Connie Schultz shares stories, advice with fellow Dems
Former Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz entertained a full audience on a recent cold, windy evening at Westlake’s Church of the Redeemer United Church of Christ. The Jan. 17 event was hosted by the Westside Democrats and the Westlake Democratic Club. Jeanne Long, secretary of the Westside Dems, organized the talk, and her husband and president of the Westlake club, Vern Long, filled the emcee role.
Schultz is a nationally-syndicated columnist, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and several other journalistic awards, former feature writer for the Plain Dealer and author of two books. A resident of Avon, she is married to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, has four grown children and one grandchild.
Schultz started her discussion by tracing roots back to her upbringing in a small town, with a strong working class and union presence. “I’m a liberal out of gratitude,” Schultz explained. “It was my father’s union wages that sent me to college... It was the feminist movement that made it possible for me to be on op-ed pages around the country and not in the women’s pages.”
It wasn’t until she began college at Kent State in 1975 that Schultz came in contact with different economic backgrounds, which gave her perspective on her working-class background. Calling it the first of many “incremental lessons” in her life, Schultz’s eyes were opened to what she called “the low expectations of the working class.”
Today, she finds we should not “envy the wealthy,” but build bridges between one another. “We have more in common with people that we disagree with...than we want to believe,” she said.
Schultz maintained an informal, conversational tone throughout the evening, laughing easily with the audience. Much of her time on stage was devoted to answering questions from the crowd, tackling topics including her personal life at the Plain Dealer, political views and advice for Democratic activists.
Schultz stressed that her departure from the Plain Dealer was amicable and she remains a subscriber. In 2006, Schultz took a leave of absence from the paper to help her husband campaign for U.S. senator; this year, with Sen. Brown up for reelection, she felt her position had become “untenable.” Shortly before her departure, questions had been raised over the opinions voiced in her column. Schultz told the audience that she was tired of defending her motives, and that there were other ways she wanted to use her time and voice.
Over the objections of her editor, Schultz quietly packed up her desk in the empty newsroom on a Saturday night, and delivered her resignation to colleagues via email two days later.
“I didn’t want any drama in the newsroom,” she explained. “I didn’t want anybody taking pictures of me crying and packing up. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.”
In response to audience questions, she said she would like to tell President Obama to “blame the obstructionists, not Congress” for a lack of progress on getting reforms passed. Democratic activists are not as vocal or as organized as their Republican counterparts in airing their frustrations with Congress. She encouraged the Democrats in the audience to “grow a spine” – to make calls and write letters voicing opinions and concerns.
A sophomore from Westlake High School asked Schultz for advice on how to fully inform voters about candidates and ensure that we are getting the most out of our elected officials. She encouraged him to get his peers involved in activism and run for office himself. “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” she told him.
Connie Schultz’s latest columns are available from Creators Syndicate at creators.com.