Today, I join the nation in mourning the loss of a true American legend, pioneer, and civil rights leader, Dr. Dorothy I. Height.
I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of this civil and women’s rights giant. Recognizing the interconnectedness of the struggle for women’s rights and the struggle for civil rights in 1944, Dr. Height joined the national staff of the YWCA. She served as President of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, which was widely acclaimed as “the female voice” of the civil rights movement. For 10 years, she served as National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where she she developed leadership training programs and interracial and ecumenical education programs.
Serving as an advisor to Presidents from Eisenhower to Obama, she impacted national public policy ranging from desegregation of schools under Eisenhower to the appointment of African American women to government positions under Lyndon Johnson, to health care reform under President Obama. In 1993, Dr. Height was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and in 2004, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush on behalf of the United States.
Americans owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Height for her visionary leadership to make America better for everyone. Dr. Dorothy I. Height was a scholar, tireless activist, and pioneer for women’s and civil rights and though her presence will be missed, her impact will be felt for generations to come.
I'm wearing red today, because today is Equal Pay Day. This is the day designated each year to mark how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man made the previous year. Women working full-time and year-round currently earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, so today marks the day using 2009 figures that an average woman would finally earn what an average man made in 2009. In Ohio, this pay deficiency ($33,628 per year compared to $45,214) for women and their families in real terms means they could buy food for another two years or pay mortgage and utility payments for nine more months.
Ohio has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate. Ohio has never seen one of its women even win a contested primary for the U.S. Senate--Republican or Democrat. Until now, no woman who holds statewide office has run for the U.S. Senate. Imagine, if Ohio elects a strong, tested woman to the U.S. Senate, how much better its people's voices will be heard on issues ranging from support for small businesses to national child care and elder care policies to strong banking regulation reform.
I am proud of the work of so many women leaders and organizations to protect women's rights and move women forward. And I am proud to have the endorsements of these nationally known women and progressive leaders: Gloria Steinem, Ellie Smeal, Kim Gandy, Alice Cohan, Dolores Huerta, Caroline Kennedy, Siobhan "Sam" Bennett and Darcy Burner. National and local women's organizations supporting my candidacy to be Ohio's next U.S. Senator include: Women's Campaign Forum, National Organization for Women PAC, National Women's Political Caucus, WomenCount PAC, Feminist Majority PAC, ElectWomen Magazine, and eight Democratic county women's caucuses from Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Clark, Lake, Muskingum, Fairfield, Shelby and Morgan Counties and the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus.
So, I'll wear red today for equal pay for women, for progress and fairness in the workplace for women and all who seek a better quality of life. I'll wear red today to show I'm thankful for women--our mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends who have blazed the trail before us so that we might tread it with courage and keep it fresh for those young women so full of promise who deserve the very best we have to give them. Let's start by giving them an Ohio woman in the Senate.
Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America and brother of former DNC CHair and presidential candidate Gov. Howard Dean, will join Jennifer on The Courage Express as she visits Madison, Clark, Miami, Auglaize and Mercer Counties tomorrow. Democracy for America, a powerful voice for progressives across the country and the nation's largest political action committee, endorsed Jennifer last week.
For more information on the bus tour visit TheCourageExpress.com, and while you are there check out the fantastic video blogs created by campaign staffer Christa Johnston!
The following is re-printed courtesy of Richard of The Real Deal, an Ohio political blog:
Democratic voters have an excellent chance this fall to send a strong new voice to Washington as Ohio’s next U. S. senator. Almost from the day George Voinovich announced in January 2009 that he would retire at the end of his term this year, it was clear that Democrats would be choosing their nominee between two of their best state officials, Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
The last 15 months of head-to-head political campaigning have made two things clear: Jennifer Brunner would be a stronger Democratic standard bearer against the Republican nominee in November, and Jennifer Brunner would be a stronger US Senator for Ohio and the nation.
Here's fun video of the exciting debut of the Brunner campaign's silver school bus "The Courage Express," heading out to Pomeroy in Meigs County last Saturday:
Courtesy of The Plain Dealer, here is video of Jennifer's opening statement in the Democratic Senate Candidates Debate hosted by the City Club of Cleveland today:
Progressives have watched good legislation passed by the House die in the Senate -- the public option, the climate change bill, financial reform -- you name it, they killed it. Why? Because big banks, insurance companies and Wall Street fund too many Democratic Senators' campaigns.
On May 4, we'll have our first chance to strike back and elect a leader who will stand up for us in the Senate.
Jennifer Brunner is the progressive running for U.S. Senate in the Ohio Democratic primary. She's running a grassroots campaign powered by people and small donations, not Wall Street and corporate cash. That's why 57% of Ohio DFA members support Brunner, while only 14% support Lee Fisher, her Democratic opponent.
But it's also why Fisher has out raised Brunner two quarters in a row. Corporations aren't funding Jennifer Brunner's campaign, regular middle-class Americans are -- you, me, and thousands of others who want to elect a proven progressive leader, not another corporate Democrat.
You and I know that money alone doesn't win elections, otherwise Jennifer Brunner would have lost her battle to win Secretary of State against a Bush-Wacked Republican in 2006.
President Bush and his cronies spent everything they had and threw every lie in the book trying to tear Jennifer Brunner down -- and they failed. Brunner went on to not only win the election, but clean up the electronic voting nightmares from 2004 and reform Ohio's corrupt and dysfunctional Elections Division.
Now recent polling from the Public Policy Polling group shows Jennifer Brunner is the Democratic candidate most likely to beat the front running Republican for U.S. Senate. It's not surprising she's the most likely to win since she's never lost a statewide election before, and Fisher has lost statewide not once -- but twice.
But to beat the Republican in November, she has to beat a corporate Democrat on May 4.
Raising money isn't the only thing we're doing to put Jennifer over the top next month. In the next few weeks, we'll be reaching out to voters across Ohio -- writing letters to volunteers, driving local media to events and even putting DFA staff on the ground to help local DFA members get out the vote.
We're going all out to take back the United States Senate from corporate America, and that's why we're working for Jennifer Brunner. Beating back the special interests, taking back the Senate -- it all starts with you.
In rural Eastern Ohio, my Dad's 30 year off-farm job was being a school bus driver. The school bus parked by the barn marked our farm on the hill and was part of the directions to my boyhood home.
The bus route calibrated the rhythms of our farm chores and family meals. The ritual cleaning of the bus punctuated both the beginning of the new school year and summer vacation. The empty bus was a place where my dad imparted life lessons and sad news like my grandfather's passing. The bus was the vehicle that took me to my high school activities. The bus opened the world to me and led me to where and who I am now.
Rolling into the final weeks of this campaign on The Courage Express, a Licking County public school bus that we've painted and refurbished, seems more than right to me. This rejuvenated bus is a bold, firm statement about the values of everyday Ohioans and their part in and value to this campaign. It brings back the excitement of the first and last day of school, high school football games, victory parades, marching band and making friends. The bus was the vehicle from which Ohio's rural kids launched their lives and now it will launch a remarkable courageous leader and my best friend to the United States Senate.
We're celebrating the kick off of our statewide bus tour today at TheCourageExpress.com. I hope that you will visit the site and join in the fun, and while you are there please make a contribution toward our bus tour and get-out-the-vote expenses by buying an honorary Courage Express "ticket" for $10, $25, $50, or $100. The campaign will send you your ticket as a fun memento to mark the occasion.
You have overwhelmed us with your ingenuity and creativity in helping name our new campaign bus! Thank you to the hundreds of you who suggested names and nominated tour stops for the final primary weeks of a fun and dynamic U.S. Senate grassroots campaign.
Many have written and even called to find out what we're naming our campaign bus, so here it is: THE COURAGE EXPRESS.
It was difficult to choose a winner from the many excellent suggestions you sent. The top contenders and their originators are:
The Courage Express (Patricia Blochowiak, Cuyahoga County, and Jay Smith, Medina County) The Courage Coach (Bethe Goldenfield, Warren County) The Bus for Us (Vaughn Sizemore, Marion County) No. 18 Express (Peter K., Cuyahoga County) Silver Rosie (Harrison Cloke, Butler County)
All of these--and many more--were great suggestions. Our campaign staff and I picked "The Courage Express," because we believe it best captures the spirit and energy of what our great state needs to move forward to bring back jobs and improve the quality of life in Ohio. We imagined coming to a small town in southern Ohio or a neighborhood in a crowded city and putting ourselves in the places of people who want to believe that when we work together, government can be a force for good in our lives. And we thought, yes, "The Courage Express" said it all.
We can't wait to see you as we ride The Courage Express to your town or a town near you. Winning this primary will help us prove that people matter the most, whether it's in a campaign, making policies in government or just living your everyday life.
Our campaign is readying our bus for Jennifer Brunner's statewide bus tour to "kick it in hard" for the last lap of the primary race on May 4th. We're painting, designing, and equipping the bus, gathering supplies, and putting together a schedule that will take us all over Ohio. We're celebrating the kick-off of this one-of-a-kind, ambitious tour on Friday, April 9th, as we begin to criss-cross Ohio and put Jennifer directly in touch with Ohio Democratic primary voters in small towns and big cities.
We're getting great suggestions on what to name our bus, and we know you all have more, so send them in! Go ahead and help us name the bus and suggest a tour stop. We'll send a free Rosie the Riveter "Courage" bumper sticker to everyone who submits a nomination, so send us your names today. (If you've already sent us a name or two you can send us your mailing address to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so we can get your bumper sticker on its way to you.)
We can still use your help with the expenses of the tour with contributions of $5, $10, $25 or more right now for gas, more literature, more phone banking, and staff and volunteer expenses.
On Friday we'll be holding an all-day celebration to kick off the bus tour. Please join us for special online updates, photographs, video, and live blogging by Jennifer and campaign staff. You can help us get the celebration going by making a pledge to donate when you nominate a name and tour stop, or by visiting our special Brunner Bus Tour page on ActBlue and buying an honorary "ticket" for the tour.
This campaign is all about people like you. Thank you for being a part of our Brunner bus tour. We can't wait to see you at a tour stop near you!
Anticipation is building for the Jennifer Brunner for U.S. Senate bus tour, announced by the campaign yesterday, which will criss-cross the Buckeye State from now to the May 4th primary election.
The campaign is busy with preparing for the tour, including cleaning, painting, and refitting the bus, gathering supplies, and arranging the schedule. The Dayton Daily News reported on the bus tour, comparing Jennifer's silver school bus to the green one that the late Sen. Paul Wellstone used in his historic senatorial campaign in Minnesota.
And supporters have nominated dozens of bus names, tour stops, and suggestions for the bus tour, using our online form. Have given us your ideas yet?
Our campaign is about you. When the political establishment did all it could to back us down, you stepped up as volunteer canvassers in the coldest time of winter, and we were the first to file our petitions statewide. When we asked for phone bankers to reach out directly to Democratic voters, you stepped up and said "Yes!" and you're still calling Democrats all over Ohio. When our opponent tried to steer a last-minute state party endorsement his way, you resoundingly sent emails and letters to the editor saying "No!" and the party remained neutral.
One of the things we've learned from phone banking and recent public polling is that times are tough enough in Ohio that Democratic primary voters have been less focused on this election and more focused on making a go of things at home. Despite early voting taking place now, many haven't made up their minds about the May 4th primary election.
As Secretary of State, I've worked to make elections more accessible to Ohio voters, wherever they are. We've reached out to them in new and unique ways to get them engaged and participating, and in 2008 more voters voted in Ohio's general election than ever voted in an Ohio election in history. In fact, more voters voted for President Obama than ever voted for any presidential candidate in Ohio.
So we asked ourselves, why not keep reaching out directly to voters with our campaign, especially now? We can show them we care.
Two weeks ago, we bought a school bus (on eBay!) that once carried students in Licking County. Because this bus will help us directly reach Ohioans, we want you to be a part of helping us name it. You can click here to use our online form and give us your ideas for a great name for it. We've painted it silver to help Rosie look great and to give you lots of options.
You can also use our online form to tell us where you think we should take our bus in Ohio. You can tell us what's going on in your community and when, so we can reach more voters and get them engaged for the Democratic primary and beyond. And we're still looking for help to keep our bus rolling and our volunteers and staff working along the way to get out our people-powered message and get people to the polls. Your donation of $5, $10, $25 or more right now means we can pay for gas, more literature, more phone banking, and staff and volunteer expenses.
Late last week many of my supporters in Cuyahoga County received a slick, expensive direct mail piece with a cover photo of dark storm clouds mounting atop the Capitol on the side where the U.S. Senate is located. Featured prominently in front of this dismal scene is a bright red silhouette of Ohio with superimposed unhappy people inside of the red state (even though Ohio went blue for President Obama in 2008). Hovering over all this is a bold headline that says:
“Washington is Working Against Ohio Families.”
When I saw the cover of the piece, it looked like it was an invitation to a Tea Party rally (there are lots of them in Ohio). My prospective Republican opponent in the fall, Rob Portman, has been courting their favor, so I thought, well, maybe it was from him. (After all, in the period of the last 5 years he served as former President Bush’s trade representative, shepherding anti-labor, anti-family trade agreements that have hurt Ohio’s working families.) Or maybe, I thought, it’s the Ohio Republican Party, which keeps losing important Ohio elections and as of late blundered in sending absentee ballot applications for Republican primary ballots (Ohio’s primary is a closed primary) to Democrats with the enticement that they could get an extra ballot (for the fall election) with one request. (Ohio law doesn’t allow this, even though many wish it did, including me.) Well, on the other hand, I thought, maybe this is a piece pushed out by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has targeted Ohio as one of the top three Democratic take-away opportunities in the nation.
Nope.
I opened up the piece, and there it was – a big, bright turquoise background with a color photo of my Democratic primary opponent, Lt. Governor Lee Fisher, wearing a big grin.
I could not believe it. Our own Lt. Governor, an ostensibly loyal Democrat, saying Washington has failed Ohio families. What? Ripping into the President, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic Senators, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many of our own Democratic House members?
Elections are about differences. So often I’m asked how my primary opponent and I differ on issues. And so often, when I’ve taken a principled stand on a controversial issue (like the Employee Free Choice Act, same sex marriage or the war in Afghanistan, he’s jumped on board right after me with a terse, brief statement, and the differences between us seem to dissolve for the time being.
This time, the line between us is a big bright line, and he just drew it and put it out there for the world to see. Lee Fisher, by his own admission, believes “Washington is Working Against Ohio Families.” I believe there are many in Washington who are doing just the opposite – putting their heart and soul into working FOR Ohio families – and they are getting some major things done.
Let’s start with President Obama.
I am proud of President Obama for signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as his first bill signed, for restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.
I am proud of the President and those in his administration and Congress who have helped us change the direction of our nation’s foreign policy, by moving to end the war in Iraq.
I am proud of those in Washington, from the President on through, who have worked to provide an additional $15 billion to help grow our nation’s small businesses.
I am proud of the President and all of those in Washington who supported his efforts to expand Pell Grants and make available another $30 billion to help make college more affordable to middle class families, and provide an additional $5 billion for Head Start and other early learning programs, as well as for children with special needs.
And I am especially proud of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, and every other Democrat in Washington who helped pass health care reform – a reform that has been talked about for 100 years and finally took shape in a new law that will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to nearly all Americans, and improve our health system with sustainable practices such as an emphasis on preventive care.
That’s why, when my opponent makes the head-scratching slam in his own direct mail advertising that, “Washington is Working Against Ohio Families,” I have to shake my head and say, slowly and incredulously, “No, Lee, most Democrats in Washington are working FOR Ohio families – and Ohio needs to send a strong, progressive voice who is unafraid to join our great Senator Sherrod Brown on the floor of the U.S. Senate to help advance the President’s agenda, not torpedo it.
Two nights ago, a caller to our campaign office said she was upset by an instruction I had given to boards of elections as Secretary of State to challenge voters in the upcoming primary who changed parties between the Democratic and Republican parties. She said I had lost her vote.
I was sorry to hear that, but I could not change the circumstances that required me to carry out my responsibilities under the law. The Ohio General Assembly passed the law that requires voters be challenged when changing parties for a primary election, and I am charged with enforcing that law. If I could change the law I would, but I don't have that power. So an outdated law that favors political parties over voters requires me to enforce a "closed" primary system over our increasing demand for openness. My campaign staff tried its best to explain the situation, but the caller was not to be deterred.
While elected public service can be one of the most rewarding jobs a person has the privilege to hold, it is also one that, if done right, requires an extraordinary understanding of who you are and why you do the job. Elected public service calls on those who shoulder it to bear up with courage under circumstances that often call the very purest of motives and best of intentions into question.
Some have said that when nearly everyone is peeved with you for the decisions and actions you take while holding public office, perhaps you're actually doing something right. Regardless, those who undertake elected public service in a democracy such as ours must do their work within a framework of laws that, thankfully, encourage people to speak up about and clamor for changes without fear of reprisal. I believe in our democracy and its people, and that's why I run and serve.
Today, I join the nation in mourning the loss of a true American legend, pioneer, and civil rights leader, Dr. Dorothy I. Height.
I'm wearing red today, because today is Equal Pay Day. This is the day designated each year to 
I am proud of the work of so many women leaders and organizations to protect women's rights and move women forward. And I am proud to have the endorsements of these nationally known women and progressive leaders: Gloria Steinem, Ellie Smeal, Kim Gandy, Alice Cohan, Dolores Huerta, Caroline Kennedy, Siobhan "Sam" Bennett and Darcy Burner. National and local women's organizations supporting my candidacy to be Ohio's next U.S. Senator include: Women's Campaign Forum, National Organization for Women PAC, National Women's Political Caucus, WomenCount PAC, Feminist Majority PAC, ElectWomen Magazine, and eight Democratic county women's caucuses from Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Clark, Lake, Muskingum, Fairfield, Shelby and Morgan Counties and the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus.
Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America and brother of former DNC CHair and presidential candidate Gov. Howard Dean, will join Jennifer on The Courage Express as she visits Madison, Clark, Miami, Auglaize and Mercer Counties tomorrow. Democracy for America, a powerful voice for progressives across the country and the nation's largest political action committee, endorsed Jennifer last week.
Anticipation is building for the Jennifer Brunner for U.S. Senate bus tour, announced by the campaign yesterday, which will criss-cross the Buckeye State from now to the May 4th primary election.
When I saw the cover of the piece, it looked like it was an invitation to a Tea Party rally (there are lots of them in Ohio). My prospective Republican opponent in the fall, Rob Portman, has been courting their favor, so I thought, well, maybe it was from him. (After all, in the period of the last 5 years he served as former President Bush’s trade representative, shepherding anti-labor, anti-family trade agreements that have hurt Ohio’s working families.) Or maybe, I thought, it’s the Ohio Republican Party, which keeps losing important Ohio elections and as of late blundered in sending absentee ballot applications for Republican primary ballots (Ohio’s primary is a closed primary) to Democrats with the enticement that they could get an extra ballot (for the fall election) with one request. (Ohio law doesn’t allow this, even though many wish it did, including me.) Well, on the other hand, I thought, maybe this is a piece pushed out by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has targeted Ohio as one of the top three Democratic take-away opportunities in the nation.