In his 13 years as an Ohio Congressman, Brown has fought for his beliefs""even when it meant bucking the political establishment in Washington. When DeWine was supporting Bush's call for war in Iraq, Brown was speaking out against it. Today, Brown supports a timeline for withdrawal""while DeWine insists on staying the course. Where DeWine has supported trade deal after trade deal, Brown fought anti-worker pacts from Clinton's NAFTA to Bush's CAFTA. And where DeWine has sided with big pharmaceutical companies and oil and gas corporations, Sherrod has fought for affordable, accessible medicine and health care and lower-cost, cleaner energy.
"On issue after issue, Senator DeWine has betrayed Ohio's families when they needed him most. My campaign will put Ohio families first," said Rep. Brown. "I am fighting for family values: putting food on the table, sending the kids to college, keeping the house warm this winter, and making sure our grandparents get the medicines they need. Mike DeWine, Bob Taft, and George W. Bush say that if you're not one of the privileged few, you're on your own. I say we're in this together."
Brown plans to run an aggressive, unabashedly progressive campaign, speaking to voters of both parties all across the state about the need for bold leadership in confronting the culture of corruption that plagues politics from Columbus to Washington. His record of principled, consistent, and independent public service offers a return to the tradition of John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum, and a rejection of the failed special-interest partisanship of the Republican status quo.
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Sherrod Brown Speech
United States Senate Tour
Campaign Kick-Off
December 2, 2005
Mansfield, Ohio
Let me tell you why I ran for office in this city 31 years ago.
And let me tell you why I still fight for the values that we all share.
Every day when I go to work, I wear on my lapel""not the congressional symbol that most of my colleagues wear""but this small pin which depicts a canary in a cage.
One hundred years ago American coal miners took a canary down into the mine with them. If the canary died, it meant the air in the mine was toxic, and the miners knew they had to get out""fast. In those days, there were no mine safety laws and no trade unions. Miners had to look out for themselves.
America has come a long way since those days. But it has been a battle""a 100-year battle for social and economic justice. That battle has been difficult. But it has produced a record of remarkable achievement, achievements which have steadily improved the lives of all of us.
An American born at the turn of the twentieth century could expect to live 47 years; today life expectancy is three decades longer.
Working men and women""through their unions, and through their churches""took on the most privileged of society and won victory after victory; for health care, for pensions, and for workplace safety.
They pushed Congress and state legislatures to pass legislation on Medicare and Social Security, civil rights and rights for the disabled, food safety and public health, worker safety and minimum wage, clean air and safe drinking water.
It was mostly Democrats that made those advances, but it was Republicans sometimes too. Abraham Lincoln""Republican""ended slavery. Theodore Roosevelt""Republican""gave us the national park system.
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