52 to 48 Schmidt

First off to those fools on the right who thought Schmidt would get 70, let alone 60 percent of the vote, they really were not paying enough attention.

Secondly, I am perplexed by why half of Clermont county was the last to report in the entire district.

After all six other counties in the district had completed their ballot counts in what was a low-turnout election, Schmidt’s home county, Clermont, had reported a little more than half of its precincts.
“I have no idea what is going on over there,’’ said Hamilton County Board of Elections chairman Tim Burke. “I don’t know what their problem is.’’

They have electronic optical scan machines, which means they should have been done the fastest. Why were they later than Hamilton County? I am not look for conspiracies here, just like to point out things that look like incompetence. I hope they double check how they vote. What makes this look bad, is that before the rest of Clermont county finally submitted their votes, the race was a dead heat, 50/50. It just looks bad. It would be nice, especially since the newspaper is reporting it, that the Clermont county officials come out and say why they were delayed. That can put to rest, assuming they have a valid and plausible excuse, and fears of hanky panky.

Democrats should hold their heads high. This was a long shot race and in the end, the bigot vote and nutty anti-women (anti-abortion) vote won out. There are still people who can't get past those issues. They can disagree on everything else, but those, and they still will give their vote to the extremist. Well, the same kind of fools voted for Bush, and in America fools do grow on trees.

The House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has this to say in press release:

"Paul Hackett is a war hero who campaigned with the same dignity and honor that he served our country. Paul ran an excellent campaign and made what should have been an easy Republican win a tough contested race.



"The issues, political, and ethics environment are good for Democrats and Paul Hackett's campaign in a Republican district proves it.



"Republicans are on notice -- Americans are demanding a change. Americans will no longer tolerate the Republicans' continued abuses of power and catering to corporate special interests at the expense of the public interest.



"Democrats are committed to expanding opportunity, growing prosperity, and increasing security for every American."

She is right; Hackett proved that Democrats are alive and kicking in this city. We are not rolling over and this should be making some statewide GOP folks mighty nervous right now.