A fighter and quick thinker

Sherrod Brown took on a room of disgruntled liberals tonight at pricey fundraiser that I attended as a guest of an organizer. He is a bright, capable, energetic leader and detailed the ways that Democrats are going to reverse the results of 2004 in Ohio this year. He's honest and a fighter, he's progressive and realizes that so are most people if you frame the argument in simple terms. My husband asked him how he responds to "cut and run" criticism and he said something like, "Republicans are asking us for a plan when all their mistaken 'plans' have led us to this, and they cut and run in Afghanistan!" I told him that I wish I could hear Democrats saying something like this to voters in regard to Iraq, "If you vote for a Democrat, any Democrat, any Democratic plan, we'll start moving in the right direction to get us out of Iraq; if you vote Republican we'll be staying the chaos." I asked him how he was going to take on the ever-present tool of Republicans, "We won't raise your taxes," B.S. He said that he won't raise taxes on the middle class (I know, it's such a crappy situation). As my dinner pal said to me, "How do people expect to cover $2 billion a week in spending without taxes? It's just a bill we keep building."

Good question. Bush and Dewine are walking around saying, "This expensive war will be continued indefinitely, and we'll make those wealthy tax cuts permanent!" Huh? Bombs and butter, bombs and butter, bombs and butter....

A lot of people were talking about Clinton on Meet the Press and on Fox Morning. Most were happy with what Clinton said, he's brilliant of course, and my husband and I were saying how Fox News' chattering ditto-heads [thanks, Vigilante] are trying to pull a "Howard Dean" on Clinton, trying to make him look like a lunatic because he got mad. If someone suggested I didn't do all I could when I did, I'd get mad, too--and heck, Bush looks like a raving mad man most of the time lately, any conservatives noticing that? Fox isn't showing any of the footage of Clinton's substantive responses to Wallace's question--they don't show how Clinton won the debate, of course. They certainly aren't questioning Bush or Cheney (the guys that still haven't caught bin Laden and who are in the position to do so) with the same question! Heck, I'd follow Clinton's people into Pakistan to catch bin Laden, I know my way around an AK-47, give us clearance King George (okay, maybe I wouldn't now, but I would have before I got married/kids, etc.).

Oh, I just have to add that a relative of mine the other day said, "Bush isn't a friend of the Saudi's!" What planet do these people live on? I didn't even try to argue with that, and I'd been arguing all night--it was just like a switch clicked on in my mind that said, "Don't bother." I hate that thought.

Peace.