Thanks to Bill Frogameni for giving us a few more soundbites from one of the new crop of Fighting Dems.

AT LAST! Someone in the Democratic Party who isn't afraid to stand up and make sense.

I am so tired of political tip-toeing I could heave.

Hackett's right. We need strong leadership. I don't have to agree with everything he says to know that I am interested in him as a candidate.

At least he has the resolve to stand for something and to point out the warts in the current administration's policies.

Paul Hackett's distinguishing feature, the thing that makes me want every seat in the Senate to be filled with someone like him, is that he has a consistent ideology that is tempered by reality. The planks of his platform are held together by a unifying premise: the government's actions should be optimized for the long-term benefit of its citizens.

The drug war is ineffective, so a new approach is needed. The war in Iraq and continuing occupation are ineffective, so a new approach is needed. Dictating behavior to citizens is only appropriate when it is both effective and benficial. Centuries of recorded history tell us that mixing government and religion is harmful to the state and its citizens. Aiding those in need is a net benefit to us all. Ignoring or denying problems only puts them off, at a net long-term cost. Subsidies and spending programs that do not provide a benefit to the citizenry as a whole should be avoided. Arbitrary discrimination against any significant group of citizens is ultimately harmful to all citizens.

It all comes down to whether each thing the government is doing is benfitting the citizens of our nation. If all of our elected and appointed officials considered whether their actions would result in a net long-term benefit or not, our nation would be better and stronger than it has ever been.

I sent him money when he was running in Ohio; I'm proud of his showing. Who wouldn't love a man who dismissed Rush Limbaugh as a "fat-assed drug addict" --- in print?!!!

I worked for Wesley Clark in the last election; I thought then and I believe now that intelligent, straight-talking candidates who also happen to have recent military experience are the fastest way to get the Democratic Party out of the ditch.

Please, please, please help get them on the ballot in ALL states.

Preparing to send him more money ---

Is it bad that this interview makes me want to move to Ohio so I can vote for him?

In a way, I'm glad he lost the congressional race - I'd rather see what he can do in the senate.

I've been a fan of Sharrod Brown, the Democratic congressman who will be running in the Democratic primary against Hackett. Before reading this interview I thought that perhaps Hackett should bow out in favor of the more experienced Brown, who is also a populist Democrat.

But after reading this interview, I was blown away by Hackett. We live in an age when politician mince their words and build their sound bites. Hackett is something else entirely. The man stood up and said that the religious fanatics in the US have more in common with Osama Bin Laden than they do with American values. Yes! When was the last time we heard anyone running for office speak like this?

Sadly, part of the answer to this question is that the last time we heard someone stand up and tell the truth was when Howard Dean ran. The press crucified him. Perhaps this will happen with Hackett to. But for this Democrat, Hackett's words are music to my ears. Of course it's probably also worth observing that I'm the bluest of blue Democrats from the bluest part of the West Coast (the Bay Area Sprawl). Unfortunately I'm not an Ohio voter. I'll tell you this, even in this Democratic bastion all is not well: I'd sure rather have Paul Hackett to vote for than Diane Feinstein.

Post this man's comments on every wall in the Washington Committee offices.

Read em. Learn em. Live em.

American soldiers returning from service in Iraq and running for public office in 2006.

Paul Hackett said:

I don't need Washington, D.C., or the government in my private life. Period. I don't need them to dictate to my wife the decisions she can make with a doctor. I don't need a Washington politician to tell my neighbors what they can do in the privacy of their bedroom. And I don't need Washington politicians to tell me what guns to keep in my gun safe.

To which I say:

HALLELUJAH!!! TESTIFY BROTHER!!!

I'm a proud liberal and gun owner. I've never understood my fellow liberals who support private choice on so many other issues, like issues related to sex, drugs and abortion, but want me to give up my guns even though I've never done any harm to anyone else with them.

Paul Hackett said what I've been telling people for years.

Reading this interview, I can also tell that Hackett has the type of fighting spirit that is so lacking among most of my fellow progressives. But this type of spirit is what will win us elections.

I hope his plain-spokeness doesn't scare off the elitists who gave us wussies like John Kerry, Walter Mondale or Michael Dukakis, or we'll continue to lose elections.

Too bad I don't live in Ohio so I can vote for Hackett. But if Hackett runs for the Democratic nomination in 2008 or 2012, he's got my vote.

I hope that he runs for president soon before Washington corupts him. maybe not 2008 but soon

He had me at "Bullshit."

Fotget Ohio! Run this man for president! What a breath of fresh air!

I think it's interesting how it's 'outsiders' who seem to be successful speaking their mind in our current political system. But once they need to build a warchest to actually get elected, the intelligent people seem to have to prostitute themselves and their ideas/ideals to raise enough $$$ to survive the election cycle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Paul Hackett, and hope he can afford to continue to speak so plainly.

Consider Newt Gingrich and Al Gore. Once they left the Machiavellian cesspool which is United States partisan politics, they seemed to reengage a portion of themselves that could not be loosed while they were in political office - In Newt's case, he has some interesting ideas about health care, which he can state without hyperbole now that his job isn't flogging the Republican party line, regardless of the intelligence of the content. Gore found his voice (and his balls) speaking about both the environment AND the state of American politics once he was no longer inside 'the system' and could speak his own mind.

Wouldn't it be great if our politicians could actually use their brains, speak their minds! while they're IN OFFICE?