One of the bigger untold stories in Ohio this year is what is happening with so many progressive women, right here in the Midwest.

They're done waiting for the invitation. They are no longer standing in the shadows, being good sports about their anonymity while secretly stewing that no one has recognized them for the leaders they are meant to be.

Instead, armed with checkbooks funded by the force of their own labor and address books full of the evidence of friendships, they are throwing their own party, for the party, and they are helping to change the political landscape of this bellwether state.

I meet these women, day after day, week after week, as the heat rises in this year's race in Ohio for the U.S. Senate. My husband, Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown, is taking on the Republican incumbent, Mike DeWine. Sherrod is ahead in all recent polls, despite early and ugly television ads by his opponent. Sherrod's race, and that of his friend and fellow Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland who is running for governor, are two of the most high-profile in the country. Once again, all eyes turn to Ohio. And more often than any other time in Ohio's history, they are meeting the gaze of women.

by Sherrod Brown 

After the public outcry over the Dubai ports deal, you'd think Republicans in Washington would think twice before proposing another trade deal that could threaten our national and economic security.

Think again.

Yesterday, Senator Mike DeWine voted for a free trade agreement with Oman which then passed the Republican-controlled Senate.

A troubling provision in the agreement permits corporations from Oman and subsidiaries based there to operate U.S. ports.

If the U.S. passes port security laws after the deal takes effect, those companies could sue the U.S. government to override the laws. Any suits would be heard before international tribunals, whose chief mission is to promote their trade priorities, not safeguard our homeland.

I spoke out against the Oman deal on Lou Dobbs Tonight on Wednesday along with Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota.

Dorgan warned, "What could happen here is a circumstance where the United Arab Emirates simply buys a company in Oman, and all of a sudden they're managing America's docks and ports."