Sen.-elect: Voters care about issues, not labels

'I am who I am,' the senator-elect says.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown said his election victory is proof that voters care more about a candidate's position on important issues rather than labels such as "left" and "right" that give a sweeping generalization about a person's politics.
Brown, an Avon Democrat, defeated two-term U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Cedarville Republican, by more than 12 percentage points in last month's election.
Brown doesn't run from being labeled a "liberal" and a "populist," but said those terms are used mostly by those involved with politics.
"The public looks at [candidates] as to whose side are you on," Brown said in a Monday interview with The Vindicator. "The public is interested in the minimum wage, trade, Iraq, embryonic stem cell. Where am I out of the mainstream on those issues?"
Brown said he doesn't oppose gay marriage, something a majority of Ohioans oppose.
"When you talk about jobs, education and health care, that trumps what most people think about gay rights," he said.
Brown said a friend had told him he'd have trouble winning the Senate race because he's too left. The friend suggested Brown move more to the center of the political spectrum.
"I am who I am," he said. "You run the way you are."
His focus
Brown said he plans to work closely with Republicans and Democrats from Ohio in the Congress to prioritize and push through issues that are important to the state.
Brown opposes free trade agreements including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Brown said that he would like to see drastic changes to both but that he doubts that would happen. But Brown said the United States needs to be diligent in requiring countries with whom it trades to have environmental and safety enforcement similar to this nation's as well as increase their minimum wage.
"Democrats strongly believe we need a different trade policy," he said.
Brown said he's pleased with his committee assignments. He will serve on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; and Veterans Affairs.
Besides Appropriations and Finance, two committees that freshmen never get appointed to, Brown said the best committee in the Senate is Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Brown, a longtime proponent of making health care available to everyone and a strong supporter of organized labor, is the only Democratic freshman on the committee. U.S. Sen.-elect Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, was also appointed to the committee.
"I think we'll do great things with that committee with health care and education," Brown said.
skolnick@vindy.com