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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > April > 18 > Entry
Editorial: Fisher has credentials that Brunner doesn’t
2010 ELECTION
To some people, the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seems like a fight between an old guy who has been around forever, mainly losing elections, and a fresh young female face.
A few, however, might remember Lee Fisher as the 38-year-old hot shot who came out of the legislature to get elected attorney general over the better known Paul Pfeifer in 1990, which wasn’t any great Democratic year.
At 58, he’s opposed by Jennifer Brunner, 53, who announced for the Senate only halfway through her first term as Ohio’s secretary of state.
(Only Democrats have a choice to make. There is no Republican primary for the Senate contest.)
Their race is the sort that can end up revolving around trivia, because the candidates agree on the big stuff. The trivia shouldn’t obscure the fact that both have a lot to offer.
Lt. Gov. Fisher knows Ohio’s issues as well as anybody could. Besides having been attorney general, he’s been in the state legislature, the director of a wide range of community-service programs as head of the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland, and head of the state development department, while serving as lieutenant governor.
In the latter job, he has, as he notes, traveled to every corner of the state trying to bring and retain jobs.
Republicans enjoy pointing out that some of the these high-profile efforts have ended badly. (It’s not a point his Democratic opponent has been pushing, at least until now.) Think DHL, NCR and General Motors around here.
Wherever the blame should go for that, Lt. Gov. Fisher has come to intimately know the specific and general problems that businesses, community leaders and workers (and laid-off workers) are confronting everyplace.
When Ted Strickland chose him as his running mate in 2006, it wasn’t because Mr. Fisher was seen as a vote-getter. On the contrary, he had lost his last two elections and was, therefore, languishing in political banishment. Candidate Strickland chose him because he has an incisive, organized and practical mind, on top of all that experience. Having served only in Washington, Mr. Strickland needed somebody who knew state issues.
That he couldn’t have done better than Lee Fisher was the common judgment in Columbus.
Ms. Brunner doesn’t have the on-paper qualifications of Mr. Fisher, his command of a wide range of issues, his standing within the party or his financial support. But she has an edgy, upstart appeal that suits at least some in the current political atmosphere.
Jennifer Brunner is a pot stirrer. She brings energy and imagination to whatever she tackles.
One sequence typifies her style: When most elections officials around the state were exhausted after a period of turmoil and changes in voting equipment, she pushed for a study of the high-tech voting machines. That study concluded the computers can’t be trusted. She wanted to move away from them quickly. Many of Ohio’s local boards of elections stuck with them anyway. So she ruled that counties must offer voters a low-tech option, too.
She’s been involved in more controversies than can be counted, partly because that’s the nature of the secretary of state’s job these days. Most typically, she has a good case for what she does. That’s true of her recent decision to require all counties to challenge all voters who want to switch parties in the primary. (The law is murky, but there’s something to be said for statewide consistency.)
But the decision was made inexcusably close to the primary.
(This is the only issue on which Mr. Fisher criticizes her performance as secretary. He objects to both the timing and the decision itself.)
Ms. Brunner’s decision to run for the Senate is typical of her go-for-it style. The decision distressed Democrats who hoped to avoid a primary and who wanted her to keep the secretary’s job for the party. The secretary has a crucial seat on the board that draws state legislative districts after the national Census, which is occurring this year.
In the campaign, she’s been making charges that don’t stick, complaining, for instance, that Mr. Fisher “quit” his job as economic development director for reasons having to do with campaign contributions. Not true.
These sorts of attacks are fairly common for someone who’s running behind in the polls and who’s short on money. But they’re not confidence-inducing.
Philosophically, Secretary Brunner, at a certain point, seemed to be trying to get to Lt. Gov. Fisher’s left, highlighting her support for gay marriage, for example. But in a meeting with the Dayton Daily News editorial board, both candidates played down their issue differences.
(Both support the recently enacted health care law. Both would have liked it better with a “public option” — an insurance plan offered by the government. And she would like to consider extending Medicare to everyone.)
Secretary Brunner might be a more interesting senator. But she also could tick off a lot of people in ways that would undercut her effectiveness. She hasn’t served in a legislative body or in an executive office that needs to get legislation through a legislative body.
Which of the two would be the stronger candidate is not clear: the smoother, more credentialed one (to run against the smooth, well-credentialed Republican, Rob Portman), or the rough-edged upstart in what might be a good year for upstarts. What’s clear is that Lee Fisher is more ready for prime time.
(Letters the candidates submitted in their support are here.)
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: 2010 endorsements, Editorials, Martin Gottlieb, Ohio politics
Comments
By null
April 19, 2010 3:46 PM | Link to this
Fisher is a first class hack. Never had a real job, always living off the public. Brunner is an Acorn minion. ,
By Bobba Lou
April 19, 2010 3:56 PM | Link to this
What credentials? A professional politician who has never had a real job, always lived off the public coffers. The so called jobs czar for Strickland who lead the state to double digit unemployment. I think McHat has better credentials.
By sam
April 19, 2010 11:14 PM | Link to this
What is the Big Stuff. Is this your best command on the English language? What a waste. DDN you are a bunch of morons writing for the morons. Shame Ellen Shame Ellen
By sam
April 19, 2010 11:15 PM | Link to this
What is the Big Stuff. Is this your best command on the English language? What a waste. DDN you are a bunch of morons writing for the morons. Shame Ellen Shame Ellen
By Grego
April 20, 2010 5:56 PM | Link to this
Fisher as recent Ohio Dept. of Development chose to retaliate against a state whistleblower. At a time when Congress is trying to pass whistleblower protection restoration legislation, we cannot afford to elect a Senator who doesn’t believe in protecting our nationals truthtellers. See DDN’s article http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/whistle-blower-still-owes-34k-after-refusing-to-pay-for-5-years-state-insists-465463.html?showComments=true
By Grego
April 20, 2010 5:59 PM | Link to this
Fisher as recent Ohio Dept. of Development chose to retaliate against a state whistleblower. At a time when Congress is trying to pass whistleblower protection restoration legislation, we cannot afford to elect a Senator who doesn’t believe in protecting our nationals truthtellers. See DDN’s 12-26-09 article, “Whistle-blower still owes $34K after refusing to pay for 5 years”.
By Grego
April 20, 2010 5:59 PM | Link to this
Fisher as recent Ohio Dept. of Development chose to retaliate against a state whistleblower. At a time when Congress is trying to pass whistleblower protection restoration legislation, we cannot afford to elect a Senator who doesn’t believe in protecting our nation’s truthtellers. See DDN’s 12-26-09 article, “Whistle-blower still owes $34K after refusing to pay for 5 years”.
By Ogerg
April 26, 2010 12:05 AM | Link to this
Grego: get your facts straight==read the inspector Generals report. If you are our “nation’s truthtellers” we are really in trouble. Why don;t you publish Portman - Bush’s record on Whistle-blowers—it the same as their weapons of mass destruction that led to their war of choice and the beginning of the deficit we are now sattled with and the senseless loss of our precious young people in battles we never had the proper armor or protection. A Veteran