Ohio’s popular Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown urged midwestern voters who rolled the dice for Donald Trump in 2016 to ditch the president’s destructive policies and start voting in their own self-interest in 2018 and beyond.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Brown said he understands why some Americans are frustrated with the government, but sticking by Trump and the GOP is a recipe for further disaster for working folks.
Brown blasted Trump and his Republican allies for talking a big game about how they’ll help the middle-class, all while implementing policies – the tax scam, in particular – that boost the super wealthy at the expense of everybody else.
“I think they’re seeing that there is no infrastructure plan, that the tax bill overwhelmingly helps the rich,” Brown said, outlining Trump’s failure to keep promises that were central to his campaign.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Video:
.@SenSherrodBrown delivers the message that can deliver rust belt voters for Democrats in 2018 and beyond. #ctl #p2 #hardball pic.twitter.com/qOqoC25Nsp
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) August 21, 2018
Brown said:
I think Ohioans, a lot of hard-working Ohioans believe that Washington has forgotten them. They’ve seen these trade agreements that have shut down production in Mansfield and Toledo and moved it to Wuhan and Beijing and Reynosa, Mexico. They don’t see their children having a better material life than they are and they rolled the dice. I think they’re seeing that there is no infrastructure plan, that the tax bill overwhelmingly helps the rich. There’s a provision in the tax bill – if you are a manufacturer in Youngstown, you pay 21% corporate tax rate – GM does. But if they move that plan to the Mexico that they’ve talked about, they pay 10.5%. So government basically gives them a 50% off coupon on their taxes. What’s fair about that?
Sherrod Brown’s message is resonating
While Democrats continue to search for a message that can revive their electoral chances in the midwest, Sherrod Brown appears to have found it. His message is clearly resonating in Ohio, a state Donald Trump carried by eight percentage points.
According to RealClearPolitics, the Democratic senator leads his wealthy Republican opponent Jim Renacci by double digits – 52 to 36 percent. If Brown’s share of the vote matches the polling, it would represent a massive double-digit swing against Trump in the Buckeye State.
If Democrats want to win back the midwest – a necessity for winning the Electoral College and retaking the White House in 2020 – then they should pay attention to Sherrod Brown.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
