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I’ve been following Hub Politics all night for updates on the special election in Massachusetts’ 5th District between Republican Jim Ogonowski and Democrat Niki Tsongas. Despite a hard-fought effort in a Democrat-leaning district, Ogonowski lost by about 5 percentage points.

Patrick Ruffini reminds us that the district voted for John Kerry by 17 percentage points in 2004. He thinks Ogonowski found the right message that could resonate for other Republicans in 2008.

It’s simple: the change message works. America is anti-Washington, anti-Congress, and anti-corruption. When that’s where Republicans are, they win. Jim Ogonowski showed us that. Maybe not in an overwhelmingly Democratic district like MA-5. But what about in a +7 Democrat district? Or in purple seats?

Nor do we need the usual suspects to deliver this message. You don’t need to recruit a risk-averse State Senator who talks to his consultants and waits for “his time” to run. All you need is a plain-spoken veteran with an extraordinary life story. We need more citizen-candidates like Jim Ogonowski. We need them to pick off Democrats in blue and purple seats. We need them as primary challengers to corrupt incumbents. In “safe” Democrat-held districts, we need to run people who can get 45% of the vote, and then be in a position to finish the job in 2010. In 2006, the average second-time Democratic challenger who won received 43% of the vote their last time out.

Matt Margolis, who worked on the Ogonowski campaign, writes on Hub Politics that Ogonowski should inspire hope that Republicans can compete for independent votes.

A five point victory for Tsongas can mean only one thing: that Jim Ogonowski’s message of being tough on illegal immigration, lowering taxes, and controlling spending, won over much of his district. Ogonowski has proven that when it comes to the issues people care about, Republicans can win the votes of independent voters.

Tyngsborough, Mass., native Michael Ratty, who graduated from Ithaca College with me, suggests that despite Ogonowski’s defeat, all is not lost for the GOP in the 5th District.

I don’t think anyone is terribly surprised by Tsongas’ win. But, if the numbers hold up the way they look now (51 percent to 48 percent with 86 percent of precincts reporting), I think the state Republican party and Ogonowski have plenty to be proud of. They had a candidate, whose last name is golden in the district, peering into the rearview mirror during the final two weeks of the campaign. Although this is a missed opportunity for Massachusetts to send a Republican to Washington, I think the campaign spoke to a lot of independent voters in the district and will try to churn up that base again when she’s up for re-election. You can also be sure that MassGOP will be keeping a very close eye on Tsongas’ voting record once she arrives on Capitol Hill.

Personally, I hope Ogonowski comes to Washington to share his strategy with the National Republican Congressional Committee. His campaign embraced technology, found the right message and made a race that shouldn’t have been close very competitive. There’s much to learn from this man.