Brunner, Fisher make case to face Portman

Ohio's two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates - Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner - shared the stage at a forum here Wednesday night, but the 90-minute session had the feel of separate events.

First, there was a session with Brunner, seen by many as the underdog in the Senate contest, making her pitch to about 300 Cincinnati-area Democrats and answering their questions as Fisher listened intently, followed by Fisher doing the same.

Those were the ground rules - no interaction between the candidates, no back-and-forth.

Brunner, considered by many to be the underdog in the race, talked about her beliefs, her experiences as a judge and as Ohio's chief elections officer.

Fisher - who has the lead in money and endorsements but not necessarily the polls - talked a great deal about Rob Portman, the former Cincinnati-area congressman who is the likely GOP nominee for Ohio's open U.S. Senate seat.

"If we don't focus on Rob Portman - right now - we run the risk of losing this important Senate seat," Fisher said.

Brunner did not mention Portman by name.

Before the forum began in earnest, the moderator, Cincinnati City Council member Laure Quinlivan, reminded the crowd of the ground rules that were set prior to the event - that the candidates would make separate opening statements and then answer questions, separately, from a panel of Democratic Party activists and from the audience.

"I want to remind you - this is not a debate," Quinlivan said. "Repeat after me - this is not a debate."

The forum came a day after the Democratic Party took a body blow in the loss of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts, and that was certainly the backdrop for Wednesday evening's forum.

Brunner touched on the growing anxiety of Democrats indirectly when she said that the party does not have to give up its liberal principles to win elections.

"Should Democrats be moving to the center? No. Democrats should be focusing on issues that impact people's lives," she said.

Fisher said that it was his impression that the key issues in the Massachusetts election were the same that will dominate Ohio's politics this year - jobs and security. "Everything flows from that," he said.

During her question-and-answer period, Brunner said that if she is the Democratic nominee she will be a candidate more in the mold of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown than Democrat Martha Coakley - not in political philosophy, but in the way she approaches the campaign.

Brown, Brunner said, "was authentic, he was real and he spoke to the people's issues."

Fisher's brief opening remarks were a preview of what his campaign theme will be if he wins the May 4 primary - that electing Portman, the former trade representative and budget director in the administration of President George W. Bush, would be a step backward.

Portman, Fisher said, "was the architect of policies that dug the deepest economic ditch that we have seen in our lifetimes."

Both candidates were asked about how the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress should move forward on health-care reform, in light of the fact that the Brown's election will take away Democrats' 60-seat supermajority and control over Senate debate.

Democrats in Washington, Brunner said, "should avoid pushing something through behind closed doors. We would be better off being forthright and move ahead and let the people see what the process is."

Fisher's advice to Democrats in Washington was simple - "Don't give up."

"While the path to health-care reform has become more difficult in the past 24 hours, there is no reason to give up," Fisher said.