One of the biggest questions when it comes to state politics in the age of Donald Trump (and, ideally, in every age) is: How do progressives not only win states but also keep them? How do we win the trust of the voter base? What about a demographic that Trump won? How do we appeal to people who suddenly seem very far to the other side of the political aisle? Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio who has served three terms, has some succinct advice for anyone who is worried about whether or not a certain voter demographics will go blue.
“I did it by talking to workers of all stripes,” he told Daily Kos at Netroots Nation, the country’s largest conference for progressives, this past summer. “Whether you punch a clock or swipe a badge, whether you work for tips or work for a salary, whether you're raising kids … talk to workers about workplace safety, about wages, about retirement, about childcare.”
Why? According to Brown, these topics are the issues families care about. He noted that people “will vote for progressives if you have a progressive message.”
In Ohio specifically, Brown asserts that he won without “compromising on gun safety or choice or marriage equality or civil rights,” and credits his success to his focus on those topics. Workers' rights, family issues, and retirement are all things that most people worry about, so, for Brown, it comes down to meeting people where they are and focusing on what unifies voters.
To hear more from Sen. Brown on voters, net neutrality, and breaking up Big Tech, check out our Making Progress video interview and transcript below.
Question 1: How can we push forward with more ambitious net neutrality consumer protections?
SB: Well, first thing to do is elect a new president of the United States. He is in the pocket of the big tech companies. The Republican Party has clearly sold out consumers on a whole bunch of levels. And that's the first thing. Then we dog the new president to make sure the right people are put on the FCC. And we, at the same time as we elect a new president, we elect new members of Congress that actually understand what net neutrality is, and that people should have access to the internet.
Question 2: You've called for breaking up the tech giant companies. How would you go about doing so in a way that allows American tech companies to remain competitive on a global scale?
SB: Let's never buy into the myth that breaking up the big guys, whether it's Wall Street or whether it's the tech companies, that that makes them less efficient. What we've seen with Wall Street, the bigger they are, the less efficient. The more they disrupt the marketplace, the more they cheat consumers, so breaking up the tech companies will simply make them more competitive, will make them more agile, will serve the public better, will serve consumers better, will make the country more prosperous.
Question 3: Speaking directly from your experience, how do Democrats get Ohio back and keep it?
Ohio responded and after candidate Trump won Ohio by almost double digits, I won Ohio two years later by seven points. I did it without selling, without compromising on gun safety or choice or marriage equality or civil rights or worker rights. I did it by talking to workers of all stripes, whether you punch a clock or swipe a badge, whether you work for tips or work for a salary, whether you're raising kids, you talk to workers about workplace safety, about wages, about retirement, about child care. All the things that families care about. They'll vote for somebody that's … They'll vote for progressives if you have a progressive message about work.
SB: What advice would you give to your teenage self?
I guess I start with this: My first election, many years ago, I was not quite a teenager, I was 21, and my brother essentially dropped out of school to run my race. And after election night when I won—we won—because he played such a big role, he and a lot of young volunteers and volunteers my parents' age, my brother said to me, "I'm done, I dropped out of school for this, I'm going back to school, I'm not going to help you in two years, you've got it, you're on your own.” He said, "If you lose, I'll kick your ass." And then he stopped and he said, "But if you win by more than 20 points, I'll kick your ass because it means you weren't standing up to the interests groups." I learned my lesson from my big brother.
Want to check out more hits from Making Progress? Don’t skip our interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren on how she imagines a future with her as president, and be sure to get tips on how to be a better ally to Native American communities from an expert.