Chuck "Tony Soprano" Schumer

After much kerfuffle on the blogs, where first it was reported that Chuck Schumer, the DSCC Chair, had asked Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett to step down from the Ohio Senatorial race, then the DSCC denying any such thing, Lance Mannion decided to call Schumer's office:

Just called my senator's office.

Aide I talked to told me it's true, Schumer is asking Hackett to stay out of the Senate race in Ohio.

I am not a happy Democrat.

But Schumer's press office are still denying it according to another blogger, Jonathon of Basie! blog. Mannion notes:

But the press office told Jonathan that Schumer did not call Hackett. I asked if Schumer was asking Hackett to drop out of the race. Those are two different questions. The aide I spoke with could have been answering as if I'd asked was he going to ask Hackett to step aside, while the press aide Jonathan spoke to, who naturally would have been a cagier sort, would have been answering in the narrowest but factually accurate terms the quesion, Has the Senator called Hackett? A no to that question could mean that Schumer hasn't made an actual phone call himself.

The aide in the New York office says there will be a press release soon.

Its Pennacchio all over again. When are people going to accept that the Democratic leadership aren't interested in progressives except as sources of cannon-fodder and cash? Instead they get their pet think-tanks like Third Way to release reports advocating a move further towards Republican-Lite.

Nice bit of work, Mannion.

Postscript Have a read at this wonderful bio piece on Hackett and wonder why the DSCC aren't falling over themselves to have him run.

It also contains the revealing line -

While he lost the election in a 52-to-48 percent squeaker, he scored decisive wins in the white, lower-income, high-unemployment rural areas that Democrats long ago abandoned—and took one-third more votes in the district than John Kerry had pulled in just eight months earlier.

Which has been my point for a while now - get the right liberal candidate pushing a liberal Left agenda and the non-voters will answer to it.