Brunner couldn't be this lucky; Fisher's swinging for the big donor money, abandoning the grassroots.

Tim has been covering what little information we're able to get about Fisher's firing of his Fundraising Director Eryn Campbell.  Apparently, Tim is being told that Eryn's replacement has a reputation for charging lobbyists to get their clients to bundle contributions to have access to his candidate. 

In other words, Fisher is selling access to the highest bidder.  Sadly, he's not alone in the practice, but it reflect why the no-ODP endorsement pledge is important in the first place.  It's bad enough that Democrats like you and me don't have access to candidates like Fisher because we don't have lobbyists on our payroll to purchase access for us.

But if Fisher gets his way, and ignores Redfern's wishes to keep ODP neutral, Fisher is going to strong-arm the process with the elite members of our party to get an endorsement that all but prevents us for having a choice in the primary.

Fisher's few policy answers, particularly on GLBT civil rights issues, indicates that Fisher is a focus-group, poll tested candidate.  So, maybe if I get on a Fisher poll or focus group, then I could be heard by potentially the next Senator of Ohio.

Fisher's poll numbers are a joke for a candidate who is so tied to the hip of one of the most popular Democrats in Ohio and over twenty years in Democratic politics.  Whereas back in February, Fisher could legitimately claim that he had a polling advantage against Portman over Brunner, she's erased that lead.

What's $1 million in fundraising bought Fisher?  A twenty percent standing in the polls.  When you're Lee Fisher and your only political strength over your opponent is only fundraising, then you go all out to get as much coin as you can.  Which means you do whatever it takes to get as much money as possible, even if that means you sell yourself out to the highest bidder.  A true progressive would have a problem with being that kind of candidate.  And nobody in their right mind bundles $25,000 in campaign donations to hear Lee Fisher talk.  At the price, they expect the candidate to not only listen but to parrot.  Maybe not on the campaign trail, but definitely in office.

A leader who believes in nothing is a leader nobody can believe.

The problem is that Fisher thinks that by have a large Facebook presence and retaining David Axelrod's old political consulting firm gives him claim to Obama's style of campaigning.  But the suit doesn't fit Lee at the lobbyists' dinners.

We already know that a quarter of Fisher's "$1 million" haul cannot be used until the general election (assuming that Fisher will be around for a general election).   So we know that Fisher has a large segment of his fundraising base completely tapped out.  He had to find new donors to keep his fundraising numbers from drying up before the next reporting period next month.

Brunner is taking the risky, small-donor route.  Fisher is taking the traditional, reliable, lobbyist's paved yellow brick road.  This isn't just a matter of inside baseball.  It tells you about the character of the candidates.  It tells you who they'll privately believe they'll owe their election to.  How many times can Fisher tell us to go f*ck ourselves before others get the hint?

Again and again, Brunner says she's willing to put her trust in the voters; Fisher says he trust the lobbyists and their clients' fundraising dollars.