Sherrod Brown: Middle-Class Message Man

By John Ryan

Campaign Manager, Sherrod Brown for the U.S. Senate

While the nation concentrates on the political wave that extended across the country, it is easy to overlook the turning colors of Ohio.

As the campaign manager of the Sherrod Brown campaign for the U.S. Senate and a lifelong Buckeye, I have a unique perspective of how Sherrod won what the Columbus Dispatch called "a nationally watched Senate race" with a 12-point spread.

This paper focuses on the message. An entirely separate paper could be written on the magnificent 88-county field operation. Our Field Director, John Hagner, assembled a small but mighty staff that harnessed the energy of committed volunteers.

Historical Viewpoint

The last time an incumbent Ohio Senator was booted from office was 1976. Howard Metzenbaum had a well-oiled machine to propel him forward and a national scandal called Watergate to help push Senator Bob Taft out of office. It was a grudge match from a well-known name against another familiar name. Even with a well know name, a seasoned Ohio politician, a fundraising machine and a major scandal, the Democrat only managed a 3 point spread. This makes Sherrod Brown's victory all the more significant.

Middle Class Message Worked

"They work hard, love their country and play by the rules..." Sherrod said in his introductory television ad announcing his strong middle class message. He then talked about how job-killing trade pacts hurt workers and promised that he would look at how such treaties would affect Ohioans. It was a simple but effective television ad.

As soon as it played, we heard how well it was received from everywhere in the state - major cities, southern Ohio towns and everywhere in between. It's no surprise that the economy, cost of higher education and health care (all middle class issues) topped our internal polls as well as a poll on Ohio published in the New York Times shortly before the election.

Our internal polls, conducted by the Feldman Group, also proved that Ohioans were more concerned about the economy and having a government willing to stand up for citizens than the social issues that dominated previous Ohio elections.

For example, 11% of Ohioans were less likely to vote for Sherrod Brown than Mike DeWine due to Brown's support for allowing states to recognize same-sex marriages. But Brown gained 51 points for his support of minimum wage increases.

When given the following two statements in our internal polling, Brown had a 29-point advantage: "Brown has the support of most labor unions and the AFL-CIO; DeWine has the support of the insurance industry, oil company executives, and drug companies."

Earlier in the campaign, we were unsure how the trade message would work in the Columbus market. Unlike other major Ohio cities and smaller towns, Columbus has a vibrant economy thanks to higher education and state government. When we tested the trade ads in Columbus, they worked well. Voters got it.

Sherrod stuck to his message - one that complemented his voting record, past involvement and passion. As an author of a book on trade, Myths of Free Trade (proceeds going to nonprofits), Sherrod Brown cares deeply about how free trade pacts have affected working people. He traveled around the state talking about how trade impacted Ohio when the playing field is not balanced.

Sherrod Brown's television and radio ads mirrored what he said on the campaign trail. Sherrod held more than 40 press conferences in 2006 before the start of the summer. He contrasted his record with that of Mike DeWine's. Sherrod centered on fixing trade pacts that hurt our state, filling the void (donut hole) of Medicare Part B, making higher education affordable and middle class tax cuts.

The middle class message worked. Sherrod Brown was 11 points down in a Cleveland Plain Dealer poll in late April and six points up in the same poll the Sunday before Election Day (He won by double The Plain Dealer projection!) More significantly, our internal polls showed a 19-point lead on the question of who best represented the middle class. 23% more people thought that Mike DeWine listened to special interests instead of ordinary people.

Middle Class Ohio

Sherrod Brown's message to 'put the middle class first' resonated throughout Ohio. His win margin was far wider than most elections throughout the nation and especially unique for Ohio; three of the four Democrats in targeted Ohio Congressional races ended in defeat or in contested, close elections. Brown carried 45 of Ohio's 88 counties, 30 more counties than Senator John Kerry won two years ago. In addition, Sherrod Brown came within one percent of DeWine in five counties, including landing 49.2% of the vote in conservative Hamilton County that includes Cincinnati. Another four counties were within 2% and in three more, Brown was within three percent of DeWine.

Votes for Sherrod Brown exceeded registered Democrats by 5,000-10,000 votes in six counties, 10,000 to 20,000 in five other counties and over 20,000 in three Southern Ohio counties where Brown was not supposed to do well.

Reviewing the win county by county, it is clear that we did not run up the numbers in our heavily Democratic areas to produce the 12-point spread.

Consider these numbers in the counties with the largest cities, areas historically the heaviest Democratic:

County	City	Brown %	Kerry %	Differential
Cuyahoga	Cleveland	70.50%	66.90%	3.60%
Franklin	Columbus	58.00%	54.60%	3.40%
Mahoning	Youngstown	73.40%	63.00%	10.40%
Montgomery	Dayton	53.00%	50.80%	2.20%
Summit	Akron	63.50%	56.90%	6.50%

The average percentage improvement of the vote of the top five Democratic turnout counties is 5.22% over John Kerry's margin.

Or look at the areas where John Kerry had the largest percentage wins:

County	Brown %	Kerry %	Differential
Cuyahoga	70.50%	66.90%	3.60%
Athens	70.40%	63.70%	6.70%
Mahoning	73.40%	63.00%	10.40%
Trumbull	73.00%	61.90%	11.10%
Lucas	66.40%	60.40%	6.10%

The average percent improvement of the vote for Sherrod Brown versus John Kerry in the top Kerry counties is 7.58%.

Looking at the strongest Bush counties, one can see that Sherrod Brown's middle class message worked throughout Ohio:

County	Total Vote	Brown %	Kerry %	Differential
Warren	58,724	36.50%	27.70%	8.80%
Auglaize	16.353	40.30%	25.80%	14.50%
Mercer	14,965	34.90%	24.60%	10.20%
Holmes	7,971	34.90%	24.20%	10.70%
Putnam	14,026	39.50%	23.40%	16.10%

The average percentage improvement of the vote of the top five Republican yields is 12.06%, considerably higher than in Democratic areas or in areas where John Kerry's yields were the strongest.

Of the 30 counties that flipped Democratic in the Senate race versus the outcome of the last presidential race, some counties barely moved into the 'blue' category while others were solidly Sherrod Brown counties. Our partnership with Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland and his relationship with people in his old and new district made a significant difference in our improvement. Those counties where Sherrod Brown barely made it over the 50% mark include the following five that were the lowest percentages for Brown:

County	Total Vote	Brown %	Kerry %	Differential
Meigs	7,640	51.20%	41.40%	9.80%
Marion	21109	51.20%	41.00%	10.20%
Washington	22369	51.00%	41.70%	9.30%
Noble	5,124	50.60%	40.90%	9.70%
Geauga	38,764	50.30%	39.50%	10.80%

There were also many counties that had previously been strong Republican counties that moved decisively to Sherrod Brown's win column. Below are the five top Brown counties that had voted for Bush in the last election:

County	Total Vote	Brown %	Kerry %	Differential
Scioto	25,466	60.50%	48.00%	12.50%
Pike	9,500	60.40%	47.90%	12.60%
Ottawa	17,237	60.20%	47.90%	12.20%
Columbiana	36,035	59.20%	47.60%	11.50%
Perry	10,894	59.10%	48.00%	11.10%

It's not surprising that Sherrod did so well in rural areas of Ohio. In a July 5-12, 2006 poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, "jobs and economy" was the most important issue of rural voters with 28% citing it as one of the two most important issues. "Moral values" was number four in importance of Ohio rural voters behind "the war in Iraq" and "Medicare and Social Security."

Rural voters worry about rising gas prices and health care costs and felt Republicans would do nothing about it. While Sherrod Brown spoke about moving from our dependence of oil, DeWine made the top ten list of politicians receiving funds from big oil.

Our campaign spent considerable time in the rural areas. Sherrod participated in numerous 'road trips' that concentrated on rural communities including the Road to Change, the Independence from Special Interest July 4th weekend tour, Turn Around Ohio tour with Ted Strickland and other statewide candidates, and our final get-out-the-vote multi-town stops.

Sherrod Brown's wife, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Connie Schultz, also engaged in an aggressive schedule of Hometown Tours in smaller towns throughout the state while Congress was in session and Sherrod was in Washington DC. Each Hometown Tour would include a visit with activists in the area, a major event, and interviews with media. Radio ads promoted Connie's visit and included Sherrod's middle class message.

Sherrod's family also pitched in the effort. His mother, Emily Brown, seemed to speak to every voter in his hometown of Mansfield and the surrounding area. His daughter Liz camped out in five rural counties all summer surrogating for her Dad as if he was running for County Commissioner. For months Sherrod's daughter Emily volunteered as a key organizer during the day for the coordinated campaign and campaigned in rural Northwestern Ohio at night. His brothers Charlie and Bob spoke on his behalf throughout the campaign.

During all of these activities, the message was clear - Sherrod would continue his fight for the middle class as a Senator. Whether it was Sherrod, Connie or another family member, there was a focus on how change in Senators would best help the middle class and those who wanted to be in the middle class. The press operation put emphasis on getting Sherrod interviewed by the media, including smaller outlets.

These grassroots events were supplemented with regular morning radio interviews that took place throughout the campaign. Sherrod woke up early and conducted interviews nearly every day. Our candidate stayed on message.

Outspent on Television

In addition to incumbency and name recognition, DeWine had a money advantage that was very noticeable on television. DeWine started the campaign with nearly double the $2 million Sherrod Brown transferred over from his Congressional campaign ($3,659,013). The Brown campaign had a slow start in raising money. But the combination of the national fundraiser, Kim Kauffman, and Ohio Director, Kimberly Wood and later Finance Director Michael O'Neal, ended up raising over a quarter a million more than DeWine in the third quarter.

In addition to the ads DeWine ran immediately before the primary, DeWine's ads started the week of August 28^th with his campaign, the NRSC and Chamber of Commerce all going up for him. Airwaves were dark for Sherrod Brown.

According to an internal Brown document, our campaign was short nearly $3.7 million in television spending after the primary election through September.

What was remarkable, it was during this time that polls showed Sherrod Brown building a considerable lead. Our internal poll showed them head-to-head at Brown 43 to DeWine's 39 in early August. In our 601 voter poll the second week of October, the head to head moved to 53% for Brown versus 38% for DeWine. As our election results proved, the numbers continued to move up as Independent voters were cutting our way.

Despite the Chamber's $434,000, the PFA's more than two million dollars, the RNC's three million and the NRSC's nearly three million dollars, the Brown campaign, aided by a generous (but outspent) DSCC, put enough of a dent in the DeWine's campaign that the GOP cut and ran from Ohio, although they refused to admit it until the bitter end.

Messaging through Attacks

DeWine's money advantage combined with his attack ads made it difficult to get Brown's middle class message out on television. DeWine had more than a five million dollar advantage between his campaign and the Republican national organizations compared to Brown and the generous DSCC. The DeWine advantage was even greater when the Chamber of Commerce ads, Right-to-Life ads and 527's were added to the equation.

Throughout the campaign, the DeWine campaign and his national Republican independent expenditures ran the same message at the same time - on taxes, homeland security and slime issues. It meant we had a two-track attack against us. This made it difficult to get to Sherrod Brown's middle class message. We took every opportunity and took some risks - ones that paid off.

When attacked on various issues, including late slime, we quickly responded, pivoted and returned to our theme on the middle class. In one radio script, the voice over said: "The Cleveland Plain Dealer said Mike DeWine's latest attack quote "smacks of desperation." The Columbus Dispatch said DeWine's attack on taxes "doesn't even come close to raising a legitimate issue." The Toledo Blade said his attack was, simply, "incorrect." Is it any wonder that more and more Ohioans are saying it's time for a new direction - for a senator who puts the middle class first?" In his distinct voice, Sherrod then spoke how Washington has "turned it's back on the middle class."

Sherrod also used the legal disclosure on the television ads to remind voters that he was the one who would stand up for the middle class. He repeatedly said, "I'm Sherrod Brown - I approve this message. In the Senate, I'll put the middle-class first."

Throughout the campaign, the television ads for Sherrod Brown's campaign were stronger. Our agency, Doak, Carrier, O'Donnell, Wilkinson, Goldman and Associates, were graded "a solid A" by Brent Larkin, editor of The Plain Dealer editorial page. Larkin said that a "C+" would be a generous mark for DeWine's ads.

In the closing days, our campaign ran joint radio ads with Ted Strickland in Strickland's old and new Congressional District. Ted stood up for his long-time friend while Sherrod spoke about standing strong for the middle class. Sherrod later ran radio ads in smaller industrial towns mentioning issues that were personalized to those areas. In those radio ads, he promised to work to increase the minimum wage, make Ohio the "Silicon Valley of renewable energy," stand up to drug companies and protect American jobs.

Even when attacked at the end, instead of going with the conventional wisdom of returning with equal television coverage, we went with a 50-50 message - 50% response and 50% a positive, "Before I ask for your vote, I owe it to you to tell you where I stand..." message on issues. In that last ad, Sherrod Brown said he was "for an increase in the minimum wage and against trade agreements that cost Ohio jobs. I support stem cell research, tighter boarders, and a balanced budget amendment."

As voters understood the difference between these two candidates and polls were showing the overwhelming support we realized on Election Day, our fundraising surprised DeWine's. We raised $250,000 more than the DeWine campaign the third quarter. Shortly after, the national Republicans and other independent groups deserted DeWine and the money advantage disappeared.

Punching Back on Homeland Security Worked

From the start, Sherrod Brown promised that the Republicans would not own patriotism, faith or security. Sherrod promised that when they hit us, we would hit back - quickly and harder. Sherrod delivered on his promise.

Sherrod took the offense. He went on a tour of Ohio highlighting legislation that would include homeland security in all trade pacts. The 'port security' tour included cities that lacked the water for a port. Sherrod pointed out that when cargo goes unchecked, the highway system and train transportation would incur the same risks as ports. He spoke about how America did not check enough cargo coming into this country and challenged leasing our ports to a foreign country that had been connected with terrorism. DeWine parroted the Bush Administration on the scheme.

Mike DeWine's first attack on Sherrod Brown was on homeland security. The ad hit on a Friday morning, making it nearly impossible to put out a response before the weekend. Using selective votes, DeWine's camp was trying to pound a message home: Sherrod Brown had a "pre-911" view of the world. It ended with the tag line, "Out of touch with Ohio's values," an indication of a theme they tried unsuccessfully later.

Working with the DSCC when such coordination was still legal, we prepared a response showing that Sherrod Brown had an impressive record on homeland security and that DeWine did not have a record that made America safer.

By the time our ad ran, an expert realized that the DeWine campaign doctored the images of the Twin Towers. The editorial pages that later endorsed Mike DeWine piled on him and within a couple of days he changed the ad. But his image was also changed from being 'Nice Mike' to a candidate who was willing to doctor images of a sacred icon. While federal law required him to "approve this ad," he refused to take responsibility for the fake image.

When the DeWine campaign again attacked Sherrod's willingness to protect America, our campaign came back with Jan Keller, the mother of a soldier who had written to Senator DeWine voicing her concern about the lack of body amour. She said that while DeWine responded with a form letter, Sherrod met with her and other parents of those serving our country and fought to get their kids the needed body amour. She closed with, "We need a Senator who cares."

While the DeWine campaign came back with their own military families, the fight was over. People did not believe that Sherrod Brown did not want to keep America safe.

Our campaign also went after what DeWine billed as his homeland security credentials - membership on the Senate Intelligence Committee. After hearing him speak repeatedly about how he was on the Intelligence Committee, our research team pulled his attendance at public meetings. We were surprised that he missed nearly half of the meetings, especially since his Senate voting record was strong. We put his record out on a response ad, used it effectively in earned media and on a powerful Internet ad that we later put on television. DeWine's offensive tool turned out to be something that put him on the defense.

We took a two-to-one advantage and placed the difference on keeping America safe to a three-point difference according to our internal tracking polls.

The October 29, 2006 New York Times reported that Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director J. B. Poersch said, "Our other candidates saw Brown's success and they began to feel confident they could survive Republican national-security attacks."

The Face of the Candidate

In addition to the middle class message, our campaign also had a candidate who looked good talking to camera. People on the street along with focus groups behind the glass told us that repeatedly. The DeWine camp must not have been listening to voters. The opposition campaign put their candidate to camera - on his front porch, in his living room and then in his kitchen. The earlier disadvantage that Mike DeWine was not known by Ohio's voters despite being in the Senate for 12 years and earlier service as Lt. Governor turned into our advantage. Ohioans did not like Mike DeWine when they started to realize who they had previously selected in "yawn" elections.

Every chance we got, we put Sherrod on camera. He spoke about job-killing trade pacts, how to strengthen our middle class, the difference between him and DeWine on supporting education. This was important because as late as the week before the primary, 23% of Ohioans were unfamiliar with Sherrod Brown while 22% never heard of him; only seven percent of Ohioans were unfamiliar with DeWine and only three percent said they never heard of him according to our internal poll.

Concerned that the opposition would define us before we could define ourselves, the DSCC filmed one of our rallies and provided a brief bio piece that included Sherrod speaking to camera. The DSCC raised the point that Sherrod always kept private: that, like his friend and Ohio's future Governor Ted Strickland, Sherrod refused the government sponsored health care until all Americans were covered. The DSCC television ad ended with "Change is coming." Ohioans loved it. They were dying for change!

To move the final undecided voters our way, the DSCC later ran a commercial featuring former Senator and All-American hero John Glenn speaking about his friend Sherrod Brown. The television ad featured Sherrod speaking on the stump. The warm spot did the trick. It closed the deal.

The week before Election Day, we ran a television ad with Sherrod speaking to camera saying what he would do as Ohio's junior Senator.

Can't Even Get Slime Right

Whether in person or on television, Mike DeWine could not even get his slime down right. Repeatedly he had to retract what he had said, change ads and even see ads promoting his slime taken off the air by television stations across the state.

Seeing his poll numbers continue to drop and the national Republican money pulled from the state, DeWine and the RNC ran ads that hit on the same attack - a 14-year-old $1,800 unemployment tax that went unpaid for about a year because the committee had changed their name (Brown for Congress to Friends of Sherrod Brown) and address (from one volunteer to another). Once it was brought to the attention of the committee, it was paid. The ads, that by law could not be coordinated, both used the same misstated 'facts.' Over $2 million was used to expose the $1,800 bill that had been paid a decade earlier.

Television stations in every media market refused to run the ads, something that rarely happens. Newspapers that endorsed DeWine also chastised him for the cheap shot. But it didn't stop DeWine from continuing his slime campaign.

DeWine came on with a new television ad campaign pushing new 20-year old allegations that an employee in the Ohio Secretary of State office might have sold drugs while Sherrod Brown was head of the office. Unfortunately for DeWine, they were proven wrong over a decade ago. Brown was the person who went to authorities, fired one employee and forced another one out, although the police authorities never even filed charges. Newspapers again voiced their concern that DeWine looked desperate using such tactics.

At the third of fourth debates, DeWine mentioned the allegation but did such a poor job, few got it. The newspapers that mentioned it, chastised him for raising the old, unproven allegations. In the last debate DeWine again raised the allegations that were in his ads to boos at the Cleveland City Club.

The last Friday before the election, DeWine put forward a new ad on television. It featured an undercover agent who was involved 20 years earlier. As it turns out the undercover agent was going through a divorce at the time and later married her boss. It also turns out that her current husband is a Republican political operative whose company was politically connected to DeWine.

Our campaign had a response ad on by the end of the day. This was a marked improvement in response time from the start of the campaign when it took us the entire weekend to respond. We decided to show the response ad only half time, allowing us to still have a positive close.

David Cohen, Fellow at the University of Akron Bliss University of Applied Politics, was reported in the November 8, 2006 Akron Beacon Journal saying: "The war room mentality of Brown's campaign -- responding quickly to any DeWine charge -- was an enormous change from Democratic campaigns in the past, most recently John Kerry's failed presidential bid.''

Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts

Sherrod Brown's campaign's field staff outperformed their resumes. Throughout the campaign, they were able to support an active candidate with an 88-county strategy and his wife, Connie Schultz, with her popular 'Small Town Tours.' Under the leadership of John Hagner, the field staff folded into a coordinated get-out-the-vote campaign this state has not seen in the last two decades.

On the other side, the DeWine's campaign's field operation was nearly nonexistent throughout the campaign. While the Republicans were saying they would continue to provide field operations to the DeWine campaign, they moved 100 staffers of their '72 hour' program to another time zone - Nevada.

Brown's Footprint on '08

In the press conference the morning after Election Day, reporters asked Sherrod Brown if he was interested in being a running-mate for president ( "zero interest" Brown quickly responded). The reporters had missed the real connection of Brown's win to White House politics. Sherrod Brown's margin of victory - and his strong message on protecting the middle class - will change how those seeking the presidency will speak to voters.

In an October 12, 2006 column entitled "2008: The Prequel," David Brooks points to Sherrod Brown's "coherent approach to globalization and stagnant wages." Brooks labeled DeWine as "one of the toughest and most widely respected Senators" and closes by saying that "If Brown wins this year, he'll be the model for Democrats nationally."

As a lifetime Buckeye, I know what sells in Ohio. Even The Plain Dealer said, "He [Sherrod Brown] has run a campaign that resonates almost perfectly with Ohio's political climate, a campaign whose overall tone is frustration, anger and yearning for change..."

Unlike most candidates, Sherrod Brown had a bottom-up message. He best explained it in the Toledo debate. When DeWine answered a reporter by saying this was not an election about President Bush but about Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown, Sherrod retorted that it was an election about the people of Ohio, not the two of them. Sherrod got it that voters wanted solutions, not any specific candidate.

Sherrod often said he was "running for Howard Metzenbaum's seat, temporarily held by Mike DeWine." Ironically, no one seeking office had a labor message that complemented the AFL-CIO and Change-to-Win's massive membership educational effort. Sherrod's earned media, stump speeches, television and radio advertising all sent a clear message of what his campaign was about - building and maintaining a strong middle class.

Exit polls reported by the Associated Press back up the claims of The Plain Dealer.

After nearly two decades of neglect of the middle class and higher education slipping away from affordability of the middle class, Ohioans want public officials who make sure government stands up for them.

Reuters reported on November 8, 2006 (Democrat win may shift focus to U.S. middle class), "analysts believe the high-profile victory of a class warrior like Brown has set the stage for an economy-focused presidential election in 2008."

Finally, The Washington Post Senate Line for October 17, 2006 said: "Brown's people versus the powerful" rhetoric...appears to be striking a chord. Candidates weighing a run in 2008 should take note."

The combination of a strong victory in Ohio and fair elections in the future with Jennifer Brunner as Secretary-of-State, provide a renewed energy for 2008.

Closing Thoughts

I've known Sherrod for over two decades and got to know him fairly well the last half dozen years. When I had the rare opportunity to introduce him, I always told the story about how Sherrod reacted when a bus did not arrive to take mostly seniors to Canada to purchase less expensive drugs. While I was concerned about the negative media of the absent bus, Sherrod was counting seats in my car then adding how many people he could take with him on the unexpected car caravan to Canada. (As it turned out, the Greyhound manager brought on another bus driver and exchanged buses due to Sherrod's caring, personable nature and ability to connect with a working person.)

The experience told me that Sherrod is indeed a different kind of politician. He truly cares.

During this campaign, I saw that side of Sherrod repeatedly. Early on, he made principled decisions that ran counter to what would further advance our points on the board. He encouraged young staffers and asked me repeatedly what people wanted to do later or showed concern for our hectic schedule. The one fight we had in the campaign was when he ordered me not to attend an event three hours from my house since I had been away from my family too much by his calculation.

Sherrod was also good at working in a collaborative manner. This helped to create a multi-tiered approach of earned media directed by Joanna Kuebler, our Internet communications, coordinated by Phil de Vellis and our paid advertising. In debate preparation, Sherrod was more open to suggestions than most candidates; Tom O'Donnell and former Congressman Dennis Eckart, especially helped us sharpen our middle class message.

Sherrod's words, his past actions and his actions during this hard-fought campaign all point to a strong future for those who care about maintaining a strong middle class in our great country.