In a follow-up to my post on the FightingDems, the posterboy for this entire movement, Paul Hackett, has dropped out of Ohio's Senate race.

Hackett says that he was pushed out by Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid to make way for Sherrod Brown.

From Ian Urbina's New York Times article:

"For me, this is a second betrayal," Mr. Hackett said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me."

Mr. Hackett was the first Iraq war veteran to seek national office, and the decision to steer him away from the Senate race has surprised those who see him as a symbol for Democrats who oppose the war but want to appear strong on national security.

Mother Jones has an overview of the blogger reaction to this story, from the conspiracy tales to the naivete of the blogosphere.

There are many things to be said about this story, but my initial reaction is to question the hopefulness of my earlier post: is this really a movement or is it an example of a disconnect between the online political narrative and the on-the-ground, state-by-state political reality?