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Run against the party nominee and win and go broke for the main contest with the single issue being the untimely need to change the leadership of the party, progressively committed or no.
Pick a smaller office and make the DNC pony up on the deal. Apparently Hackett is too straightforward to operate this way, but getting a House seat would be a launch pad to higher office in the state. Realizing he is running against two parties or trying to change one "from within" is coming about the hard way.
Run as an Independent thereby guaranteeing a GOP win. This has happened in the past among party liberals in NY for example(letting the zero sum jerk Sen. Buckley waste a term), and they were not outsiders. But then that's NY politics for you.
Drop out and do something else. As far as being mad about the betrayal, welcome to the circular firing squad. This is indeed a party that has to be saved from itself.
After taking a deep breath, realize how combos of the above options have done in the candidacy. The party outside this tough state should not appoint or anoint heirs to their liking. Dropping out accepts their power and argument. The voters should be offered a simple choice in the primary. Sure you'll get creamed in the money and experience department among other things, but just going away is just going away. Burning these bridges also hurts seeking another post which is a secondary target so to speak and well worth the effort. Think long term too. The entire generation of democratic leadership with very few exceptions will never reach the Promised land. They survived the trek, they sinned in the desert, they can't go in. You can't just be their champion and expect these types to cover your back. You have to become that leadership eventually, more than just being a local voice in DC. They understand being beat around the head and losing, so fight back.
Bluntly, forget the likelihoods, just what is he going to get for taking his name off the ballot? or is he that keen on rallying behind the other guy rather than spend another dime and campaign hour having slipped from champion to unfavored contender? The nation too needs to see, in a close state rife with anger and controversy, whether a plain spoken honest man can win outside the numbing wisdom of past party politics. It is a BIG issue in itself to turn around the meek, play it safe or not at all, general attitude of the traumatized bean counters. THEY would love to see the new energy simply plugged into their creaking resisting machinery and not see it for the populist opportunity or demand that it really is. It has to be proved over and over again until all the Liebermans and the CAFTA 13 are gone- for starters and majorities of turned on voters swamp the rigged system beyond the possibility of a plausible "upset".
It is miserable to be the "fighting Dems" in the wry ironic sense when both daring, energy and unity are in mortal demand for the critical challenges facing all of us. But I think it is the ones with the best that are being swindled the most by the survivors' club of the DINO party. Because of the corruption of spirit and mind even among the most admired leaders currently serving, it is just another problem that has to be tackled and swept away by honest and bold democracy. You don't have to bad mouth other Democrats. But you can convince the good old fashioned brutal way simply by lining up all the voters and the activists and doing the work. If this were not a time of desperate crisis, anger and ditching and splitting the party would be the normal responses. What should one do today? Offer the voters a choice and see if you can beat the big bucks. In the process one mustn't bloody the local machinery the DNC has pushing the other guy. Beating the insiders in itself is very doable and a big bonus step to building name recognition Sand credibility.
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