Siobhan Lopez – February 8, 2019
HAMPTON, N.H. — Amid speculation about a run for president in 2020, Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is in New Hampshire this weekend.
Speaking about his past as a secretary of state and congressman in Ohio, Brown took questions and careful notes on Friday night during a roundtable discussion in Hampton on paid family leave.
“Too many workers are working hard all day and don’t have enough to show for it,” he said. “They don’t have it in terms of wages, in terms of benefits, in terms of retirement.”
Brown said he’ll make a decision about running for president next month. He said it will be a family decision and not based on who else is running.
The progressive Democrat isn’t afraid of a crowded field if he decides to run.
“I’d put my record up against anybody for fighting for workers,” he said. “Too many Democrats think that you choose between talking to your progressive base and talking to workers about their lives, and I think you don’t win in New Hampshire or Ohio or a whole lot of swing states unless you do both.”
Brown said his approach to populism is much different from that of President Donald Trump.
“His phony populism is you divide people and you push people down to lift some others up,” Brown said of Trump. “Real populism is not racist. It’s not anti-Semitic. It doesn’t divide people. It doesn’t do hate speech. Real populism is fighting for workers.”