Breaking news from Ohio: Republican Congressional candidate Jean Schmidt has ties to Tom Noe, the Ohio Republican lobbyist at the very center of the huge, and growing, Coingate scandal. This even though this morning Schmidt said on television (warning: link includes video) that she had never met Noe. This could be the big local story in the 48 hours before the election (or not), and it could swing undecideds to Hackett (or not).
In those corners of the liberal blogosphere devoted to electing state and local candidates (something Colbert King and poll-reader Ruy and I think we ought to do a lot more) it's all Paul Hackett, all the time. As, at the moment, it should be.
Bad news: the right-ish, risk-averse Cinnicinnatti Enquirer has endorsed Republican hack Jean Schmidt. Chris Bowers explains why they're wrong and how to fight back. For the Enquirer's letter-to-the-editor form, just click here.
Fun news: as has happened in previous special elections, the supply of activists far away from the district willing to use up their spare time in making targeted calls to potential Hackett voters now exceeds the demand. Tracy Joan over at Daily Kos explains how you can call radio shows instead. Please stop calling voters in Ohio's second Congressional district unless you live in Ohio's second district yourself or know the voters personally.
For all things Hackett, the OH-02 blog and the Swing State Project are still the places to look.
Remember, this is a very Republican district. Hackett remains the underdog. If he wins, it's a victory for the liberal blogosphere -- but mostly for OH-02 voters, who will have shown they can see through the lies and mud, and that they can reward integrity. If he loses, we learn and go on, and we'll look at how close we came, and why.
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