Sherrod Brown Makes Senate Run Official With 4 Stop Tour

U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Elyria) has made his US Senate bid against incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine official with a 4 stop tour that began in Avondale on Sunday with a stop Pastor Fred Shuttleworth's church. While there, Brown delivered a fiery speech in which he compared the policies of the Bush Administration to the racial segregation in the south of the 1950s and 1960s. Brown exclaimed, "Whether we're embarrassing segregation or embarrassing a president of the United States who has wrongfully and deceitfully taken us into war, or embarrassing someone who uses his power against the poor and against working families unfairly..." Less than 20 people showed up for Brown's speech, supposedly due to inclement weather. Today Brown took his campaign kickoff tour to Columbus to officially announce his candidacy in the state's capital city.

Brown has decided to focus his attention on the supposed failure of President Bush and Republican policies in general. But he does face a Democratic primary challenge in Paul Hackett, who was not hesitant in crticizing Brown as a Washington insider. Hackett himself is a fiery candidate who last week, on MSNBC's "Hardball" show, claimed President Bush used cocaine as a young adult, despite the lack of evidence available.