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Mar

18

Ode to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, winner of JFK Profile in Courage Award


Before I met current Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner or had ever heard her name, I never gave a dime, or time, to any politician or political candidate.  Not one of either.

Then, I met her at one of the first Meet the Bloggers sessions I’d ever attended, in January 2006 - more than two years ago. (You can get the podcast here.)

Here is my review of that session, and here’s an excerpt - the very first words of that post:

I loved this candidate for Ohio Secretary of State. To me, Jennifer Brunner, the democratic candidate to replace Ken Blackwell (one of the GOP candidates for governor), represents the threshold that should be met by every single solitary individual who wants to run for elected office. Unrealistic? Utopian? Not analogous to other races? I don’t care. If you want my vote for anything, you better be able to approach her smarts, her humility, her confidence, her idealism and her ability to turn passions into realities.

The post goes on and measures now Governor Ted Strickland, Bryan Flannery and Eric Fingerhut (then the Dem gov candidates), and Sherrod Brown and Paul Hackett (the Dem US Senate candidates) against what I came to call “The Brunner standard” or threshold.

I am wrong, and I will be wrong in the future.  But there are also times when I commit to what I believe, and my belief that Jennifer Brunner was someone different and worth risking my hopes for a better Ohio SOS was spot-on.  I get razzed for not committing or not committing strongly enough, often enough.

But I hold on to my commitments until I’m ready to let go, because I fear being disappointed or indulging in expectations that won’t get met, and will only expend the energy it takes to be fearful of disappointment when I’m good and ready and find someone or something that’s worth that risk of being disappointed.

Jennifer Brunner was the first person to whom I ever gave a dime to for a political race.  And for whom I threw an absolutely poorly attended house party (but we had great food and really good looking plates). And that donation (along with two others) forced me to resign from the Wide Open experiment with Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

And you know what? I can’t even believe anyone would ever accept being forced to choose. Not in this day and age where transparency is so easily accommodated.

But I digress.

Congratulations to Jennifer for winning the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and if I have the chance, I promise to try to give you a much, much better house party in 2010.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:15 pm March 18th, 2008 in Voting, Women, Elections, Ohio, Politics 

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One Response to “Ode to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, winner of JFK Profile in Courage Award”

  1. 1 Yesterday Brunner, today Cordray: SBA 2008 Financial Services Champion award | Writes Like She Talks on March 19th, 2008 3:35 pm

    […] two for two when it comes to what I thought based on Meet the Bloggers sessions (or as MTB sessions as a […]

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