"I came away from this experience realizing how authentic she is."

Following their interview with Jennifer Brunner on her Afghanistan policy, Eric is up with a post detailing his reactions over at our favorite blog to link to. The highlights:

I came away from this experience realizing how authentic she is. I don’t get an ounce of phony vibe that is prevalent among elected officials and candidates alike that I’ve met. I’m sure as a politician she can pour that stuff on, but none was to be found on Thursday. She has this weird combination of toughness and kindness...

Jennifer is the real deal. There’s a reason the old guard is scared shitless. There is a reason her grassroots support is so wide and bottom up. I hear stories of people raising their own money and printing their own promotional materials to support her. None of this stuff will show up on a financial report, but it shows up in the hearts and minds of voters.

-

The Afghanistan Interview

On Friday, Jennifer Brunner did an interview with bloggers from Plunderbund, who had been critical of her position opposing the troop increase in Afghanistan.



-

Brunner will defend her Afghanistan position tomorrow

Jennifer Brunner made news recently when she spoke out against sending more troops to Afghanistan. Folks on both sides of the aisle and supporters of all candidates have accused her of "flip-flopping" on the issue. Well, tomorrow morning, she is going straight into the beast to defend herself. She will be doing an interview over at Plunderbund at 10 am. I will share my own thoughts afterwards.

UPDATE (Tuesday, 10:17 am): So, I guess that's not actually happening.

-

Fisher tells us what he's against, instead of what he is for

OhioDaily dissects Lee Fisher's statement that came out following the President's address earlier this evening, and they hit the nail on the head:

I applaud his stance. I think he's correct in his position. He makes it very clear what he's against. And he leaves little for the NRCC to throw back in his face.

What I don't know is what he's FOR. And that, my friends, makes me crazy. Again.

It shouldn't be this hard. We should be able to know exactly where our candidates are on these types of issues. Jennifer Brunner gave a significantly larger response and did it two days earlier when she called on the President to, among other things, adopt the policy positions set out by Les Gelb's National Security Network. Their proposal outlines several objectives beyond "we don't need more troops." In fact, it's probably the most progressive and best articulated vision I've read thus far.

-

What does Lee Fisher think we should do in Afghanistan? Nobody knows.

Yesterday, Jennifer Brunner offered thoughtful insight about where she feels U.S. policy in Afghanistan should be headed. Rarely do you see candidates running for major office take such an unambiguous stance on a controversial issue. But when Jennifer Brunner believes in something, she stands up for it (see: gay marriage, death penalty).

Lee Fisher, on the other hand, seems to believe in only one thing: winning elections. That is why you don't see him taking a stand at all on what very well could be the most important foreign policy decision that President Obama ever makes. OhioDaily touched on this yesterday.

-

Jennifer Brunner is for real

How can you tell that the Brunner campaign has all of the momentum right now? The national Republican Party, which had previously ignored her while focusing their attacks on Lee Fisher, sent out a silly attack directed specifically at Brunner:

The national Republicans today assailed Democratic Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner for what they described as “her inflammatory and baseless attacks’’ against General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Sounds to me like they are terrified by the idea of having to run against her.

-

Brunner: Time to bring home the troops

In a blog post up at Daily Kos and OhioDaily, Jennifer Brunner has called for an end to the war in Afghanistan.

Eight years and nearly a trillion dollars of our tax money–gone. More than 5,200
American lives–also gone. It’s time to say, "Enough." It’s time to employ more
than military and mercantile strategies in Afghanistan and set a timetable to
bring our troops home from Afghanistan.

Again, whether you agree with her position or not, her full piece is worth a read through. The thought that she puts in and details she puts forth are very impressive for a candidate running for office.

-