Rolling Stone: "exactly the kind of tepid politics that will relegate the Democrats to permanent minority status"

Tim Dickinson, yesterday:

But this is exactly the kind of tepid politics that will relegate the Democrats to permanent minority status in Congress. The party has in Hackett the Barack Obama of 2006 -- an infinitely marketable rising star. And Hackett's biggest upside is that his unimpeachable patriotism helps inoculate the entire party against charges of being pussies on national security issues, and his leadership might even help the party craft a coherent stance on the Iraq war.

The Democrats have an opportunity to hold Hackett up on a national stage as the new, red-state-friendly, populist face of the party. But the powers that be are trying to shunt him back to a local race that will be nothing more than a side-show come November.

Imagine if the party establishment were a producer evaluating the talent of George Clooney back in his ER days. Instead of recognizing his breakout potential and giving him a shot at the silver screen, they're encouraging him to re-up for reruns as the best little pediatrician on television.

The real issue, it seems to me, is that Hackett is a loose canon. He swears. He says impolitic, un-poll-tested things. He criticizes the party leadership for steering the Democrats into an electoral ditch.

Sherrod Brown? He is nothing if not a "safe choice."

Committing to a candidate like Hackett means committing to changing business as usual -- and despite their mounting losses, the Democratic establishment seems to have an unholy commitment to the status quo.

And that is why, on the day after Election Day 2006, the Usual Suspects are going to be wondering what they did wrong. And they won't even ask us to tell them.