politics
/
December 19, 2024
The outgoing senator recognizes more than other Democrats the need to reaffirm the party’s commitment to economic populist politics.
Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) speaks to volunteers at his campaign office in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, on November 4, 2024.
(Stephen Matlen/Getty Images)
Long before political setbacks in 2024 forced Democrats to realize they had lost touch with working-class voters, Sherrod Brown warned of a problem with the party. As a progressive who has long been on the right side of history on issues of economic, social and racial justice, and war and peace, the senator from Ohio keeps telling Democrats that they are not paying attention hard enough — let alone Enough – about the “dignity of work”.
Brown briefly considered running for president in 2020 because he believed refocusing working-class issues was crucial to the party and the country. He believed then, as he does now, that Democrats must step up efforts to raise the minimum wage, expand union rights, save the pensions of workers crushed by multinational corporations, and reorient trade policy in favor of working-class Americans. .
Brown decided not to run for president. Instead, he established a foothold in Ohio, a once-competitive state that shifted sharply Republican after the 2016 election, embracing not only Donald Trump but Trump’s sycophant politics, such as Ohio senator and incumbent Vice President-elect JD Vance. Of all the Democrats running for U.S. Senate in 2024, Brown and Montana Sen. Jon Tester face the toughest test as they campaign in states that Trump is almost certain to win by wide margins.
In a movie like this Mr. Smith goes to WashingtonPerhaps such a story could end with a principled senator overcoming electoral adversity and winning re-election. But 2024 is a disaster for Democrats.
Tester and Brown both lost.
Brown acknowledged the defeat as the result of a dystopian 2024 election season. But he refuses to accept that this is the end of his long fight on behalf of economic democracy. He has been encouraged to run for the Senate again in 2026, when the reaction to Trump’s cynical politics and Trumpism may make Ohio voters more receptive to Brown’s brand of progressive populism.
current problem
This is what Brown should do. Now, his party and the Senate need his voice more than ever. The energetic 72-year-old still has plenty of fight left in him, as his adversity-laden campaign in 2024 proves.
Brown had a serious game at Ohio State. While Trump won the state by a 55-44 margin, Brown was just 3.6 points away from retaining his seat.
Brown, who takes a degree of pride but is also more determined to be “7.5 points ahead of the national vote,” has been outspoken about how the party needs to get back to basics when it comes to addressing economic anxieties. working-class families.
During his three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, Brown led an epic battle against NAFTA, against granting most-favored nation trade status to China, and against other failed trade deals that have hollowed out American communities. Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Throughout his years of service, he has never been afraid to call out his party’s growing reliance on corporate campaign funding and the compromises that dependence has made. Now, Brown is amplifying that message not only as an outgoing senator but also as the author of a highly regarded trade policy book.
“I’ve seen jobs shrink in America and I’ve seen the middle class shrink,” Brown explained. “People have to blame someone. And it’s the Democrats. We have a greater responsibility for this because we historically have been [workers]. They want Republicans to sell out to their corporate friends and support the wealthy. But we don’t expect my party – and this is my future in this party – to focus on helping Democrats and my colleagues understand the importance of us talking to workers and making decisions with workers.
Brown did just that in his final address to the Senate. It was a passionate statement in which he spoke outly about his record in Congress opposing the corporate agenda, whether advanced by Republicans or Democrats: “I remember when I helped lead the charge in my first year in Congress In opposing NAFTA, Bill Richardson — a pro-NAFTA Democrat from New Mexico — lamented my congressional recess, saying, “Every time a member of Congress goes home, my side loses. vote. “
“There’s a reason for that. We should be listening to our constituents.
“Almost every week, I spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Ohio.
“I traveled all over the state—from Ashtabula to Athens to Akron to Warren to Steubenville; from Zanesville to Marietta to Portsmouth to Middle from Springfield to Blaine to Delaware to Defiance to Mansfield – holding roundtables, walking picket lines and factory tours with workers in break rooms, in the workplace and behind the checkout counters. chat.
“Every Monday afternoon, I come back to Washington with a bag of great ideas from Ohioans. My job in the House and Senate is to represent these workers—to listen to them, speak up for them, and fight for them.
“Not Wall Street. Not the drug companies. Not the big railroads. Fight for the people who make this country work.
Popular
“Swipe left below to view more authors”Slide →
Brown made it clear throughout his speech that he’s not done fighting yet. In fact, he concluded by declaring: “This is my last speech of the year. But it’s not — I promise you — the last time you’ll hear from me.
It’s one of the most promising post-election promises.
To take back the Senate in 2026, Democrats need to recruit quality candidates. They should start in Ohio, where Sherrod Brown is a potential contender who has been leading the party’s national vote and who don’t need to be told that Democrats will only win back Congress — and upend Trump’s agenda. —as a truly progressive, working-class populist party.
More from nation
The idea that America is on its way to overall “greatness” when he doesn’t win a majority of the popular vote is bizarre.
Johnny Nichols for nation
While show-offs like Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. get all the attention, the real power in Trump’s second term is likely to be held by obscure bureaucrats and policy intellectuals…
feature
/
Chris Lyman
But between establishment defenders and anti-establishment candidates. Democrats failed because they made Trump the only voice of anti-establishment rage.
Pillar
/
Oh Lord
The outgoing Senate Republican leader rejects imagined isolationism and advocates a return to Cold War militarism.
Oh Lord
The president-elect’s recent settlement with ABC News is an early offensive in an all-out MAGA war against media independence.
Chris Lyman
