Ad Text:

The Facts:

ANNOUNCER: Sherrod Brown has failed in every job he's had.

FACT: Secretary of State Sherrod Brown Increased Voter Registration, Reformed Campaign Finance, Put Election Integrity Above Partisanship.

Sherrod Brown Took a Leadership Role in Increasing Voter Turnout. "Mr. Brown has - in office - creatively focused on the voter-turnout problem, which needs attention." [Dayton Daily News,11/5/90]

Under Secretary of State Sherrod Brown, Increases in Voter Registration "Most Extensive and Wide-Ranging in the Nation." "Ohio's burst of voter registration activity [is] probably the most intensive and wide-ranging in the nation…"  [The Washington Post, 5/6/84]

Ohio House Passed Brown's Campaign Finance Reform Bill. The House, in an 86-10 vote, approved a measure authored by Ohio secretary of state Sherrod Brown that limits campaign contributions and spending.  [The Cincinnati Post 6/14/90]

Brown Put Integrity of Ohio Elections Above Partisanship; Ruled Against a Fellow Democrat. "With the election for governor less than a month away, Secretary of State Sherrod Brown dealt a blow to fellow Democrat Anthony Celebrezze Jr. on Tuesday: He referred three cases to the Ohio Elections Commission  suggesting that lawyers hired by Celebrezze laundered political donations through relatives and friends."  [Dayton Daily News 10/10/90]

FACT: Ken Blackwell Used Secretary of State's Office for Political Gain; DeWine Supports Him.

Toledo Blade Calls Secretary of State Ken Blackwell "Highly Partisan" and "Blindly Ambitious". The Toledo Blade called Ken Blackwell "...the highly partisan and blindly ambitious" [Toledo Blade, 12/10/04]

DeWine, Blackwell Hold Joint Campaign Rally, Deliver Joint Message. On September 2, 2006, Senator DeWine joined Ken Blackwell for a joint rally in front of the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, OH. Speaking before Blackwell, DeWine called the gubernatorial candidate "my good friend". The Cincinnati Enquirer Reported, "as the Blackwell and DeWine campaign buses converged, so, too, did the messages they delivered to about 100 supporters who gathered outside Lebanon's historic Golden Lamb restaurant". [Senator DeWine's Address to campaign supporters, Golden Lamb, Lebanon, OH, 9/2/06; Cincinnati Enquirer, 9/3/06]

DeWine Calls Blackwell "My Friend and Fellow Fighter for the Unborn" at Joint Appearance at Ohio Right-to-Life Breakfast. At the event, DeWine said of Blackwell, "Of course, it is also great to be here with my friend and fellow fighter for the unborn, Ken Blackwell. For many, many years, he has cared passionately about this issue, and I thank him for all of his efforts." [Office of Senator DeWine Release, remarks as prepared, 1/23/06]

DeWine, Blackwell Appear with President Bush at Forum at Height of 2004 Campaign. "And standing with Mike is United States Senator Mike DeWine. He is doing a fine job for Ohio. (Applause.) He's got another fine senator serving with him in George Voinovich. Put him back in there for six more years; he's a good man to work with. (Applause.) Governor Taft is traveling today. Thank you for coming, Governor. Kenny Blackwell is with us. I'm honored you both are here. Appreciate you being here. [Remarks by the President at "Ask President Bush" Event, White House Release, 8/28/04]

His Secretary of State's office was rocked by scandal and mismanagement.

FACT: Major Ohio Newspapers Discredited The Allegations Against Sherrod Brown.

Allegations Called "Junk", "Trumped-Up", and "Officially Discredited". The Dayton Daily News called the allegations against Sherrod Brown "junk," "smut," "sleazy," "trumped-up charges," and "officially discredited" [Dayton Daily News, 10/18/90; 11/9/90]

Akron Beacon Journal: "No Proof of Impropriety Found in Drug Inquiry in Brown's Office." The Akron Beacon Journal said that there was "no evidence of impropriety" for the charges against Brown. [Akron Beacon Journal, 9/2/90]

Dayton Daily News: Allegations Against Brown "Full of Baloney". The Dayton Daily News rebuked the Columbus Dispatch. "The Columbus Dispatch happens to have been full of baloney"  [Dayton Daily News, 11/4/90]

Dayton Daily News: "Prosecutor Says Brown Didn't Stop Drug Probe." [Dayton Daily News, 9/1/90]

FACT: Sherrod Brown Cooperated with Investigators.

Dayton Daily News: Brown "First to Notify" Authorities. "Patrol records do indicate that Brown was the first to notify law-enforcement officials of possible drug use in his office." [Dayton Daily News, 8/21/90]

FACT: Investigation was not Handled Properly by State Highway Patrol.

Highway Patrol Accepted Fault for Withholding Information. "The patrol has accepted fault for not telling prosecutors about a mid-August 1985 drug buy" [Akron Beacon Journal, 9/2/90]

In Congress, Brown passed only four bills. Three were to help Taiwan.

FACT: When DeWine Was in the House, His Record Was Pathetic.

DeWine Passed No Bills with His Name in Eight Years in the U.S. House. He sponsored only 18 bills in these eight years, none of which became law. However, he did attempt to pass a bill to declare "Courtesy is Contagious" Month. [thomas.gov]

FACT: Brown's Record in U.S. House Trumps DeWine's.

Brown Sponsored or Co-Sponsored 131 Bills that Subsequently Became Law. Brown has sponsored 119 bills in his 14 years in the U.S. House, compared to 18 bills for DeWine in his eight years in the U.S. House. Of the bills that Brown either sponsored or co-sponsored, 131 became law. [thomas.gov]

Ohio Newspapers Praised Brown's Effectiveness. The Plain Dealer said, "[Brown's] ability to work with others, including Republican members of Ohio's delegation, has paid off for northeast Ohio. He helped secure an Export Assistance Center in Cleveland for small and medium businesses and a veteran's cemetery for the region. He helped organize seminars explaining how localities could take advantage of the Clinton administration's funding for more beat police." The Akron Beacon-Journal said, "He has been passionate in his opposition to trade agreements and in his support of lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Brown has been an effective voice on children's health issues and on speeding up the process for getting generic drugs to the market." [Plain Dealer, 10/9/96; Akron Beacon-Journal, 10/18/04]

And while Mike DeWine fought to save thousands of military jobs in Ohio, Sherrod Brown voted against those jobs.

FACT: The Bush-DeWine-Taft Policies Have Cost Ohio 200,000 Jobs.

DeWine Voted for Trade Deals That Cost Ohio Jobs.  DeWine supported NAFTA, voted for CAFTA and Permanent Normalized Trade Relations with China.  [Columbus Dispatch, 8/30/92; S 1307, 6/30/05 #170; HR 4444, 9/19/00, #251]

Toledo Blade: Job Loss From Unfair Trade Agreements "Undeniable."  "Mr. Brown claims trade agreements cost America manufacturing jobs. That's undeniable."  [Toledo Blade 9/21/06]

Ohio Lost Nearly 200,000 Jobs Since 2000.  Ohio has lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000, when George Bush and Mike DeWine took the oath of office.  This loss includes over 47,000 jobs in Cleveland; over 24,000 in Cincinnati; and over 21,000 in Dayton.  Canton lost over 30% of its manufacturing jobs since 2000, the largest percent decline of any Great Lakes city.  [Brookings Institution report, "Manufacturing Job Loss in the Great Lakes Region, 1995–2005."  7/06]

FACT: Sherrod Brown Protected Ohio Jobs.

Brown is "a Vociferous 'Fair-Trade' Advocate." [Columbus Dispatch, 5/29/06]

Brown Led Fight Against CAFTA. Leading up to the vote, The Hill reported that "the work of "whipping" the caucus [on CAFTA] is being led by Rep. Sherrod Brown." More "no" votes were secured against CAFTA than had been cast against any trade agreement in history. [The Hill, 7/20/05; Congressional Quarterly, 7/29/05]

Brown Has Consistently Opposed Bad Trade Deals Like NAFTA, CAFTA, and Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China that Hurt Ohio. [H.R. 3450, 11/17/93, #575; HR 3045, #443; HR 4444, 5/24/00, #228; Washington Post, 6/12/05]

Brown Vigorously Fought to Increase the Minimum Wage. Congressman Brown co-sponsored ten bills to increase the minimum wage. [HR 2429; HR 965; HR 4256; HR 665; HR 2812; HR 325; HR 2211; HR 3100; HR 3510; HR 940]

Brown Showed Foresight, Predicted NAFTA Would Increase Illegal Immigration and Lead to Job Loss. In 1993, as a freshman member of Congress, Brown co-authored an op-ed warning of illegal immigration and job loss resulting from NAFTA. [Roll Call, 7/19/1993]

Brown Stood up to Corporations that Outsource, Co-Sponsored Patriot Corporations for America Act.  This bill would "provide tax breaks and preferences in federal contracting" for companies meeting labor standards and "producing at least 90% of their goods and services in the United States." [Office of Jan Schakowsky Press Release, 6/28/06; HR 5699]

Then Brown said, he'd made a mistake. SHERROD BROWN: It was one of those yes votes means no, no votes means yes…

FACT: Sherrod Brown Opposed Changes to DFA that Threatened Ohio Jobs.

Sherrod Brown Immediately Corrected His Vote in the Congressional Record. The Congressional Record States, "Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 548 on H.R. 65, I mistakenly recorded my vote as "yes" when I should have voted "no." [Congressional Record, 10/27/2005]

Ohio can't afford more mistakes. Don't promote Sherrod Brown.

FACT: DeWine Made Many Mistakes During His Career.

DeWine Thinks It's Okay For Rumsfeld to Bungle Two Wars. SEN. DeWINE: "I've already said, Tim, I don't have confidence in Rumsfeld. He's made major mistakes in this war. There's absolutely no doubt about it." [Meet the Press, 10/1/06]

"Dozer DeWine" Snoozes Through Iran-Contra Hearings. "'Dozer DeWine' The Washington Post called him. The Chicago Tribune noted that he even slept during the most compelling testimony. A Dayton Daily News editorial quipped that DeWine managed to stand out among his publicity-seeking peers 'without lifting a finger, or for that matter, his head.'"  [Dayton Daily News, 10/9/94]

DeWine Himself Claimed He Made "Mistakes". "The 30-second ad features an earnest-looking DeWine seated on his front porch in Cedarville. He is wearing blue jeans and a plaid shirt. He concedes that he's 'made some mistakes,' but calls Hyatt's commercials 'precisely the old-style politics he claims to be against.' "So when you hear the negatives," DeWine says, "remember - they say a lot more about Joel Hyatt than about Mike DeWine." [Dayton Daily News, 10/12/94]

DeWine Acknowledged Failures of Oversight on Intelligence Committee.  "I think there's a general consensus among at least the Senate Intelligence Committee that we have not historically done as good a job in oversight as we should have." [Hearing on Confirmation of Porter Goss to Be CIA Director, 9/14/04]

DeWine Claimed He Saw Classified Information That Proved Iraq Had WMD.  The Toledo Blade reported in July 2002 that, "[DeWine] repeated his insistence that Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons and is trying to get nuclear weapons. He refused to be specific, saying, 'A lot of this stuff is classified.'"  [Toledo Blade, 7/10/02]

DeWine Admitted He Doesn't Read the Intel Reports.  "A consensus of 16 intelligence agencies," the report "says the Iraq war is breeding potential new terrorists". Despite being a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, DeWine did not read the report until this week even though he had access to it in April.  DeWine dismisses the central finding of the document as a "claim" that "has been made in the past."  He only read it "when it became a flash point this week."  [Plain Dealer, 9/28/06]

DeWine Cast Crucial Vote; Opposed $2.2 Billion for Higher Education, Including $1.7 Billion for Pell Grants.  DeWine, on September 9, 2003, cast one of the deciding votes against the Kennedy amendment to H.R.2660, which was an amendment to provide an additional $2.2 billion for higher education, including $1.7 billion for Pell Grants, $157 million for federal work study programs, and $115 million for supplemental education opportunity grants. [HR 2660, 9/9/03, #331]

DeWine Cast Crucial Vote; Voted Against Firefighter Assistance Grants. In September 2004, DeWine cast one of the deciding votes against an amendment that would increase funding for firefighter assistance grants by $150 million. [HR 4567, 9/14/04, #175]

DeWine Cast Deciding Vote Against Rolling Back Tax Cuts And Increasing Defense Spending.  In 2005, DeWine cast one of the deciding votes against an amendment that would adjust the functional totals to deny $100 billion of the tax relief that the Domenici amendment would provide (the amendment, as introduced, would have returned $1.6 trillion of the $5.6 trillion in excess taxes that the Federal Government is conservatively expected to collect over the next 10 years) and to increase defense spending by the same amount (about $10 billion more would be provided for each year).  The amendment was rejected, 47-52.  [H Con Res 83, 4/4/01, #71]

DeWine Cast Crucial Vote; Voted Against An Amendment To Deny Tax Cuts And Expand Health Insurance Coverage.  In 2000, DeWine voted against an amendment that would adjust the functional totals to deny $11.2 billion over 5 years of the $150 billion in tax cuts that would be provided by the resolution.  It would also adjust the functional totals in order to increase total Federal spending by that amount, with the intention that the extra spending would be used to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover adults as well as children.  The amendment was rejected, 49-49.  [SCR 101, 4/7/00, #78; S. Amdt. 2962, Senate RPC, 4/7/00]

DEWINE: I'm Mike DeWine and I approved this message.