ODP

Former President Bill Clinton is coming to Ohio this week for a grassroots fundraiser to rally Ohio Democrats.

Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern sent an e-mail inviting supporters to join Clinton, Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio Democratic Party for the event at the Renaissance Hotel in Columbus on Thursday.

The pitch to supporters says that they "can make a difference by joining President Bill Clinton and Governor Ted Strickland at our last grassroots fundraiser to rally Ohio Democrats before Election Day."

DENVER - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain) spoke about inspiration's role in politics, and complimented the Ohio delegation on their collective commitment and sacrifice during the Ohio Democratic Party's opening breakfast on Monday.

Brown opened his remarks by paying his respects to U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Brown said that during his flight Sunday night, he happened to be on the same plane as Tubbs Jones' son, Mervyn Jones II.

Brown explained that an important part of his job as a political leader was to inspire people, and said that as he sat on the plane, looking at Mervyn, who is in Denver just a week after his mother's passing, Brown said he couldn't help but thinking "how that young man was inspiring me."

"I know how Stephanie would be so proud of that," he said.

Treasurer Richard Cordray, the Democratic nominee for Ohio Attorney General, addressed Ohio's delegation to the Democratic National Convention Monday morning during breakfast and instead of talking about the race for attorney general, offered a personal reflection of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who passed unexpectedly last week.

Cordray said he first met Tubbs Jones in 1990 while she was running for Ohio's Supreme Court and Cordray was running in his first election, vying for a state house seat.

"She made quite an impression around the state of Ohio," Cordray said.

Cordray pointed out that Tubbs Jones didn't get elected to the Supreme Court that year, but said she was never going to be one of seven anyway.

"She was clearly one of one," he said.

Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern opened the Ohio delegation's breakfast Monday morning by first briefly going over convention details and also holding a moment of silence for U.S. Rep Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who passed away last Wednesday.

Redfern first introduced Ohio Democratic Party political director Bill DeMora as the delegation's convention manager, and laid out details for delegates for the week ahead and at the convention itself.

Redfern also called the delegation to hold a moment of silence for Tubbs Jones. Redfern announced that the ODP had invited U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to attend a special breakfast Thursday to be held in Tubbs Jones' honor.

"We will be honoring the legacy and leadership of Stephanie Tubbs Jones with a celebration of her life," Redfern said.

Redfern said that services will be held for Tubbs Jones on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cleveland Public Auditorium.

The Ohio Democratic Party responded to the latest Quinnipiac approval ratings for Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon) reported by PolitickerOH.com and showing the governor with a 60 percent approval rating.

Ohio Democratic Party communications director Alex Goepfert touted Strickland's record of bringing Ohioans together.

"In marked contrast to the broken system in Washington, Governor Strickland has established a consistent record of bringing Ohioans together to solve the difficult challenges confronting our state's economy," Goepfert said. "It appears that Ohioans support Governor Strickland's agenda for creating thousands of new Ohio jobs and laying the foundation for long-term economic growth and prosperity through a $1.57 billion jobs stimulus plan."

The Ohio Democratic Party is up with a new Web ad on YouTube that features presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign manager, Rick Davis, on Fox News Sunday.

The ad focuses on Davis' connection to the DHL hub in Wilmington, Ohio.

A pending deal between DHL parent company Deustche Poste World Net and UPS threatens to shut down DHL's Wilmington hub. The closing of the hub could cost Ohio upwards of 8,000 jobs.

The full Fox News Sunday interview is available on Yahoo video here.

A Cleveland Plain Dealer story last Wednesday revealed that Davis is the former lobbyist for Deustche Poste. The story also revealed that both McCain and Davis helped secure the original DHL deal that brought the company to Ohio.

The Ohio Democratic Party announced its hiring of a full-time Jewish outreach coordinator Monday afternoon. Former Barack Obama organizer Matt Ratner was hired by the Democrats as Jewish Outreach Coordinator.

Ratner will "lead the ODP's efforts to organize and mobilize the Jewish community in support of Barack Obama and the entire Democratic Ticket."

Ratner, a native of Shaker Heights, worked for the campaign of presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over the past year, first in the Chicago headquarters, then during the Iowa caucuses and also engaging in Jewish outreach during the Ohio primary.