Democrats urgently need to retake control of the Senate to put the brakes on Trump. To do that, they desperately need to win the Senate election in Ohio. It’s a tight race, and Democrat Sherrod Brown is currently behind in the polls, behind Republican John Husted.
But it’s still not a clear choice for progressives. Brown is a mixed bag. He’s a strong supporter of labor unions. He’s allied with Bernie Sanders on many issues. But he does not support Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, or the abolition of ICE or private prisons. He also accepts large donations from corporate donors and superPACs, including AIPAC.
So progressive Democrats in Ohio are conflicted. Some voted for the Libertarian last time, if only because of his opposition to US involvement in foreign wars. More than 2 million Ohio voters did not vote at all in that election. Perhaps only a small fraction of those could be considered “progressive Democrats,” but nevertheless Sherrod Brown will need every single possible vote he can get to win back his Senate seat.
That’s where vote swapping comes in. It’s not just Sherrod Brown who needs every vote he can get in Ohio. The whole country – the whole world! – is counting on Ohio to elect a Democrat to the Senate.
So, voters of Ohio, even if you don’t love him, please vote for Brown to save this country – and the world – from the disaster that is emanating from the White House. And if you want to feel a little better about voting for him, you can “swap your vote” with somebody in a solid red or blue state, and they can vote for your favorite third party on your behalf. (Details at votetosurvive.org.)
Every third party vote sends a message to the Democratic Party establishment that simply voting for the “lesser of two evils” is not good enough. Having only two political parties representing a country of 340 million is frankly ridiculous. Every other democracy on the planet has multiple political parties. Different perspectives are crucial for solving the complex problems we face today, and multi-party democracies force politicians to work together and make compromises.
In the short term, vote swapping will help get the votes needed in the right places to put an end to MAGA control of Congress. In the long term, vote swapping can help strengthen third parties and break the two-party stranglehold over this country. We will all be better off when that finally happens.
PHOTO: Sherrod Brown speaking to leaders of the Jewish Democratic Council of America in 2025.