D.C.
Martin Gottlieb, editor of the Dayton Daily News editorial page, wrote Republican landslide in the district was "self-fulfilling prophecy":
- It's very strongly Republican that Democrats do not usually make a real effort as a party. Candidates put themselves, but in general are someone who has no political power and no financial contribution or volunteers help to talk about. The campaign gets little attention. And his prophecy was fulfilled.
Criticisms of Schmidt
Hackett criticized Jean Schmidt as a "rubber stamp" for Ohio Governor Bob Taft's "failure policy" and said he would continue the role for George W. Bush if elected. In their debate at Chatfield College, he said, "If you think America is on the right track and we need more than the same, I'm not your candidate" and asked "Are you better today than five years ago?" , echoed Ronald Reagan's question in his debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980. "Rubber stamp" is Hackett's slogan throughout the campaign. Hackett even appeared in front of the Hathaway Rubber Stamp store in downtown Cincinnati on July 27, to emphasize the point.
"If you think Americans need other career politicians who go into the culture of corruption that does what it says and draws a policy line to failure, then I'm not your candidate," he wrote in the guest column for The Cincinnati Post. Hackett hit Schmidt's ethics. When he denied that he knew or had met Thomas Noe, at the center of the Coingate scandal at the Ohio Workers Bureau Compensation, Hackett made a few minutes of a meeting of the Ohio Board of Directors showing that Schmidt did meet Noe, once the bupati.
He puts his position in the Posting column:
- Me to limit the government. I am for fiscal responsibility. I am for a strong national defense. I am for a fair trade. This means I do not need Washington to tell me how to live my personal life or worship my God. And I do not need Washington to dictate what decisions my wife can make with her doctor more than I need Washington to tell me what weapons I keep in my gun are safe. I am fighting for Iraqi freedom, not to go back and have a government that says that I can not have my freedom because the world is too dangerous. Our freedom is what makes America great and desirable for the whole world and the government that wants to take the liberty of its people under the pretext of national security is what makes the world more dangerous.
Hackett is very critical of his opponent's record. On June 12, he went to Nicola's Ristorante on Sycamore Street in the Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati area to draw attention to Schmidt and other Ohio General Assembly members who had received dinner there and a Cincinnati Bengals ticket from lobbyists to pharmaceutical company Chiron, Richard B. Colby, on 24 October 2004 and failed to report a reward on their financial disclosure statement. (The others are Jim Raussen's Representative of Springdale, Michelle G. Schneider of Madeira, and Diana M. Fessler of New Carlisle.) "What will he do in Washington when he has enormous money?" Ask Hackett.
The Cincinnati Enquirer runs a front-page story on July 2, reporting a statement of the candidate's financial disclosure which revealed both are millionaires. Hackett is worth between $ 650,000 and $ 1,600,000, while Schmidt is worth between $ 1,700,000 and $ 6,800,000, much of its wealth in the form of a real estate company owned by his three siblings, RTJJ, LLC. These numbers do not include the value of second homes. The Hamilton County Auditor appreciated Hackett's house on 5 acres (20,000 m 2 ) at $ 552,800 and the Clermont County Auditor appreciated the Schmidt house at.667 acre (2,700 m 2 ) at $ 138,510.
Hackett told The Enquirer, "I'm a self-made man, I'm not inheriting it, I'm not married for that, what you see is what I've made in the last decade." The newspaper noted the average household income in the district was $ 46,813. Schmidt used his own fortune in the campaign. He told The Cincinnati Post weeks before the election, he put $ 200,000 of his money in a campaign he planned to use to buy a condominium in Florida.
Hackett was a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but lost support from the National Rifle Association to Jean Schmidt. Hackett, a longtime NRA member and license holder carrying the concealed, told The Enquirer I do not know what to do I have already opposed the current in the Democratic party No fan of a weapon bigger than mine. "(A spokesperson for the NRA said support was based on Schmidt's voting record at Ohio House and that Hackett, who was only in charge of city council, did not have a voting record that Schmidt did.) Schmidt also won support from the Fraternal Order of Police. FOP Keith Fangman criticizes Hackett: "He has a reckless and dangerous lawsuit filed against law enforcement officers in Clermont County," Fangman said because Hackett had represented the plaintiff in a lawsuit against a Clermont County police officer. "That's what lawyers do," Hackett said The Cincinnati Enquirer. "We are not in the business of filing lawsuits that we know to be frivolous or malicious."
Both candidates speak about the environment. Hackett rowed the Ohio River to draw attention to his condition. Schmidt called for reducing America's dependence on foreign oil by increasing ethanol use and drilling at the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Hackett opposes drilling in the ANWR.
The candidates participate in only two debates. The first was held on July 7, at Chatfield College in St Martin in Brown County, moderated by Jack Atherton of WXIX-TV, Fox Network affiliate in Cincinnati. Hackett told the audience that his opponent was a "rubber stamp for a failed policy" and "if you think America is on the right track and we need more than the same, I'm not your candidate." The second debate was held July 26, at the Ohio Valley Careers and Technical School at West Union in Adams County. Howard Wilkinson of The Cincinnati Enquirer said Hackett in the second debate was "trying to paint Schmidt as a Taft-Bush robot." The two also made a joint appearance on the WCET-TV Forum on July 28th, and WKRC-TV Newsmakers on July 31st.
Hackett held a campaign at Waverly in the eastern end of the district on July 11; in Loveland on July 19; Mariemont on July 20; and Lebanon, the northernmost part of the district, on 21 July. Hackett arrived at many events on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
National attention on race
Hackett drew national attention to what was always considered a safe Republican district. The New York Times contains a story on its front page and the article appears on USA Today and The Washington Post . USA Today writes "if Democrats can design a dream candidate to capitalize on the national pressure on the war in Iraq, he will look very much like the telegenic Pacific High ranks that completed the seven-month tour of Iraq in March."
Schmidt made the Iraq War a problem in the race. He stated at WCET-TV Forum that "9/11 was a wake-up call We lost our innocence" and praised Bush's foreign policy. "The cornerstone of democracy that has been planted in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said, has inspired reforms in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. Schmidt always appeared in public with a button on his collar containing photos of Matt Maupin, the only prisoner of war from the Iraq campaign. Hackett did not mince words about Iraq or President Bush. He told The New York Times Bush was "a hawk" to pursue war after avoiding military service in the Vietnam War. The Times also quoted him as saying Bush was "the greatest threat to America." Hackett in the West Union debate goes against what President Bush has to say in the 2000 presidential debate on current events. "Guess what people? We build a nation!"
On July 19, Democratic campaign operation James Carville appeared at a fundraiser for Hackett in downtown Cincinnati that raised $ 100,000. On July 21, Max Cleland, a former US Senator from Georgia, campaigned for Hackett in a rally in Blue Ash. John Glenn, an astronaut who later represented Ohio in the United States Senate, sent an e-mail asking Democrats to volunteer for Hackett, and Glenn campaigned with him on July 30 in Cincinnati. Retired general and presidential candidate Wesley Clark also supports Hackett. Hackett also received campaign donations from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, United Auto Workers, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, and talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer.
Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean sent an email appeal to Hackett who, combined with work by bloggers, helped raise over $ 475,000 in online contributions to Hackett, making him the first Democratic candidate in the Second District in years able to pay for television commercials. Hackett's advertisement begins with a clip of President George W. Bush speaking to troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on June 28, 2005, "There is no higher calling than service in our armed forces." Hackett's ads then record his services in the Marine Corps. The Washington Post notes the ad "avoiding clues that the lawyer is a Democrat." Republicans are not happy. Lawyers of the Republican National Committee wrote he said the ad was deceiving the public with "the wrong impression that the President has supported your candidacy." Robert T. Bennett, Ohio State Party chairman, told The Cincinnati Post that advertising is "an overt effort to deceive voters."
The Republican National Congress Committee, the official Republican body assisting candidates for the United States House of Representatives, announced on July 28, spent $ 265,000 on television commercials in the Cincinnati market, covering the western part of the district, and $ 250,000 for advertising in Huntington, West Virginia, market, covering the eastern part. Carl Forti told The Cincinnati Enquirer we decided to bury him "after Hackett said USA Today , in a story published that morning," I do not like boys-from -a-bitch who lives in the White House but I'm risking my life for him. "Forti says the NRCC has" no worries that he will lose, he will not lose. "
The NRCC ran an advertisement that noted that Hackett had chosen a tax increase while on board Milford and quoted his statement on his website that he would be "happy" to pay higher taxes. Full quote, in the case of raising the $ 90,000 limit on Social Security payroll taxes
- I for one will pay more in Social Security tax, but I will be happy. Why? Because we all have made a commitment to leave America better to our children. Our parents keep our promises, and we have the same duty. This promise is the cornerstone of the American way of life. Those who have enjoyed success have an obligation to enforce this commitment for our future generations.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an NRCC partner, responded with an ad noting that Schmidt had chosen to raise sales tax by 20 percent and excise taxes on petrol by 30 percent when he was in the legislature. A letter to voters by DCCC reaffirms these statements under the heading "Who Picked for Increased Taft Sales Tax - Largest in Ohio History?" and asked "can we trust Jean Schmidt to protect middle-class families in Washington?"
The Coalition Against Expenditure and Additional Taxes, a Cincinnati-based group founded by Tom Brinkman (who lost prime GOP to Schmidt), began running ads in the last week of July urging voters to ignore the election. COAST president Jim Urling told Cincinnati The Enquirer that this might help pick Hackett, but "we thought it would be easier to get rid of a Democrat next year than a ruling Republican as conservative."
In the general election, Democrats of Dayton Daily News approved Hackett. The Daily News said Schmidt's attacks on Senators R. Michael DeWine and George V. Voinovich were "not very classy" and "it seems to say that voters who favor legislators who are sometimes free of their party should not vote for he." The Daily News says Hackett is "not your classic suburban liberal" and urges "voters [s] looking for something outside of conventional political background" to support it. The Cincinnati Post also supports Hackett. It notes Schmidt is the latest in the line of "Republican nobility" and "likely to be a reliable voice for the Bush administration" while Hackett is a breath of fresh air. If we had to label him, it would be Libertarian Democrat. He says what he thinks and does not seem to have much benefit for orthodoxy or alignment from either side. "
The Cincinnati Enquirer writes
- Hackett is an attractive candidate with many qualities to admire... intelligent, personable and charismatic, with a leadership aura. That he put his comfortable career on his shoulders and put himself at great risk to serve his country, gained our respect and gratitude... But some of the positions he bet on seem simple and not very well thought out. He said the entire Patriot Act should be rejected - even the actual provisions have increased civil liberties of Americans. He rejected No Child Left Behind as "Orwellian." Hackett is also a critic of President Bush's tax cuts.
In the end, newspapers do not support Hackett. "The 2nd district will get a competent representative no matter which candidate applies Tuesday, but must get more local bang for electoral money if sending Jean Schmidt to Washington," the editors wrote.
General results
Hackett eventually lost by a narrow margin, only 3.27 percent, the best show of all Democrats in the district since 1974. This is the final official figure reported on the Ohio State Secretary's website.
Reactions to results
Howard Wilkinson wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer early in the morning after the election "the fact that Paul Hackett made a very close election is nothing to surprise... com [ing] close to withdraw from the monumental politics of disappointment." Hackett won in the eastern, rural areas of Pike, Scioto, Brown, and Adams, while Schmidt won in western Clermont, Hamilton and Warren. The Cincinnati Post gives editorial Hackett's success in the eastern part of "an increasingly desperate struggle in the countryside to provide decent enough work for those who want it."
After the election, many Democrats praised the election as showing the weakness of the Ohio Republican party, which has been in control of the Ohio state government for a decade, and public unhappiness with President Bush's policies. Team Democrat, Timothy Burke, is very happy. "Paul is very critical of this president in the district that Bush brought easily last November, but he barely survived to win, there is a clear signal in that," he told The Cincinnati Post on the eve of the election. Clermont County Democrat Chairman Dave Lane told the Dayton Daily News "Here we are in the red district and very close."
Democratic Senator Campaign Committee claimed in a press release Hackett's powerful demonstration was a problem for Senator DeWine's reelection campaign in 2006, especially since his son R. Patrick DeWine had lost the main seat of the Republican Party. "If Ohio is a lamb for the part-time election next year, things do not look too good for Republicans", the DSCC claims. Republicans say the election is meaningless. "There is no correlation between what happens in special elections, where the number of voters is very low and you have a situation that is not comparable to the election that took place on Election Day in the election year," Brian Nick of the National Senator of the Republican Committee told The i Cincinnati Post .
The Columbus Dispatch refers to "the trauma of almost winning the Republican-dominated district of Congress" and quotes an anonymous source in the Republican party who claim "there is no harsher environment in this country than Ohio right now." There is a kind of destruction happening. "Amy Walter of Cook's Political Report told Ohio's Dispatch that Ohio became a microcosm for the national Democrats debate" and Democrats will argue in future campaigns "" See what happens when one party is in power for too long, see what happens with corruption and insider influence. '"Her boss, Charlie Cook, told Hackett's" rubber stamp "The Hackett's" rubber stamp "has resonated with Ohio voters.
Peter W. Bronson, conservative columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote "Complete the surprise of Hackett is less a rejection of Bush than the rejection of Ohio Governor Bob Taft, whose name is now the official radioactive poison." Bronson admits Hackett "runs a strong campaign" but says he does well just because "the ugly primer" on the Republican side, fearing that Schmidt is another "RINO Taft" (that is, "Republican Only In Name"), and apathy by Republican voters , not dissatisfaction with Bush or the Republic in general.
John Nichols of The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) looks at it differently. "The district has been radically undermined by Republican governors and legislators so it is unrecognizable that a Democrat can become competitive there" and Hackett, "an intelligent Iraqi telegraphic war veteran," has been "accelerated" in the final days of the campaign by Republican cooperatives and "right-wing talk hosts" such as Rush Limbaugh.
Mark Steyn, a conservative columnist who writes for the National Review magazine, writes in Irish Hackett as Paul Hackett's "quick version of John Kerry's campaign" is "artistically neglected to name a candidate as a" Democrats. "Steyn claims every Democracy attempt to present Hackett's launch because of the party's success makes no sense.
Hackett told The Cincinnati Post he stood up with his criticism of George W. Bush:
- Meant, say it, standing next to him. I will say it again. For every vote, I might lose it. I might take one or two.
One dead voter was veteran Arthur Smith of Loveland, whose letter was to the editor at The Cincinnati Enquirer on August 5, Hackett said.
- tried to deceive voters by covering up the smell of liberalism, using President Bush and military uniform as deodorant... I chose Schmidt tax collector but had to hold my nose to do me t. I think it is the lower of the two evils.
Jerome Armstrong stated at TomPaine.com that the payoff fueled a growing movement within the Democratic Party that was willing to bring Republicans toward this country.
Former President Bill Clinton recognized Hackett in an October 23, 2006 speech that said, "I hope Paul Hackett sees that his courage to get people to see the truth about our policies in Iraq now has hit the country."
2006 campaign
Hackett on October 24, 2005, announced he would seek Democratic candidacy to challenge United States Senator Mike DeWine after rejecting a second round against Schmidt. Sherrod Brown, a congressman from northern Ohio and Ohio State Secretary twice, has refused the Democratic Senator Campaign's campaign to recruit him into the race in the summer of 2005 and on August 17, publicly declaring he will not run. But after Hacket's announcement, Brown changed his mind and said he would run, angering Hackett who claimed Brown had promised him that he would stay out of the race, claims Brown.
On February 13, 2006, Hackett announced that he was stepping down from the race and ending his political career. Hackett told the New York Times that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and New York Senator Chuck Schumer have recently asked him to step down. He further argued that Schumer sabotaged fundraising efforts and actively worked against his campaign. Hackett said, "For me this is a second betrayal... first, my government abuses and mismanages the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid of supporting a candidate like me." On March 14, 2006, he appeared on an episode of The Daily Show in a segment that mocks Democrats' mainstream Democratic criticism of Hackett.
One problem Hackett faces in his campaign is the status of his Marine Corps Reserves unit, which may spread back to Iraq during the campaign. Hackett said he expected to return to Iraq in 2006.
Hackett then made peace with Brown and supported a successful Senate campaign.
No matches against Schmidt
After leaving the Senate race, Hackett refused to enter the race for Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congress District against Jean Schmidt, as he promised Democratic candidates in a race he would not run. As a result a number of candidates tossed their name into the race, and Hackett kept his promise. Therefore, on May 2, Victoria Wulsin (who was second in Hackett at the Democratic primary in 2005 to fill vacancies caused by Portman's resignation) won the Primacy Democrats to challenge Schmidt. On May 8th, The Cincinnati Enquirer speculated about the possibility of Wulsin coming out, and letting Hackett walk in its place. This scenario does not happen, so there's no rematch.
Post-campaign
After withdrawing from the Senate race, Paul Hackett joins the Advisory Committee of the Political Action Committee (PAC) of Iraq and Afghanistan to support fellow veterans who run for Congress.
Hackett has also conducted several radio talks by replacing Jerry Springer on Air America Radio Springer on Radio, as well as Ed Schultz on his show. It is not known whether Hackett wants to continue working on radio talk.
On May 30, 2006, Hackett filed a class action lawsuit against the US Department of Veterans Affairs for a personal information compromise of 26.5 million veterans who may fall into the hands of thieves.
"After you fight and you survive, you have that energy feeling, 'I can achieve anything', and you see your country differently," he said for The Athens Messenger in February 2008, for some time he supported anti-war veteran candidates such as J. Ashwin Madia from Minnesota via VoteVets.org, who created anti-war candidacy ads on the Internet, as opposed to the Iraq Vets for Congress.
On February 17, 2010, Hackett supported Surya Yalamanchili in the Democratic primary for the Ohio Second District.
See also
- Election results, US Representative from Ohio, District 2
- Selection of US Ohio Senate, 2006
- VoteVets.org
References
External links
- Women's Voters League page in the Congress race
- Hacket Legal Office
- Daily Performance Feature at Hackett, March 2006
- Hackett's Blog at Huffington Post
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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