Analysis of the shocking Fisher campaign news

Time at Plunderbund offers his view of the surprising decision by Lee Fisher's campaign manager, Geri Prado, to step down:

Either Lee is unhappy with his campaign, and fired Prado, or Prado is unhappy with Lee, and got the hell outta there. I suppose those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Working for Lee Fisher is one of the most self-abusive gigs in all of politics. But no matter the reason, turmoil at this level in a US Senate campaign, 3 months out, before the candidate even files, is a sign of a campaign tanking.

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BREAKING: Fisher Campaign Manager Steps Down

Geri Prado, campaign manager for Lee Fisher's Senate campaign, is apparently no longer in that position. With three months to go until the primary, it is apparent that the Fisher campaign is worried. They have not been able to separate themselves from Jennifer Brunner, despite their fundraising advantage.

More details as they come out.

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The Twitter Primary

At the time of this post, Lee Fisher's Twitter page has 493 followers. Jennifer Brunner's Twitter page has 1,214 followers. That is very nearly three times as many followers for JB.

What does it mean? Well, probably not much. But it may say something about the enthusiasm for one candidate over another, or perhaps the advantage she has in online organizing. Or, it may be because Jennifer Brunner's "tweets" are interesting and sound like they were written by a human being, while Lee Fisher's are robotic and sound like they were written by a consultant.

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Petitions: filed.

It is now official. Lee Fisher will have a primary opponent. That opponent will be Jennifer Brunner, who filed her paperwork this morning. It is on!

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While we were away

New polling has confirmed what we have known all along: Jennifer Brunner would have a better chance of beating Rob Portman in the general election. A Rasmussen poll last week put Portman ahead of Brunner 43%-40% (within the margin of error). When matched up with Lee Fisher, Portman had a much larger 44%-37% lead.

This is further proof that the momentum is all on one side in this race. However, as Mark Naymik points out for The Plain Dealer, the numbers could move once the Fisher campaign takes to television. That is why we have reached a pivotal point in this campaign. If there were ever a time for you to consider volunteering or donating money to the campaign, now is that time. It will not be easy, but this race is very winnable.

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The campaign becomes official

Sorry we have been away for a while. We needed to spend some time resting up for what is sure to be a very exciting year.

And here we go: reports say that Jennifer Brunner will file her petition to run for the U.S. Senate tomorrow morning. If she was going to drop out and concede to Lee Fisher, she would have done so already. This filing means that she is in it all the way. If Fisher wants to be the party's nominee, he is going to have to earn it.

Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen. It should be fun.

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This is your last chance to contribute this year!

I know it is not about money. I know we talk too much about money. But please remember that this is your last chance to donate to the campaign before the end of the quarter, and the end of the year. When those fourth quarter numbers come out, wouldn't it be nice to make the Fisher people sweat a little bit?

Remember, every dollar makes a difference. No matter how much you can afford to spare, please consider making a contribution. Visit www.jenniferbrunner.com or use the ActBlue link on the right of this page.

Have a safe and wonderful new year!

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