Sherrod Brown has slipped up

So, I’m happily going through my blog roll today and I found something really interesting at The News Blog_[1]. It seems that Sherrod Brown has admitted to asking Hackett’s supporters to stop giving him money. I follwed Steve’s link to get to Len’s post at Blogesque. You’ll have to go read the entire post to get all the juicy details_[2], but here’s something that really got my blood boiling.

Brown said that Hackett’s main fundraising sources were ‘New York gays and Hollywood elites’ (I think that was the phrase), and that “of course” his campaign contacted these groups and tried to convince them to give money to him rather than Hackett. A later question addressed whether he would be willing to sit down with Hackett and try to work out some kind of rapprochement; Brown paused for a moment, but to his credit he did voice his willingness.

Well shit on my toothbrush and tell me to smile! I was willing to believe that Brown’s camp really didn’t call Hackett’s supporters and ask them to abandon them. I really wanted to put my faith in this guy. But this just pisses me off. Where does this guy get off stabbing one of his own in the back like that? I know politics is politics and all that, but if he’s going to do it to Hackett then he’s very likely to do it to us. And for the record, Tuscarawas County Ohio is about as far from Hollywood and New York _[3]as you can get, and I’m not gay. That certainly tells me something about Brown. Hmmph!

I’m thinking I’d rather have SpongeBob as my senator now. Maybe I’ll write that in.

UPDATE:Clarification from Len

I want this to be clear, because my description seems to have been interpreted as Sherrod Brown’s having said something malicious or callous when that wasn’t really the case.

Yes, the phrases “New York gays” and “Hollywood elites” were indeed spoken by Brown in reference to major out-of-state donation sources for Paul Hackett. They were contained within the same thought, in response to the same question about Reid, Schumer and the DSCC. However, they may not necessarily have been uttered in the same breath:

â€¦I was relying on the recorder rather than on taking notes. Since I’m posting from memory only, I won’t be able to post any direct quotesâ€¦

and

(I think that was the phrase)

I had thought I made it clear right up front that I was going from memory, and this is why I wanted to record the damn thing in the first place. You see, he did indeed say those things, but he may have said “New York gays” in sentence 1 of his answer and “Hollywood elites” in sentence 2. Having them strung together inside one set of single quotes was apparently a lousy way to write it out, and I’m going to edit that for clarity.

As a gay man, I also want to reiterate that Brown’s remarks absolutely did not come across as derogatory in any way. It was more along the lines of ‘those groups should be on my side, because I’ve been on their side longer than Hackett has.’ Oh, and that isn’t a quote either, although it does convey Brown’s meaning and intent.

I don’t need to make shit up to bash politicians with; they provide more than enough material on their own. My admittedly poor use of punctuation and any resulting miscommunication can be laid at my feet, not Brown’s. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Ok, so Brown did actually mention Hollywood elites and New York gays, but not really together and not in a bad way. Phew! That certainly makes me feel better. I mean, Brown doesn’t care if you’re a Hollywood elite or New York gay, as long as you send him money. I mean, if you’re from Hollywood or New York you can’t vote for him anyway, but since you were sending money Hackett’s way then why not send some his? Yeah, that’s so much better. Come on now, if you want their money just ask for it. Afterall, we don’t care which Democrat we have in office as long as it’s some Democrat. Who really gives a fuck if he’s ethical, honorable, or trustworthy? We just want a flippin’ Dem in the seat! Give him money!

That doesn’t excuse his backstabbing. I don’t know about Hollywood or New York, but in my neck of the boon docks we admire loyalty and friendship. If we’re on the same team, we don’t trip the quarterback so we can pick up the fumble. That’s really the part that gets me. The man had plenty of money, so that really wasn’t what his little phone calls were all about. No, he wanted to plant bugs of dissent in the ears of Hackett’s supporters, hoping they would pull away from him and in turn he would pull away from the race. And, guess what, it worked. I wonder if he’s really got what it takes to take this ball over the goal line though. I don’t see it happening.

(BTW, Susan at Howard Empowered was at that same function and here are her comments)

_{[1]I seem to be stealing Steve’s stuff, but I honestly am concerned about this.}
_{[2]Len was at a Brown meetup in Dayton, OH and was going to record the entire thing. Unfortunately, Brown wanted it to be off the record.}
_{[3]I doubt anyone in Hollywood or New York could even find us on a map…lo}

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