You play to win the game

Sherrod Brown looks low-energy, the redistricting lobbying happening behind the scenes, House Republicans' latest attack on labor, and more!

The Thursday dispatch will be the October Mailbag.

You can submit questions anonymously through the Jotform.

Politics questions are always welcome, but an eclectic mix of non-political questions is what makes the mailbag fun to write.

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The Ohio Democratic Party held its first big event under new chairwoman Kathleen Clyde on Sunday.

I was not in attendance for the “rising stars” dinner, but the consensus seemed to be that it was a rather sleepy affair, with only Dr. Amy Acton drawing anything close to praise for her oratory performance.

“Sleepy” and “low-energy” were two common themes that I heard about Sherrod Brown’s speech. The 72-year-old has gotten everything he’s wanted behind the scenes with ODP, and the 10-month break from the Senate has done little to electrify his candidacy.

One Democrat in attendance remarked that Acton seemed “too excited,” which is understandable given that it was probably the biggest stage of her nascent political career. That her speech wasn’t dreadful is a welcome development, as that’s how she was routinely described on the stump in her campaign’s early days.

There wasn’t any mention of immigration or the recent ICE raids in Mount Vernon (or anywhere else throughout the state), which is precisely how Brown would prefer things for the next 12 months.

Former Congressman Tim Ryan wasn’t in attendance as he inches closer to entering the race. Ryan’s team knows that ODP is Sherrod’s show, and thus will be in Amy’s camp, but it probably would have done his candidacy some good to be seen in that crowd.

As for Ryan’s gubernatorial campaign—it’d be weird for him to go through all this, including taking a shot at Dr. Acton—and not run. But as I was reminded yesterday by a well-respected lobbyist, Ryan put the party through similar paces in 2018 about a potential gubernatorial run before he decided to stay on the sidelines.

The hot new rumor is that Ryan hopes to convince his former college football coach, Lieutenant Governor Jim Tressel, to be his running mate. And while it’s a novel idea, there’s a reason these “unity tickets” never materialize. It’s a fool’s errand.

Whispers on the wind of the redistricting process…