Paul Hackett's Ohio

The most exciting-- and to me, heartening-- political news of the moment isn't in Washington, D.C., New York, or Iraq: it's in Ohio's Second Congressional District, outside Cincinnati along the Ohio River, where Democrat and Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett faces Republican hack Jean Schmidt in a special election this Tuesday, August 2.

If elected, Hackett will be the first Iraq war veteran to enter the U.S. Congress.

The district voted for GWB last year, and reelected its then-incumbent Republican, Rob Portman, by almost three to one: it's one of the most Republican parts of the state. [This paragraph corrected after reader comments-- thanks, hostile Josh!]

When Hackett got into the race, he had nothing going for him except his war record, his determination, and a few bloggers. And their readers, and their blogs, and their readers' blogs' readers, and their blogs... you get the idea.

Soon enough, netroots, grassroots, and deep disillusion with the corrupt, Coingate-tarred Ohio Republican party made this a startlingly competitive race.

Now Hackett has pulled within five percentage points. Local papers with Republican histories have endorsed Hackett. Scandal surrounds Schmidt's campaign manager; she's bringing in the big elephant guns, and blasting Swift Boat-style negative ads. Hackett is firing back. The national Dems have noticed.

If a Dem can win here, Dems can win anywhere. Hackett could still use last-minute contributions, but what he really needs are volunteers: the campaign even promises to house them. Interested? Click here, or here, or here.