If Sherrod Brown runs for president, he faces a steep path to the nomination. Here's how he could win it.

It will take more than a rumpled suit for Sen. Sherrod Brown to get the Democratic nod to run for president.

The Ohio senator has said he will decide in March whether to join the long line of Democratic candidates forming to challenge President Donald Trump next year.

The path to the nomination might seem steep for Brown. In the next month, he will find out how steep.

Today in Cleveland he kicks off his so-called "Dignity of Work" tour of the early presidential caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

While Brown is a household name in Ohio, few know him outside of the state. A Quinnipiac poll in December showed 77 percent of voters across the nation didn't know enough about Brown to have an opinion. Another December poll of Iowa Democrats showed 69 percent of the respondents with no opinion of Brown.

The Enquirer talked to experts and party activists in some of the states where Brown will travel to.

There are plenty of reasons why Brown won't win the nomination:

His 40-year career as an elected official will saddle him with the dreaded "career politician" label.

He's a middle-aged man running against many well-known women candidates at a time when many Democrats want a woman candidate.

He'll compete against many more well-known candidates.

But he also has many strengths.

Here are three reasons why Brown could win the Democratic presidential nomination:

More: Who is Sherrod Brown? 5 things to know about the Ohio Democrat who could face President Trump

Large field gives Brown time

Many Democratic political veterans haven't made up their minds who to support. That might work to Brown's advantage.

Among the undecided Democrats is Coralville, Iowa resident Sue Dvorsky.

The anxiety surrounding the 2020 election is unlike anything Dvorsky has ever experienced in politics. The former school teacher has lived and breathed Iowa politics for decades. She married her husband, State Senator Bob Dvorsky, during the 1988 Iowa caucus season. They supported different candidates.

She campaigned for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and served as the Iowa Democratic chair from 2010 to 2012.

But she doesn't remember a time as rancorous as this, something she blames on Trump.

"The current occupant of the White House has made an entire political career, and I put political career in quotes, in ginning up fear and anxiety in all kinds of ways," Dvorsky said.

Dvorsky said she normally decides early on who she'll support for the Democratic nomination. Not this year. The stakes are too high, she said.

"I've always been an early decider," Dvorsky said. "I'm purposely not doing that this year. You have to have that conversation and take your time on this. There's no rush to getting this done."

She's not alone. Most Democrats and left-leaning independents didn't have a favorite candidate yet, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted Jan. 21-24.

When asked who they would support for the Democratic presidential nomination, 56 percent didn't name someone. Of the possible candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden got the most support, with nine percent of the Democratic-leaning respondents preferring him. Brown didn't even register with one percent.

The low numbers shouldn't discourage Brown, experts said. As long as no clear front runner emerges early, Brown has time to make himself known, said David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati.

"Some of those big stars get in each others' way," Niven said. "That leaves room for the candidate who can develop a passionate following, if not the biggest following."

Ability to win in a red state helps his case

Pretty much everything in politics comes down to Trump. That's especially true in the Democratic Primary in 2020.

Yes, the Democratic candidates will be running against each other in the primary, not the president. Yes they will debate policy ideas like immigration or Medicare for all.

But whoever demonstrates the best chance to beat Trump will win, Democrats told The Enquirer.

"When it comes to the issues, most Democrats agree on 90 percent of the issues," said Kathy Sullivan, an attorney in Manchester New Hampshire. She served as the New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman from 1999-2007 and is currently on the Democratic National Committee. "It becomes a matter of who is the candidate who can win."

For Brown, his success in Ohio could help him make that case.

Brown's rumpled style of populism has played well in Appalachian and industrial areas of Ohio, a state where the Republican Party controls both houses of the legislature and holds all statewide elected offices.

Trump won Ohio by eight percentage points in 2016.

"It is interesting the fact that he can get elected in Ohio, where we know it's tough for Dems statewide," Sullivan said.

Follow Jimmy Carter's example

Brown could look for inspiration to another Democrat who came out of obscurity to win the presidency.

When peanut farmer and Georgia governor Jimmy Carter announced he would run for president in 1974, not many noticed.

Outside of Georgia, no one really knew who Carter was.

He traveled to Iowa and went door-to-door through the farmlands and small towns. It paid off. Carter stunned the political establishment and made national headlines in 1976 by winning the Iowa caucus en route to becoming the 39th president.

Brown, who's down-to-earth charm has helped him connect with the working class in his home state, has similarities to Carter, said Niven.

"Carter didn't have a national profile but was able to connect in the living rooms and town centers across Iowa," Niven said.

By senatorial standards, Brown is blue collar. His estimated wealth in 2015 of $599,000 ranked 80th out of 100 senators, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Carter in the Democratic Primary was able to contrast his peanut farmer folksiness with the impeachment and corruption of President Richard Nixon's administration, Niven said.

"Carter was someone who was a small town guy, living a modest life," Niven said.

The Enquirer's Jessie Balmert and Meg Vogel will be at Sen. Brown's announcement Wednesday night in Cleveland. Follow @Jbalmert and @megVogelphoto for updates.