Sherrod Brown's new best friend

After months of spitting nails at each other, Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and his erstwhile rival, Paul Hackett, kissed and made up at an impromptu rally last month on the banks of the Ohio River.

Next week, the two will have their second date.

The ubiquitous Hackett, who seems to get more ink and air time than most candidates who are actually running for something, will join Brown next week in Cincinnati for an event focused on veterans' benefits and the war in Iraq.

Chaperoning the event will be former senator Max Cleland, the quadriplegic Vietnam veteran who toured southern Ohio last summer touting Hackett's 2nd Congressional District campaign.