Hackett Endorses Brown at Cincinnati Rally

Paul Hackett endorses Sherrod at Cincinnati rally

A crowd of more than 100 enthusiastic supporters, elected officials, Democratic candidates and journalists gathered in Cincinnati yesterday for a Unity Rally co-hosted by Rep. Sherrod Brown and Iraq veteran Paul Hackett.

The former primary rivals stood together at Theodore M. Berry International Friendship after meeting privately over the weekend.

"I want to help Sherrod, because I want to make our country better, make Ohio better," said Hackett. "We need quality leadership like Sherrod Brown, someone who will stand up for Ohio families and Ohio veterans. And he has done that."

"Paul is very supportive of this race, because he shares my same values," Sherrod said. "We need change from the pay-to-play culture in Washington embraced by Mike DeWine that has hurt Ohio families and Ohio veterans."

Chris Baker of Ohio 2nd Blog and Yellow Dog Sammy of Ohio2006 provide an excellent wrap-up of the day's events, including pictures and some audio.

The endorsement made headlines across Ohio and the country:

• Hackett backs Brown in Ohio Senate race (Associated Press)
• Hackett embraces former rival (Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Hackett apologizes to, supports Brown (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• Ohio Democrats Make Nice to Unseat DeWine (Washington Post)
• Brown Picks Up Endorsement (NPR-WKSU)
• Ex-candidate and Iraq war vet endorses former foe (Columbus Dispatch)
• One-time rivals know who foe is (Akron Beacon-Journal)
• Ed Schultz Interviews Paul Hackett

Sherrod warmly welcomes Paul's support and look forward to working with him to bring change to Ohio.

07/11/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Southwest Ohio, (all tags)