Senator Sherrod Brown joined Chris Hayes to announce that he is......

...embarking on a listening tour about the "dignity of work" in the four early primary states. I think that means he's considering running in the Democratic primary, but he stopped short of saying so.

"I'm announcing tonight on this show that I'm planning a Dignity of Work listening tour kicking off in Cleveland and then the first of February going to Iowa with my wife Connie Schultz -- Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada and South Carolina," Brown announced.

"And what I want to accomplish is I want to continue to learn about the dignity of work from everybody from whether you swipe a card, whether you punch a clock, whether you work for tips, whether you work on salary, whether you're taking care of kids, and I want to hear from people around and I want this conversation and this dignity of work tour to encourage my colleagues running for president that this should be the narrative. It's the best way to govern, fighting for the dignity of work and winning elections."

When Chris Hayes forthrightly asked him whether he was running for president, he demurred, saying he and Connie had not decided for sure. But he was inspired to embark on this tour because he believes choosing between workers and the progressive base is not an either-or choice, that both can meet on the dignity of work message.

So you're going to go to iowa, new hampshire, nevada and led. That sounds like you are running for president.

When Chris Hayes asked him about right-wingers flooding Kent State with FOIA requests on his wife Connie, Brown stepped up and gave the perfect answer.

"Well, I think it says a number of things first. How great Connie is, how accomplished she is and smart she is and how well she works social media, what a terrific writer she is. People all over the country know that the other thing is they take my potential candidacy seriously and in the third thing it says is they will be dirty. They will be nasty. I've seen Karl Rove come into my races and each time I've run, I know what he's up to. When I think about Donald Trump, I know that bullies are always cowards and we will be ready if it comes to that."

Perfect, perfect answer. Connie Schultz is all that he says she is. And bullies are always cowards.