Thursday, August 29, 2013

Is Sen Rob Portman (R-OH) quietly building support for a 2016 presidential run?

The New York Times has assigned a reporter full time to cover former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and she has not even announced she will run for president in 2016. 
Vice President Joe Biden has made big news with his announcement that next month he will attend a major Democratic Party event in Iowa, the state that will hold the first major presidential caucus in 2016. 
The Wall Street Journal published a glowing profile this month of Gov. John Kasich and mentioned him as a possible Republican presidential candidate. 
Freshman Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who until a few days ago held dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, renounced his Canadian citizenship. Why was that necessary? Because the Constitution says that only a “natural born” citizen can be elected president.
A new poll shows that freshman Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey are leading in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary. 
But so far, nobody seems to be paying much attention to another potential Republican candidate: Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. He hasn’t even reached “oh, by the way” status in national stories. 
Nor is that likely to change any time soon. Portman has made one trip to New Hampshire, the state that holds its primary just after Iowa’s caucuses. But he offered up the semi-plausible excuse that he appeared at a GOP fundraiser in the state while on his way to celebrate his 35 {+t}{+h} class reunion at Dartmouth College.
Since then, he has stayed below the radar screen and devoted his energies to raising millions of dollars to help elect Senate Republicans in the 2014 off-year elections. 
“The key is he’s doing what all the others want to be doing which is talking to the (campaign contribution) bundlers every day, and he’s talking to them about taking back the Senate and building those relationships,” said one Republican consultant who spoke only on condition of anonymity. “They’ll be quite happy if they take back the Senate.” 
So try this scenario: The Republicans win enough seats to take control of the Senate. Who gets the credit? Well, Portman for one.
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18 comments:

Ohio JOE said...

He might be building support, but I certainly would not vote for him.

Right Wingnut said...

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz......zzzzzzzzzz

Joel2013 said...

Good luck with that one. Not going to happen even with Romneyman asleep at the wheel.

RomneyMan said...

I actually agree with RWN

Hillary v Rob Portman lol

Anonymous said...

I could and would support Portman before the 8month wonderboy or any number of pretend wannabe candidates.
Ellie.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Ellie -

That's because you're a RINO, just like Rob Portman.

Another career politician like Portman is the LAST thing we need in the White House.

Ted Cruz - your "8-month wonder boy" - has the 3 most important qualities necessary to be a very successful POTUS: supreme intelligence, extraordinary communication skills and remarkable courage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz

Anonymous said...

I'm with Ellie, though I do not know all that much about Portman. I don't know much about Cruz either, except that he likes attention.

Portman has as much standing to run as anyone, and he's far more qualified than Cruz or Paul.

Newark, I see no reason to hurl insults at Ellie for merely expressing her opinion.

Plus, Ellie is not more a RINO than you are.

-Martha

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Martha -

Calling me a "RINO" shows that you don't even know what the word means.

Ted Cruz - who I obviously support - is widely regarded as one of the most conservative Senators in the nation, if not THE most conservative.

Rob Portman is not. Not even close.

Next time, Martha, THINK before commenting.

Anonymous said...

Newark, read more carefully. I didn't call you a RINO. I said that Ellie was no more a RINO than you are. Which mean I don't think either one of you are RINOS, and it's pointless to call anyone that anyway.

Plus, I don't even support Portman, but I do think he has a right to run, that he is a decent and accomplished man who would represent Republican/conservative thought very well. He's not perfect, but then no one is. Not even Cruz. He's a huge loose canon and also untested in real water. Who knows, he may yet convince me, but I'm not holding my breath.

-Martha

-Martha

Ohio JOE said...

"Portman has as much standing to run as anyone, and he's far more qualified than Cruz or Paul." What in the world has Mr. Portman done to make him more qualified???

Anonymous said...

OJ, well he has been in Congress a lot longer than Cruz (over 10 years I think), but maybe that's not saying much! You know a lot more about him than I do though, I'm sure.

Newark, the ACU gave him an 87. That doesn't spell RINO to me.

I think the problem is that he's not bombastic, and apparently these days, that means moderate.

2016: I'm not looking forward to more smearing of decent people by the crowd that likes to throw stink bombs and burn down houses.

-Martha

Ohio JOE said...

Well, politically, he is nether a RINO nor an anti-RINO. He is part of the old anti-Kasich establishment in Ohio. I am not throwing stink bombs, but if you are going to stand there and jump up and down and say how Mr. Cruz and Dr. Paul and Mr. Rubio are not qualified, I'd like to know what qualifies Mr. Portman. Yes, he was a Congressman and a good one at that, but as a Senator, he has not done anything to impress anybody. Frankly, he has accomplished little.

Anonymous said...

OJ, I don't think you are throwing stink bombs. Plus, I don't necessarily think Cruz, Paul and Rubio are not qualified. I do think they all need more time to season, though. Being a senator less than a year or two and running for pres is premature, IMO.

It's a little different for governors though, because the job is actually a job. So a gov of 2 years would have more credibility in my mind.

Glad to hear that Portman was a good congressman. I think he's a decent man who shouldn't be branded as a RINO.

-Martha

Ohio JOE said...

"It's a little different for governors though, ....." Mr. Portman has never been a Governor nor held statewide office neither has he been Senator for a long time. He is not an exciting speaker either. I know there is some talk about Mr. Portman running, but I doubt he will run. He is a 7th tier candidate. Mr. Kasich is a 6th tier candidate and would at least might be able to win one delegate in Ohio, but I doubt he will even run for President anyway either.

Anonymous said...

OJ, yes I know he was not a gov. I didn't mean to imply that. I was talking generally.

And I also doubt he will run. That's why I thought Newark's comments were unnecessary.

I'm also less impressed with Kasich than I used to be. What do you think about him?

-Martha

Ohio JOE said...

Yes, I am less impressed with Mr. Kasich than I used to be, but I am still impressed with him overall. Overall, he is a man of the people and his Right Wing economic policies have helped the state stay afloat while other states in the union are suffering.

There are two items that has caused many Conservatives to be angry at him. To a certain extent, one can argue these 2 items from both points of view. On the Energy tax, I actually agree with Mr. Kasich over others on the Right because overall, Energy taxes are still low in Ohio. However, I stand with other Rightists against Mr. Kasich on the MediCaid issue even though I understand his reasoning to a point. In short I am not nearly as angry with him as I am at other Republicans and I imagine that I will vote for him and campaign for him again. Unlike others, he put the Buckeye state in high regards and I am pround of him. Lowere taxes are also a good thing. And for good measure, he has cracked down on human trafficers and Abortionists. Finally, he has increased the speed limit slightly on some highway allowing the people the freedom to drive faster.

Anonymous said...

OJ, interesting, thanks. Would you support him if he ran in 2016?

-Martha

Right Wingnut said...

I have serious issues with Kasich. He said Medicaid expansion was a "moral" obligation. Sounds like something Obama would say. I had no problem with him until I heard about that.