Meet Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. He is one of 10 incumbent Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018 in a state President-elect Trump won in the 2016 general election. Brown announced he will oppose the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for attorney general. Brown joins other angry Senate Democrats in an attempt to obstruct Trump’s nominees.
But here’s another thing about Brown: He likes to talk, particularly on cable news programs like the “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. On that show in 2009, Brown had a very different point of view on confirming the nominees of a new president who was just elected along with a Senate and a House of Representatives of the same party.
Here are some highlights:
“I think they understand the confirmation of all of these important people — the attorney general, the treasury secretary, the secretary of state, and so many other important Cabinet officials — all that is so important,” Brown said.
He added that he thought Republicans “got the message in this election that the voters want something different.”
Brown also said that Republicans would pay “a political price” for obstructing President Obama, and said, “There will be a number of Republicans that vote with us if they’re embarrassed by their party that’s simply engaged in obstructionism.”
Let’s get this straight: In 2009, when Democrats had just won the White House and both chambers of Congress, Brown thought the people had spoken, they wanted change, and that it would be “obstructionism” to block Obama’s nominees. Brown even claimed that those who opposed his nominees would pay a political price.
But in 2017, when Republicans have just won the White House and both chambers of Congress, Brown is leading the charge to oppose and obstruct Trump’s nominees.
There can be only one conclusion: Brown is nothing more than a fraud who is motivated by pure, partisan politics and is much more interested in getting revenge on Republicans than in listening to the voters of his state. Don’t be surprised if, to quote Brown, he pays “a political price” for his obstructionism.
Ian Prior is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the communications director for American Crossroads and Senate Leadership Fund. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
