Tale of two senate candidates

Earlier this week Sen John Francois Kerry insulted our military service members as uneducated. Since then there has been considerable but not universal condemnation of Kerry's comments and his transparent elitism. Most Democratic candidates with scheduled campaign appearances with Kerry have disinvited him knowing how politically harmful it would be to be seen standing with Kerry immediately following those comments. The differing reactions of two Democrat senate candidates is very telling in how they reflect their opinion of the views of their respective state's citizens.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr of Tennessee:

``Whatever the intent, Senator Kerry was wrong to say what he said,'' Ford said in a statement. ``He needs to apologize to our troops.''

Rep. Sherrod Brown of Ohio:

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat leading in late polls in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, said Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," he said.

In my opinion, Ford understands that people in Tennessee support and respect our military personnel. Brown on the other hand is sending a very different message about Ohioans. I strongly hope that Sherrod Brown is greatly mistaken in his assessment of the level of support of our military by the Ohio voters.