Yes, let's all pretend that this is a good sign for the Democrats, that it shows they have a shot in Southwest Ohio and are strong nationally. Let's pretend this is a portent of the Republican party's downfall. Never mind that this was the perfect storm for them and they still failed. They had a Republican opponent with very little name recognition, an unenergized Republican base, strong support from the national party thanks to it being the only race in the country and a Democratic candidate doing his very best to hide his Democratic tendencies and present himself as a Republican... and they still failed.
(None of this is meant to take away from Hackett... he was the best candidate the Dems could put up there and he ran the best campaign he could. He just couldn't win.)
Yeah, yeah, the Democrats' defeat is all because of the racists and the bigots and the homophobes and the misogynists... blah, blah, blah... Is it any wonder the Dems keep losing when so many of them can't cotton to the idea that reasonable people can oppose them and not be stupid, racist, red-necked bigots?