Buckeye State Blog - OH-Sen: Lets Hear You Pitch Your Candidate - Comments

If by not many...

Nick D — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:29:39 -0700

...you mean 50,000 created and 200,000 saved in 2 years, and winning the Governor's Cup, awarded to the state with the most new or expanded business facilities, both years he headed DoD.

I don't think that will make him vulnerable, I think its something to be proud of.

hmmm...

bluefred — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:58:05 -0700

Honestly, after looking at Brunner's campaign staff, I might rethink my position.

However, I would like to defend my comparison between her SOS fundraising and the Republicans 2010 fundraising. Frankly, no, I don't think that she "will be able to raise all kinds of money" just because she's running for Senate. Her past work falls far short of what it could be; bear in mind, I'm not talking about what she did for 2006, I'm talking about 2006 plus her entire time as an incumbent SOS. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

Yet, this might be a moot point, as she seems to be taking a fundamentally different approach to this campaign. That is something that I didn't anticipate her doing, and I'm encouraged by it.

Of course things outside of fundraising matter, especially in a high-profile campaign. My point was that her history with fr is so bad that I worry that she could prove detrimentally weak on that front. Yet, I would be interested to see how Lee and Jennifer perform in southeast Ohio -- neither of them seem to be exceptionally good with the Appalachain crowd. I would concede that Jennifer is likely a significant improvement over Lee, but both of them probably need to work on it.

I disagree on most of your points

AmberCat — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:43:32 -0700

You can aegue til the cows come home about whether ANYONE other than maybe Strickland would have been elected if not for the "Democratic tidal wave" but the fact is she WAS elected strongly. I think Lee is a much more tepid and uninteresting campaigner than she is, and especially weak in relating to non-urban audiences. Sure, he's sincere, I guess (I really hate to pass judgement on things like that because how can you know, really?) but it takes more than that. And with all the other factors taken into account, i don't think lee is any more "proven" as a campaigner and vote-getter than Jennifer. Yes, I don't want to brand him a loser either even though he has mostly lost statewide, because other factors came into play there too.

i think making this all about fundraising, which seems to be about 75% of your argument, is a huge mistake.

I think ANY of our candidates can beat Portman IF we focus the campaign totally on jobs — their creation and destruction. I think Lee would be a tad more vulnerable here as Director of Development because not many jobs were created under him – not his fauly, actually thefault of Portman's crew. But you know those Republicans will lie about anything.

So far as i know

AmberCat — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:38:12 -0700

none of our candidates has a "hint of scandal," unless maybe Jimmy Dimora threw his hat in the ring and I missed it. (And I should add that that would be a "hint" of scandal because he hasn't been charged with anything yet.). As for Lee's record of creating jobs, it's a little murky, and it's hard to tell how much of the fact that jobs HAVEN'T been created here but rather lost is really within his (or Gov. Strickland's) power to fix. when I heard him speak recently, he gave the fact that it WASN'T as a reason for running for the Senate. My biggest fear is that his limited record as Director of Development can be slashed to ribbons by the Portman campaign which would be nervy, considering Portman's job-destroying record, but Lee is definitely on the hot seat here more than Jennifer in what i think will be the key issue of the campaign. And i already think Lee is less electable for a bunch of reasons, including his Northeast Ohio base, the fact that a woman's name can be good for a couple of points and that Jennifer just presents herself better. Those may not be GOOD reasons, but they do influence electability.

Brunner for Senate

madrigalmaniac — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:24:38 -0700

I do not dislike Lee Fisher and will vote for him if he wins the primary. But through her work as the judge who started the drug court, I have seen Jennifer Brunner's compassion, commitment, and ability to connect with others. She started her own successful small business which still provides services today. More importantly, her successful drive to run a clean, well managed, and fair 2008 election proved she has the skills needed to represent Ohio in the senate.

Comparing Brunner's Fundraising 2006 vs. Repubs 2010

BuckeyeNation — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:53:30 -0700

is apples and oranges. Do you seriously think she would not be able to raise money at a far better rate than she did in 2006? She is going to raise all kinds of $$$ especially once she is the Democratic Party nominee.

one clarification

bluefred — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:33:13 -0700

What I said about Brunner's SOS fundraising in the second paragraph is being compared to what the Republican party will raise for the 2010 SOS race to respectfully show Sec. Brunner's relative lack of fundraising ability.

Lee Fisher is more electable

bluefred — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:30:10 -0700

I'm enough of a partisan that my vote almost always goes to the candidate that I think is simply more electable. However, I respect people who don't vote that way in a primary. If you don't want to factor general election potential into your Senate primary vote, read no further.

First of all, Jennifer Brunner scares me as a campaigner. She has been an awesome SOS, but that's a race she would have lost without the Democratic tidal wave of 2006. There are two reasons for this: (1) simple voting trends and (2) the party chipped in about 1/5th of her (fairly tiny) amount of money directly. The Republicans will raise $4 million for this race, and Jennifer Brunner didn't even raise half of this in her entire time as a SOS or candidate for SOS. (She declared in 2005, and continued to fundraise for her SOS committee until 2008. In other words, at least half of this "less than half of what the Republicans will raise" was raised after the 2006 campaign). Granted, she has significant institutional backing for her Senate campaign, which makes a difference. However, she is unproven at the least.

On the other hand, Lee Fisher is a sincere person and proven to be an extremely good campaigner. Yes, he lost statewide twice. Notice how many other Democrats won statewide during this time period (i.e., none). He has a proven ability to build relationships and raise money, as well as a fantastic track record of public service to run on. Not only did he have significant resources for his statewide campaigns, but he was an integral part of Strickland's gubernatorial campaign. This is not to say that Sec. Brunner doesn't have an excellent track record as a public servant, but Lt. Gov. Fisher is proven.

I have to concede, however, that either would beat Portman. The Bush administration is a big enough skeleton that it takes up his entire closet -- there's not even enough room for his rubber stamp Congressional voting record in there. With the way Ohio is trending, a typical Democratic campaign should be able to beat him. He is a canned piece of crap, but I am more comfortable with Fisher's ability to beat him.

Jennifer Brunner is a Winner!

BuckeyeNation — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:53:48 -0700

Jennifer Brunner has distinguished herself in many ways, as a lawyer, a judge, a wife, a mother and as our Secretary of State.

She has withstood the avalanche of criticism volleyed at her by the GOP, and has emerged stronger for it. Jennifer has reformed an office that had become a national laughingstock under her Repub predecessor.

Jennifer has become a leader we can all get behind, she has earned our support and repect through her hard work and perseverance.

Lee Fisher, a nice guy, but as Leo Durocher once said, "nice guys finish last."

Lee barely won the AG's office, and after 4 years, lost it even though he had all the advantages of incumbency and fundraising.

Lee ran a lackluster race against Bob Taft for governor that kept us in the political wilderness in Ohio; he lost big to arguably the dullest most uninteresting governor this state has ever seen.

Until now, Lee has shyed away from running in a tough race when his party deperately needed his leadership.

Jennifer Brunner represents the future, with the vision and courage to stand up and make the hard choices we need in a US Senator. That's why she has my wholehearted support.

Jennifer Brunner is awesome!!

progressive dem — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:09:09 -0700

When I asked questions to both Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher about a rather obscure subject, gifted education, I think that their answers were telling.

-Brunner was remarakably honest and wrote an answer that was straight from the heart. This is the line that really stood out: "Ohio's children are wonderfully diverse, and our schools should celebrate that diversity not just in word, but with support for students with all sorts of gifts and talents." (This answer gives me hope that there might actually be someone who cares about this issue!!)

-Fisher gave what I view as a politicians answer, dancing around the edges and then talking about Governor Strickland's support for a dedicated source for Gifted Education (which, according to a gifted teacher I volunteer with several hours a week is actually not entirely true, but anyway...) This line stood out to me, "As a United States Senator, I will respect the flexibility needed for the state and local school districts to decide what is best for each individual student, while strongly advocating for policies that give Ohio students the world class education they need to compete and thrive in our global economy. " (Sorry, Lee, when you come from a high school like the one I just graduate from where they haven't passed a new operating levy in 17 years, a 'world class education' is receding by the day. There are some decisions that are too important to be left to five school board members and a backwards community...)

At the end of the day I will support whomever wins the nomination, but I feel that Jennifer is so much more genuine. Her answer shows me why she won the Profile in Courage Award last year.

Lee Fisher Has The Heart of a Race Horse

William Michael Oneill — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:37:13 -0700

I'm old enough to know that it is much more important to show me what you have done, than tell me what you are going to do. Lee Fisher is the son of a prominent Shaker Heights lawyer, and yet his WHOLE LIFE has been dedicated to helping working class men, women, and mostly, children. In the Ohio House, in the Ohio Senate, as the Attorney General of Ohio, one common theme always comes out. Lee Fisher comes up with ideas, and then he sets about implementing them. For children, consumers, and law abiding citizens, we never had a better Attorney General. Now as the business end of the Strickland administration, Lee has shown he knows what it takes to create new jobs, and save the old ones. In short, in a United States Senator I am looking for someone who has a record I can review. Not just someone who can make a good speech. As Democrats we are blessed to have both Jennifer and Lee running. But do the math. Lee has been a proven leader at the statewide level for over twenty years. And dare I say it? Without even a hint of scandal. An honest family man who puts the people of Ohio first. What more could we ask for? He will make a great Senator. Bill Oneill

Tom Ganley

Joseph — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:20:13 -0700

I am 100% behind Tom Ganley, the Cleveland-area car dealer challenging Rob Portman for the Republican nomination.

Why? You ask...

Because now the Republicans need to waste a bunch of money fighting a primary battle just like we do.

Jennifer Brunner

bonobo — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:59:17 -0700

First of all, I've simply been very impressed with Jennifer Brunner as SOS - she took on a voting system that was a national disgrace in 2004 and turned it into a national model by 2008. She has run elections in a fair and non-partisan way (e.g. a near perfect record in court in front of Republican judges), while managing not to get into shouting matches with the Republican slime machine that sought to portray her otherwise. When I had an issue with the training procedures for pollworkers, her staff communicated with me, asked my opinion of the fix, and eventually changed the parts of the fix I was unhappy with. I look forward to having a Senator who is that responsible and responsive. She's a woman, which the Senate needs more of, and she's tough enough to go toe-to-toe with Portman on her way there. I said on my blog before November that her 2010 race was the only one I was excited about supporting. I'm thrilled that it's a race for the Senate rather than re-election. Second, I've never been that impressed with Mr. Fisher. He seems like a sincere guy, but... my experience with Ohio politics doesn't extend as far back as 1991, so I've never seen him run a successful statewide campaign. I wasn't around when he lost to Betty Montgomery while he was an incumbent, but I was around when Marc Dann managed to beat her. He's been Lieutenant Governor, which is a position so meaningless that he was given a separate full-time job to do. It's a job that many get by being around long enough and being friendly enough with the right people, and/or possibly because they have niche-campaign appeal to balance the top of the ticket. Which is all well and good, and I don't begrudge him the polital appointments he has and will most likely continue to get. I just don't think it makes him a very good senate candidate. I'll certainly support him if he's the nominee, but I imagine my efforts will be more focused on other races if that's the case.

OH-Sen: Lets Hear You Pitch Your Candidate

David Potts — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:56:42 -0700

The Democratic primary is still a year off, but there have already been several blog polls on the Senate race, so I think it’s time to switch it up. I don’t want to hear just who you’re voting for, but why you’re voting for them.

That’s right, you have to do more work than two clicks for this one. In the comments of this post, I’d like to see you write up a personal endorsement of a candidate explaining what you like about them. Make it as long or short as you like, but remember that this is a chance to reach people like me who are undecided.

Please be sure to use your candidates name in the title of your comment to help me keep an accurate tally. I’ll post the final tally and some highlights on Monday.