Lee Fisher is a familiar face in Northeastern Ohio. After several years practicing law, the Shaker Heights native jumped into politics.

“My lifelong dream was to run for public office,” he told residents of Menorah Park in Cleveland earlier this week.

We have become such an impa- tient nation in so any ways, politics included, that it is increasingly difficult to maintain some sort of historical perspective.

It is the tenet of one political party that in the 21 months since President Barack Obama took office, things have moved far too fast toward “socialism” and far too slowly toward “economic recovery.”

The proper response to this, we are told, is change and change now. The direction in which to change is to go back.

(Oct. 14) — Ohioans are hurting from this deep economic recession, and many are out of work and struggling to find jobs. This national recession was brought on by failed economic and trade policies from Washington and Wall Street. It has hurt Ohio families through no fault of their own. I’ve spent my life in Ohio, not Washington, traveling to every corner of the state to save, create and attract jobs here. As a U.S. senator, my priorities will be getting Ohioans back to work and rebuilding and growing the middle class.

I have a plan to put Ohioans back to work. While the worst of the economic crisis may be over, too many Ohioans continue to struggle. We must move quickly to help spur new hiring and support small businesses that need access to capital to expand.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher echoed President Barack Obama’s call for college students to become more politically active at a meeting on campus Tuesday.

About 50 students and community members gathered in the U.S. Bank Conference Theater at the Ohio Union to watch Fisher speak after a screening of Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Committee rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

MANSFIELD — A small group of Mansfield residents got to know U.S. Senate candidate Lee Fisher a little better at a local benefit on Saturday.

About 50 people attended the fundraiser at the home of Mansfield city councilwoman Ellen Haring.

Former President Bill Clinton will be the headliner at a Sunday rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Lee Fisher at Over-the-Rhine’s Memorial Hall, followed by a private fundraising event.

The 6 p.m. rally will be open to the public, but will require tickets for admission.

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic candidate for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat, met with about 20 fixed-income senior citizens who live in the West End’s City West housing development to warn them that if his opponent, Rob Portman, and the Republican Party takes over Congress this fall, the Social Security will be in danger.

One woman asked: What is the best solution?

The GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, former Congressman Rob Portman, wants to repeal the new health-care law. His Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, says the overhaul did not go far enough.

Speaking separately today at the Ohio Hospital Association’s annual meeting in Columbus, the candidates agreed that soaring health-care costs are unsustainable, too many Americans are unable to get coverage, and the system desperately needs reform. But on how to tackle the problem, there was little common ground.

“The health-care bill doesn’t solve the problem, it makes it worse,” Portman said. “More should have been done about cost control.”

Democrats aced the test in 2006 and 2008 but this year’s election is the party’s final exam, Senatorial Candidate Lee Fisher told local supporters here today.

“This is our test, the final exam, a measure of how committed we really are,” Fisher said during brief remarks during an appearance at the Licking County Courthouse Square. Democrats face a tough challenge this year but the party can bring home victories on Nov. 2 if both candidates and volunteers double and triple their effort, he said. “This year the wind is in our face, so we have to work four or five times as hard.”