On this date in history, John Glenn touched the heavens; later ODP tried to deny him from touching the U.S. Senate

Thank you both ProgressOhio and Judge O'Neill for noting the fortuitous timing of my open letter to all Democratic U.S. Senate candidates.

As ProgressOhio's Dave Harding noted, today is the 47th anniversary of the day  when Ohioan John Glenn was launched into space in one of the most expensive "tin cups" in history, Friendship 7.  Today, exactly forty-seven years ago, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.  His three trips around the world were brief in time, but ever lasting in significance as his early morning launch led to the launch of new imaginations in science, engineering, mathematics, and American optimism.

Despite being a decorated war pilot, and the first American in space, Glenn would later learn there was an even more exclusive club than that of a NASA astronaut... being a Democratic Senatorial candidate in Ohio.

Twelve years after John Glenn truly launched America's space race with the former Soviet Union, Glenn launched his second campaign for the Democratic nomination in for the U.S. Senate in Ohio.  Howard Metzenbaum, who had just been appointed to the seat of William B. Saxe (who resigned to become U.S. Attorney General) by Governor John Gilligan, was running to retain the seat.  The Ohio Democratic Party, in a rather closed process, endorsed Metzenbaum.  As a result, county parties, like Montgomery County, wouldn't even let Glenn in to their meetings because Glenn didn't have the ODP Seal of Approval.

Regardless, Glenn won the Democratic primary and the general election.  Glenn and Metzenbaum had a chilly relationship until 1983, but even as their relationship thawed, the bitter taste of the 1974 Ohio Democratic Party endorsement process remained.  Glenn held the seat until he retired from the Senate in 1998.  George Voinovich was elected to succeed Glenn in the U.S. Senate.

That's right.  The seat I'm asking the candidates to avoid seeking the Ohio Democratic Party endorsement for is John Glenn's old seat-- a seat he won in spite of not being endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party.

So, in honor of the legacy of John Glenn, let's remember our history and not repeat our mistakes.  I can think of no better way that the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates could honor the career of John Glenn then this.  In honor of John Glenn, please sign Plunderbund's petition for ODP neutrality in the U.S. Senate primary race next year.