Paul Hackett Revenging Party Abandonment

Paul Hackett is bitter and getting his revenge. The Toledo Blade reports that his campaign did some opposition research just before he quit the race and is now revealing that research to the public for Mike DeWine's campaign to use against Hackett's former primary opposition Sherrod Brown.

The research released about Brown was something everybody can do. It looked at his congressional record on bills concerning national security. This stuff is public record. The Toledo Blade cited several instances that show weaknesses for Brown on this issue.

There are several campaign lessons that can be learned from this.

• Prepare a campaign to defend against every possible source of opposition. Democrats took for granted that Hackett would take one for the team when they made the strategic switch to Brown. Open communication between party leaders and Hackett might have prevented this situation.
• Know who your opponent has hired. Consultants show themselves through their work. Their past often reveals their preferred tactics, messages, and ethics. You can anticipate what their future actions will be based on how they handled similar situations in the past.
• Treat members of your party with care. Scorn them and be prepared to pay a price.

There is one other thing that can hurt Brown. But its not related to the Hackett issue. It was in a quote by Brown at the the end of the Toledo Blade article.

"On most issues, voters are where I am."

Brown has been trying to position himself as a mainstream candidate. With that comment he implied that he wasn't mainstream with voters on some issues. Don't give voters a reason not to vote for you.