Midwest Senate Democrat 'considering' US Presidential Run

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2018 ) :Sherrod Brown doesn't have national recognition, and is hardly Washington's flashiest lawmaker. But the US Senate Democrat is riding high after winning reelection in swing-state Ohio, and said he might parlay that into a 2020 presidential run.

"I'm considering it," he told reporters Tuesday, as lawmakers returned to Congress following recent midterm elections.

"Connie and I are pretty overwhelmed by how many people we've heard from, and (said) I should think about doing this." The next presidential election is still two years away, and Brown said he had "no timetable" for announcing a decision.

But the week after the midterms is the unceremonial starting shot for the next presidential race, which in 2020 is likely to feature multiple Democrats seeking to challenge Donald Trump's White House reelection bid.

There are far more recognizable Democrats in the mix, including former vice president Joe Biden, 2016 challenger Bernie Sanders, and fellow Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.

But the unassuming Brown, 66, could emerge in large part because he is a popular politician from the Midwest, a working-class region considered critical political territory.

Of the Midwest's 12 states, Trump won 10 of them, including Ohio.

But Brown's resounding six-point reelection victory in a closely-watched swing state that Trump won by eight points did not go unnoticed.

"My first goal is that people see what we did in Ohio and that a progressive can win in Ohio without compromising on civil rights and worker rights and gay rights and women's rights, and can win convincingly in a state Trump won," Brown said.

Brown does not fit the mold of the typical American presidential contender. He has a gravelly voice, and his suits and hair are more often than not rumpled.

But he has connected with voters, particularly with his left-leaning policies on workers rights and international trade.

He led a pocket of Democratic resistance against president Barack Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership, the massive trade pact that Trump ditched when he took office.

TPP was "a sellout for workers," Brown warned in 2016 as he noted the anger and dissatisfaction of working-class voters, including millions in Ohio which has shed manufacturing jobs.

Brown acknowledged that the presidency has not been a lifelong dream.

"I didn't grow up thinking I wanted to be president. I wanted to play center field for the Cleveland Indians, and apparently that window has closed," he quipped.

In a Politico poll conducted immediately after the midterms, Biden and Sanders were easily the top choice to be 2020's Democratic nominee, with 26 percent and 19 percent respectively.

Brown was near the bottom, with one percent.