Why is Sherrod Brown Moving into Zach Reed’s Ward?

By Larry Durstin

When it was announced that Senator Sherrod Brown and his wife, Connie Schultz, would be relocating from Avon into the Mill Creek residential community located in southeast Cleveland, some local pundits speculated that there was a political motivation behind the move.

The early speculation among the chattering class was that Brown had his eyes on running for mayor of Cleveland in 2017, when  incumbent Frank Jackson completes his third term and retires. Of course, that is dependent on Jackson defeating tan-man Ken Lanci in this year’s election, which is a dead certainty.  (Speaking of Lanci, perhaps the logical next political step for the silver-haired multi-millionaire would be a run for mayor of East Cleveland. For one thing, in that perpetually embattled town, his current advisor, the inimitable Art McCoy of Black-on-Black Crime, has serious street cred there. Further, a possible showdown between the flashy Lanci, who tools around town in a $400,000 Bentley, and the gender-bending former East Cleveland mayor Eric Brewer would serve to draw significant national attention, salving the massive egos of each and possibly spawning a reality  show for this charismatic duo.)

As for Brown, it makes no sense for him to run for mayor of Cleveland, since he would have to abandon a powerful senate position where he has earned a sterling national reputation as a leading progressive in order to pursue a dicey run for Cleveland’s top job. But that doesn’t mean that there is no possible political calculation involved in his decision to move into the city.

The one problem for Hillary Clinton, the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination in 2016, is that numerous progressives in her party don’t quite trust her. They remain unhappy about her vote for the Iraq war and think of her as an ideological clone of her husband, who is still viewed by many on the Left as having been too much of a centrist and a little too close to Wall Street. True, the fact that she would be the first woman to run for president at the top of a major party ticket should be enough to bring most progressives on board, but putting Brown in the second slot would seal the deal for her among doubting Lefties.

First and foremost is that Brown would help her in Ohio, which alone would make it wise for her to put him on the ticket, since winning the Buckeye State essentially means winning the presidency.  More than that, however, is that Brown has impeccable progressive credentials and is, arguably, the most respected progressive Democrat in the U.S. Senate. In addition, though Brown has an undeniably solid liberal ideological foundation, he possesses the kind of pragmatic sensibility necessary for someone to be a successful national candidate. Also, his slightly rumpled sincerity plays well on television.

A quick look at Brown’s 20-year congressional resume shows the depth and breadth of his progressive orthodoxy. In 1993, his first year in the House of Representatives, he voted  against NAFTA and since then he has stood in studied opposition to every proposed “free trade” legislation. His influential book, The Myth of Free Trade, powerfully argues that “an unregulated global economy is a threat to us all.” On banks and the finance industry, Brown has proposed an end to the “too big to fail” policy by restoring Glass-Steagall, the Banking Act of 1933 that limited commercial bank securities and affiliations between commercial banks and security firms.

In 1996, he was the only Democrat from a swing or red state to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and his subsequent support of gay rights has earned him a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign. He has also consistently received a 100% pro-choice  rating from NARAL.

On military policy, Brown voted against the Iraq War, consistently called for an end to the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments and has championed the cause of benefits and training for veterans. He has also been a tireless advocate on such hot-button issues for progressives as immigration, labor unions, health care, the social safety net and global warming.

So how, some may ask, does the move into Cleveland add to his presidential-ticket appeal? Well, it’s all about the story. Brown and his Pulitzer-Prize winning wife, who is also a darling of progressives, move into an urban dwelling to live amongst the hard-working, regular people whose cause the pair has spent their entire careers championing. On the night of the Democratic convention three years from now, there won’t be a dry eye in the house when the emotional bio-film of the Browns is shown.

Hill and Bill, Sherrod and Connie, waving and smiling. The most powerful couple in the world, joined by the “just folks” crusading progressives from the heart of good old Cleveland. In politics, where there’s no business but show business, this is what is called electoral gold.

 

Larry Durstin is an independent journalist who has covered politics and sports for a variety of publications and websites over the past 20 years. He was the founding editor of the Cleveland Tab and an associate editor at the Cleveland Free Times. Durstin has won 12 Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards, including six first places in six different writing categories. LarryDurstinATyahoo.com

 

 

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