Group seeks to draft Brown for 2020 run
TwokeyOhio WASHINGTON— Democrats have launched a committee aimed at “drafting” Sen. Sherrod Brown to run for president in 2020.
The Committee to Draft Sherrod Brown for President 2020 — led by Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and Cleveland attorney Michael Wager — aims to advocate for Brown’s candidacy and talk about Brown’s key message backing the “dignity of work.”
Brown last month confirmed he’s considering challenging President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020. Trump won the state by eight points in 2016. Brown won a third term to the Senate by six points, winning seven counties that backed Trump in 2016.
“Sherrod developed and executed a blueprint for how Democrats can win back voters who believed that Republicans would address the real problems affecting American families. Sherrod’s message of optimism and belief in the exceptionalism of American workers paves the way to get a real champion for working people in the White House,” Wager said in a release announcing the formation of the committee.
Whaley, meanwhile, called Brown“atirelessandunapol- ogetic champion for anyone who feels left behind and unheard.”
Wager and Whaley will co-chair The Committee to Draft Sherrod Brown for President 2020. The committee plans to organize community events and do digital organizing across the country, including the early Democratic Party caucus and primary states, according to their release. Their website is at 2020sherrod.com.
Brown will have some work to do getting his name out to a national audience.
An Iowa poll out this week by CNN and the Des Moines Register shows Brown toward the bottom in a field of potential Democratic candidates.
Former Vice President Joe Biden (32 percent), Sen. Bernie Sanders (19 percent) and Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke (11 percent) are at the top of the poll.
Brown scored 1 percent in the poll.