Hackett Inches Away

Is anybody out there? Well, on the off chance that someone’s listening, I’ve got to report on the Ohio election results. Via Swing State Project, comes word that Hacket is leading 51% to 49% with about 305 of the 753 precincts reporting. Considering that Ohio’s second congressional district is overwhelmingly Republican, this is great news.

Basically, what we’re looking at here is probably a win either way. If Hackett manages to win by even the narrowest of margins in this overwhelmingly Republican district, after calling Bush both an "SOB" and a "chickenhawk" on television, it’s a huge win. Even if he doesn’t get elected, there’s a victory here in that his number mean that Ohio Republicans are voting for this Democrat who called Bush an "SOB" and a "chickenhawk," and stood by those words. If he loses but keeps Schmidt’s margin of victory in the single digits, in this overwhelmingly Republican district, that is also a win.

If this can happen in a state as "Red" as Ohio, some Republicans will start to think twice about running on the Bush record in ’06, and possibly even ’08.

But, the night isn’t over. We can only watch, wait, and hope. 

Update: I only just posted this and already I have an update.  With 580 precincts in at 9:29pm, it’s 52% Schmidt and 48% Hackett.

Over at MyDD there’s some chatter about the Clermont County results, and they’re asking everyone to find out as much about Clermont’s voting machines as they can.

Update: 9:52pm MyDD says Hackett is down 861 700 votes with 91 precincts left to report. Clermont is the last county, which another source tells me is Schmidt’s best area.

Update: At 9:57pm, WCPO has it at 50% Schmidt and 50% Hackett, with 682 precints reporting. If Hackett wins this, the meme everywhere needs to be "This was a referendum on a weakened president." (Or a weekend president, dependning on how you look at it.)

Like Chris Bowers says, if Hackett loses, we already have our candidate for ’06.

Update: A commenter at Swing State Project has posted a link to the unofficial election results for Clermont County, a/k/a "Schmidt’s back yard." As of 10:47pm in Clermont it’s Schmidt 58.09% and Hackett 41.72%. So, it looks like Schmidt, but she had a fight that she shouldn’t have had in a gerrymandered Repubilcan district, and she got a run for her money in her own back yard.

Update: At 10:49pm, RedState (unsurprisingly) calls it for Schmidt. RedState has Scdmidt at 51.74% and hacket at 48.26%. That would give Schmidt of 3.48% margin of victory; less than 5%. Swing State says it’s over, with Hackett down by about 4,000 votes. Considering Ohio’s record of voting irregularities, and local reports of strange goings on in this election surfacing already, a recount is not entirely out of the question. But right now it looks like Schmidt.

Here’s my take right now. No way should this election, in an overwhelmingly Republican district have been this close for Schmidt. In fact, she should have coasted. She had to campaign harder than she should have, and the Republican party spent money it shouldn’t have had to spend in this district. This shows that we can take the fight to them on their turf and give them a run for their money in a district tailor-made to elect Republicans.

If, if this is the final result, it should serve as a clear sign to conservatives and to the Bush administration that a significant number of Americans have had it with their radical agenda and their culture of corruption. It should also serve as notice to Democrats that you can run as an unapologetic Democrat in a Republican district, criticize Bush vehemently, and still nearly win the damn thing. Get off your knees and stop listening to the DLC for a minute.

This election was a referendum on a weakened president whose coattails will be significantly shortened in ’06, if this election is any indication.

The bell has not rung. The fight is not over. This was just the opening round.