Sherrod Brown Nixes 2020 Run To Keep Kicking Ass In Senate

Keep doing what you're doing, Sherrod!

Sen. Sherrod Brown announced today that he's not going to run for president, but will instead back whoever the 2020 Democratic nominee is, and keep fighting the good fight in the US Senate. On a conference call with Ohio reporters, Brown explained that's where he enjoys himself the most:

As you've heard me say many times, when you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. I fight best when I bring joy to the battle, [...] And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate. So that's where I can be most effective.

Fair enough! Brown sure had looked like he was gearing up for a presidential run, what with going on a high profile "Dignity of Work" listening tour of states that just happened to hold the first few presidential caucuses and primaries. As Cleveland.com notes, the crowded primary field and Brown's expensive 2018 reelection campaign may have put him at some disadvantage, although Brown insisted on the call those factors had nothing to do with his decision:

"It's not fear of any specific opponent. It wasn't process. It wasn't money," Brown said. "I wrestled with this since talking with my family about it at Christmas."

Brown also said it was a "nonfactor" that if he'd actually won the presidency, his Senate seat would be filled with an appointment by Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine, a Republican -- and honestly, we can kind of buy that, since that's a pretty high level of chicken-counting anyway.

Brown also said that at this point, he's not making any plans to endorse any of the candidates in the race, but would instead commit himself to getting Democrats elected, not just to the presidency but also with his Democratic colleagues' reelection to the Senate as well as winning seats for Dems from swing states like "Colorado and North Carolina and Georgia and Arizona." He also downplayed (for now, you have to figure!) any talk of being picked for the Veep slot in 2020:

I don't have any idea. I mean I'm not thinking about that [...] This is a discussion far away from that. It's just not a concern of mine now. I want to stay in the arena and fight and I don't aspire to be vice president. I don't think a presidential candidate would want to give up a Senate seat to choose me anyway.

Having said he remains committed to fighting the good fight in the Senate, Brown then proceeded to do just that, with a barn-burner of a speech in opposition to Donald Trump's judicial nominees, in particular, Eric Murphy, the former Ohio solicitor who pushed last year's ugly Supreme Court decision that ended up allowing Ohio to conduct "purge by postcard" cleansing of voter rolls -- regardless of how many brown people get disenfranchised. Hey, as long as the law didn't specifically SAY "we will do this to discriminate," the discriminatory outcome is irrelevant. Brown was pissed:

Republicans keep confirming far-right ideological judges who will "put their thumb on the scale of justice" and wil… https: //t.co/NDp6PZmh5p

— Jennifer Bendery (@Jennifer Bendery) 1551980301.0 

Here, enjoy Sherrod Brown on a rhetorical tear and getting joy from the fight:

As the Senate begins voting on the nomination of Eric Murphy, who defended one of the worst voter purge laws in the… https: //t.co/JcL2kHDgYY

— Alliance for Justice (@Alliance for Justice) 1551980788.0 

The Republican-majority Senate went ahead and confirmed Murphy on a 52-46 vote, of course, because we live in the worst timeline (there's passion, and then there's math).

Not that Sherrod Brown is about to stop fighting. He needs a lot more company in the Senate, and then we can look forward to some real pro-family, pro-worker legislation getting passed.

[ Cleveland.com / Columbus Dispatch ]

Yr Wonkette is supported by reader donations. Please send us money so we can keep bringing joy to the battle.