About a month ago, I received a note from Howard Dean’s brother, James, who has been running the Democracy For America website ever since Governor Dean became chairman of the DNC. The note was sent to all DFA subscribers, and requested financial support for Democrat Paul Hackett, an Iraq War veteran and virtual unknown who was running for Congress in a district held by Republicans for the past thirty years. When I got the letter, I contributed some cash, thinking that the chances of a Democrat winning in Red Ohio was slim at best, and then pretty much forgot about the race until yesterday, which was election day.

Now I wish I had followed the election closer, because it appears that Hackett made standing up to the Bush regime a major part of his platform. So how did he do? He lost by four percentage points. FOUR. I hope Hillary and the DLC are watching. This is by no means a sure bet that the Democrats will win a majority in the House and Senate in 2006, but it’s a sure indication that if Democrats stand up for what they believe instead of what they think the public would LIKE them to believe, they stand a MUCH better shot at winning. This should be a giant wake-up call to the DLC. I’m sure it has been one for the GOP. The question now is, who will adapt the quickest?