Connie Schultz returns to PD

Connie Schultz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, returned to her desk in The Plain Dealer's newsroom Monday from a leave of absence to devote herself to the campaign of her husband, Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s new Democratic senator.

The couple hope to be together in Ohio most weekends. They have little interest in the Washington social scene. Nonetheless, the maintenance worker's daughter from Ashtabula may sometimes find herself having dinner with the power elite and hanging out with celebrities.

Schultz's dual roles of journalist and senator's wife have prompted some to wonder whether that automatically equals a conflict of interest.

"I doubt this would even come up if the roles were reversed," said Brown, 54.

Schultz, he said, is her own person and abides by the highest professional standards.

Doug Clifton, editor of The Plain Dealer, pointed out that Schultz doesn't have a reporting beat, which would be more cause for concern. Nor does her work appear on the Forum page. He does not plan to police the content of her columns. The two have already agreed that it would be inappropriate for her to cover topics when her husband is debating them on the floor or voting on relevant legislation. Beyond that, it's business as usual.

Her first column will appear Friday. She has no idea what the subject will be. No doubt, whatever story she tells, it will please her fans and provoke her critics.

Her return strangely was announced in Monday’s PD as a “Special to the Plain Dealer” by Laura Taxel, a freelance writer in Cleveland Hieghts.