WASHINGTON, D.C. — When U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown kicked off his "Dignity of Work" tour January 30 in Cuyahoga County it was seen as a soft launch of what many thought would be a run for the Democratic presidential nomination with stops in Iowa and early primary states like New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina that coincided with the dates of next year's contests. All of which it seemed to set the stage in his home state of Ohio sometime around March 10 which is the date of the state's presidential primary next year.
But instead of an announcement in front of hundreds in his hometown that he was running, Brown said Thursday he was taking a pass.
"I was shocked, really surprised he had talked about sometime this month he was going to announce, I thought he was going to announce," said News 5 Political Analyst Dr. Tom Sutton of Baldwin Wallace University. "It's a crowded field, we already have 14 candidates who have announced but I thought with Senator Brown he's got a lane, he's a Midwesterner, he's got lots of experience in the Senate and before that in Congress and he was one of only two Midwesterners running."
So what held Brown back? He told News 5 it had not been his life long ambition to run for president and he set off on the tour to shine a light on an issue that wasn't being addressed.
"We set off on our 'Dignity of Work' listening tour with the intent in large part to change the conversation, to get politicians, other Democrats to talk about the Dignity of Work," Brown said. "Mission accomplished we're seeing not just elected officials talking about it, we're seeing more and more voters demand more respect, higher wages, better benefits."
"I'll talk to the other candidates that this is more than just a message the dignity of work, it's more than a slogan, it's who I am and what I fight for," he said.
Brown is in no hurry to endorse any of the other Democratic hopefuls but he stressed that he will be in all of their ears. "And I'll make a prediction come January 20, 2021 whoever raises his or her right hand they will be talking in this inaugural speech at least for three or four paragraphs about the dignity of work count on that!"
So would Brown, who was one of the deeply vetted candidates to be Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016, be interested in being on that podium as a running mate in 2020?
"No, I don't aspire to that. I love the Senate," he said.
Sutton said he could certainly see Brown filling that role depending on if the eventual Democratic nominee is a Midwestern senator reelected from a state Donald Trump won.
"On the other hand there's also the possibility that if Democrats can retake the Senate he will be in a senior leadership position in the Senate and he may be looking at that as what he wants as his role going forward," Sutton said.
