My attention this week has mostly been following the Hackett/Schmidt special election in Ohio’s second district. I’ve seen Hackett on TV and heard him on the radio several times, and I really like the guy. He’s a real straight talker, doesn’t back down from his positions, and seems to respond very well to the boost he’s been getting from the netroots and all the money we’ve sent his way. That’s he’s gotten within the margin of error in a deeply Republican district is like a small miracle in this difficult times.
Today is the election, Swing State Project is the blog to follow.
UPDATE: From Swing State, here’s their post following the results. So far, so good.
UPDATE: Well, I would have much preferred winning, but it sure was close. Given the results of the Conyers report on the 2004 election, however, my own concerns are much like Billmon’s:

After Florida 2000, Ohio 2004, and everything that’s come light since then about the Rovian death grip on power, it doesn’t seem too tinfoilish to wonder whether the GOP’s approach to close elections in Ohio isn’t the same as the party’s approach to close votes on the House floor — in which the count is held open until the leadership gets the result it wanted.