Ohio Dems Dinner last night

I had the pleasure of attending the annual Ohio Democratic Party dinner last night at the Columbus Convention Center, along with about 2,250 other people. They presented some awards, including Democrat of the Year to attorney general Richard Cordray and introduced the statewide office holders and candidates. The Governor, Senate candidate, and Senator Sherrod Brown spoke before keynote speaker Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic Nation Committee, spoke.

Basically they all said: we need to create jobs and improve the economy that the Republicans ruined so we need to get out and elect (or re-elected) our candidates this fall. They used considerably more words to say it. While there were, typically, some eyeball-glazing portions, the governor was very effective, getting a great response from the audience. He's a very strong campaigner, good at delivering a message, which makes me feel hopeful for our results this cycle.

Some of us were gratified to see the tumultuous response Jennifer Brunner got when she was introduced, easily the longest and loudest if anyone. Hmmm ....

But people weren't really there to listen to a parade of speakers tell us Republicans have wrecked the economy; they were there to schmooze and chat with friends from around the state. I was seated with Modernesquire (Brian Hester) of Plunderbund whom I've never met before, and a couple from Greene County, Jo and Mike. Mike is running for the legislature in the 70th district. In addition to Jennifer and Rick Brunner, I chatted with Supreme Court Justice Eric Brown and Supreme Court candidate Mary Jane Trapp, both of whom were desperately need to elect in November for balance on the court and because they're great, 14th district congressional candidate Bill O"Neill, Cuyahoga County executive candidate Ed FitzGerald, state auditor candidate Daivd Pepper, Cuyahoga County Council candidate Sunny Simon, and ODP executive director Doug Kelly. I spotted my congresswoman Marcia Fudge in the crowd. I was hoping to meet 8th district congressional candidate Justin Coussoule, but no one was able to point him out to me. However, I was happy that ODP chairman Chris Redfern gave him a really nice acknowledgement from the podium. Justin may not beat Golfin' John Boehner THIS November, but wouldn't it be great if he did ten points better than Boehner's last opponent and knocked some of the cockiness out of him? You bet it would!

We keep hearing about an "enthusiasm gap" between Democrats and Republicans, another of those narratives the media likes to cling to in lieu of covering things that actually matter. Democrats may not be frothing at the mouth like the teabaggers, but it appears that there are a lot of engaged Democrats stepping up and doing what they need to do. In the end, "enthusiasm" is hard to measure; votes are not (unless Ken Blackwell is your secretary of state, but that's a whole other story).