When Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman stepped up to the podium at the
Akron Press Club luncheon, the well-behaved partisan audience got a closeup of the prototypical Un-Trump.
Casual open collar, lean, unthreatening, a sweep of gray hair betraying his boyish manner, a regular guy - all of it Un-Trump evidence of his selfie as a "Common Sense Conservative".
As it happened, even his speech as the candidate for reelection against former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland followed the safest route, narrowly content to tell us what everyone in the room already knew: Good grief. There's a drug crises in the land.
It wasn't until some questions from the audience led him down the unscripted off-ramp that we heard, if only briefly, that he wants to delay the nomination of Merrick Garland - a highly qualified jurist, says Portman - because it would be "better for the country". Better than what? His practiced imprecision can throw the unsuspecting.
There's more to fill out the image, unspoken. Un-Trump Portman is still the same guy who voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Vigorous pro-life supporter. Opponent of protection of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. Climate denier. Insists on repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with something or other.
Don't get me started on the Common Sense Conservative who had tagged along with Mitt Romney throughout swing-state Ohio leading the political gurus to assume that he was in line for the vice presidency.
There are times when it would be fair to say that,as I occasionally read on my computer, his message has no content.
That's an Un-Trump for you.
His Press Club audience seemed unmoved by his speech, offering no more than muted applause at the end.
For once I could agree with that particular group.
Showing posts with label Rob Portman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rob Portman. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The GOP Bottom feeders are in full voice
Since the earliest moments when Barack Obama - he of the darker skin - entered the Oval Office, the bottom feeders of the Republican Party have denied that he was elected by The People. Nearly two terms later, they're still at it with Sen. Mitch McConnell providing the hapless face of his political class.
Never has that been more evident than their hollowed-out opposition to a replacement in the President's final year in office. The orchestrated off-key reaction to Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court the morning after Tuesday's round of primaries revived the notion that Obama somehow mythically botched the U.S Constitution by stealing into the office when the voters weren't looking.
With McConnell leading the choir, his senators chanted that the next court appointment should come from The People,. a majority of whom have already spoken in favor of appointment this year. In his own humorless way, the Senate leader continues to be staring at the shadowy walls of Plato's cave.
Crouching forward as the Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus mumbled that Obama was doing a "disservice" to the voters by trying to upstage the next president. Priebus, who seldom makes sense in his responses to easy questions, accused Obama of attempting to "tip the balance of the court with a liberal justice in the eleventh hour of his presidency" .
And Ohio Sen . Rob Portman, who insists he's a "commonsense " conservative, opposed an appointment his year - a year in which his own job will be severely tested by former Ohio Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. "I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people and allow them to weigh in on the issue". "Weighing in", of course, is something Portman, whose greatest strength is piloting the Koch brothers ship in Ohio, is rarely inclined to do.
Folks, these bottom feeders are not only intellectually corrupt but rather just plain politically stupid. And they wonder how Donald Trump has gotten this far!
Never has that been more evident than their hollowed-out opposition to a replacement in the President's final year in office. The orchestrated off-key reaction to Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court the morning after Tuesday's round of primaries revived the notion that Obama somehow mythically botched the U.S Constitution by stealing into the office when the voters weren't looking.
With McConnell leading the choir, his senators chanted that the next court appointment should come from The People,. a majority of whom have already spoken in favor of appointment this year. In his own humorless way, the Senate leader continues to be staring at the shadowy walls of Plato's cave.
Crouching forward as the Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus mumbled that Obama was doing a "disservice" to the voters by trying to upstage the next president. Priebus, who seldom makes sense in his responses to easy questions, accused Obama of attempting to "tip the balance of the court with a liberal justice in the eleventh hour of his presidency" .
And Ohio Sen . Rob Portman, who insists he's a "commonsense " conservative, opposed an appointment his year - a year in which his own job will be severely tested by former Ohio Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. "I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people and allow them to weigh in on the issue". "Weighing in", of course, is something Portman, whose greatest strength is piloting the Koch brothers ship in Ohio, is rarely inclined to do.
Folks, these bottom feeders are not only intellectually corrupt but rather just plain politically stupid. And they wonder how Donald Trump has gotten this far!
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The enigmas of Rob Portman
Aside to Rob Portman, Ohio's tag-along Republican senator:
Dear Rob: In your lame attempt to explain your opposition to President Obama nominating a successor to Antonin Scalia you said:
"I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in on who should make a lifetime appointment that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations."
A majority of Americans have already weighed in, twice, by electing Barack Obama. It was in all of the papers.
Dear Rob: In your lame attempt to explain your opposition to President Obama nominating a successor to Antonin Scalia you said:
"I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in on who should make a lifetime appointment that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations."
A majority of Americans have already weighed in, twice, by electing Barack Obama. It was in all of the papers.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Portman says he would tag along with Trump
Ohio's tag-along Republican Sen. Rob Portman says he fully intends to support Donald Trump if the demonizing carnival barker is the nominee.
If so, I have a vision of him in workaday apparel tagging along at Trump's side across Ohio, just as the senator did in 2012 with Mitt Romney. Who knows in this crazy crowd whether Portman might be thinking veep, although you have to wonder whether Trump would want anybody so meek and mild sharing the center ring with him.
But you must also wonder why Portman committed himself so early to any choice.
He's facing a tough challenge from ex-Democratic Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in the 2016 Senate race even though the Koch Brothers have claimed the senator's obedience to their causes by chipping in $1.4 million for an early media blitz.
It's Ohio, I know, a swing state, if not swinging state, where GOP candidates take no chances in the Big Picture.
Remember that Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine jumped ship on Romney in 2012 in mid-campaign and endorsed Rick Santorum. The AG decided Rick was going to win, a thought that Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff probably shared with him while inviting Santorum to be the star of a big county Republican fundraiser. The chairman even staged his poll of the feeders at the event and boasted that Santorum had virtually run the table.
P.S. As long as we've mentioned the Republican-style Summit fund-raisers, one even hosted Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Ultra Conservative U.
S. House Freedom Caucus. Keep in mind that Jordan is now threatening to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood.
He's facing a tough challenge from ex-Democratic Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in the 2016 Senate race even though the Koch Brothers have claimed the senator's obedience to their causes by chipping in $1.4 million for an early media blitz.
It's Ohio, I know, a swing state, if not swinging state, where GOP candidates take no chances in the Big Picture.
Remember that Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine jumped ship on Romney in 2012 in mid-campaign and endorsed Rick Santorum. The AG decided Rick was going to win, a thought that Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff probably shared with him while inviting Santorum to be the star of a big county Republican fundraiser. The chairman even staged his poll of the feeders at the event and boasted that Santorum had virtually run the table.
P.S. As long as we've mentioned the Republican-style Summit fund-raisers, one even hosted Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Ultra Conservative U.
S. House Freedom Caucus. Keep in mind that Jordan is now threatening to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Will this turtle lay an egg, too?
As most people probably know, turtles - among the slowest moving creatures - lay eggs. Even slower, however, is the GOP Senate boss who has now stalled a vote on Loretta Lynch for attorney general for more than 5 months because of a sex trafficking bill held back by anti-abortion politics.
But while the Senate turtle is having his say to prove that Republicans clearly know how to govern, he could wind up laying his own egg by inciting the wrath of his opponents.
But his stone-walling has been shared so far by Ohio Sen.Rob Portman, who will only say he's still "weighing whether to vote on the bill." Five months, Rob! Five months!.
Between McConnell and Portman, I would have to think about it a long time before giving either one the edge for procrastination. Portman already is being targeted by women's and minority groups. ( By the way, that's the turtle below.)
But while the Senate turtle is having his say to prove that Republicans clearly know how to govern, he could wind up laying his own egg by inciting the wrath of his opponents.
But his stone-walling has been shared so far by Ohio Sen.Rob Portman, who will only say he's still "weighing whether to vote on the bill." Five months, Rob! Five months!.
Between McConnell and Portman, I would have to think about it a long time before giving either one the edge for procrastination. Portman already is being targeted by women's and minority groups. ( By the way, that's the turtle below.)
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Strickland-Portman poll: Early, yes. But...
Plunderbund is reporting that a new Quinnipiac Ohio poll gives former Democratic
Gov. Ted Strickland a comfortable 48-39 percent lead over Republican Sen. Rob Portman in the 2016 race. Remembering that early polls can be as fickle as April weather, it is still interesting that Portman, once the rising GOP star and budget advisor to George W. Bush, is bringing up the rear. Among independents, Strickland leads 50-32!
Although the Cincinnatian spent a lot of time in 2012 tagging along with Mitt Romney in casual togs in the so-called Swing State, he didn't get the nod for veep - but as these things go, he did draw the attention of the Columbus Dispatch as potential (along with Gov. Kasich) presidential material.
Trouble is, the several newspapers enamored of Portman's blurry self-described "common sense conservatism" weren't able to project him beyond his current job. My hunch is that with the exception of the party apparatchiks looking to fill a seat on the dais, few folks in northern Ohio can pick him out of a crowd.
Gov. Ted Strickland a comfortable 48-39 percent lead over Republican Sen. Rob Portman in the 2016 race. Remembering that early polls can be as fickle as April weather, it is still interesting that Portman, once the rising GOP star and budget advisor to George W. Bush, is bringing up the rear. Among independents, Strickland leads 50-32!
Although the Cincinnatian spent a lot of time in 2012 tagging along with Mitt Romney in casual togs in the so-called Swing State, he didn't get the nod for veep - but as these things go, he did draw the attention of the Columbus Dispatch as potential (along with Gov. Kasich) presidential material.
Trouble is, the several newspapers enamored of Portman's blurry self-described "common sense conservatism" weren't able to project him beyond his current job. My hunch is that with the exception of the party apparatchiks looking to fill a seat on the dais, few folks in northern Ohio can pick him out of a crowd.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Dispatch rapid-response team fuels presidential speculation
NOTES FROM THE SECOND MORNING AFTER...
Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.
In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".
Smashing? But only if you merely consider the raw numbers after the governor ran up the score against Ed FitzGerald's posthumous campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord. You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money. On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.
To speculation about his future, Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing the question. He said he's not "thinking about the future''. As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors", a process that could take months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.
Meantime, let the speculation roll.
Political experts quoted in the story agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left in his tenure following the 2008 election.
A cautionary footnote: The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin went for Obama.
* * * * *
More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh? With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?
* * * * *
While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated his Republican opponent, Jack Schron, for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron. The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan". And for years I thought that partisanship was high up on the to-do list of a politician!
* * * * *
Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare: "One of these days the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":
.
Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.
In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".
Smashing? But only if you merely consider the raw numbers after the governor ran up the score against Ed FitzGerald's posthumous campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord. You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money. On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.
To speculation about his future, Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing the question. He said he's not "thinking about the future''. As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors", a process that could take months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.
Meantime, let the speculation roll.
Political experts quoted in the story agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left in his tenure following the 2008 election.
A cautionary footnote: The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin went for Obama.
* * * * *
More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh? With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?
* * * * *
While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated his Republican opponent, Jack Schron, for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron. The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan". And for years I thought that partisanship was high up on the to-do list of a politician!
* * * * *
Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare: "One of these days the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":
.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The Republican massacre of Summit County districts
As you might have suspected, Summit County's two Republican congressmen voted against the debt ceiling increase while the county's two Democrats supported the clean bill offered by House Speaker John Boehner. The nays were Rep. Jim Renacci and Rep. David Joyce; the yeas, Rep. Tim Ryan and Rep. Marcia Fudge.
About Joyce: Wasn't he the guy who succeeded Steve LaTourette and billed as a moderate in the mode of his predecessor? We're still waiting, folks. Renacci, meanwhile, has been a perfect fit for the Tea Party.
Since the congressional districts were mercilessly gerrymandered by Republicans, Summit County's bizarre carving have left us with four congressmen who don't have homes in the county. (For comparison's sake, Gaul had only three parts.) Religious scholars might call it penance for the sin for long harboring the late John Seiberling back when the liberal Democrat represented the entire county.
Today, Renacci calls Wadsworth home; Fudge, Warrensville Hgts; Joyce, Russell Townshp in Geauga County, and Ryan, Howland ( near Warren).
On the map, the four new districts are virtually indescribable, appearing as though they fell off a truck. Look for yourself.
* * * * *
Sen. Rob Portman can't be feeling too chipper these days. The latest Public Policy Poll revealed the Ohio Republican is taking a heavy shelling from voters for his vote against extending unemployment insurance. The PPP figures say 51 pct. of the Buckeye voters are now less likely to vote for him; only 27 pct. more likely.
According to the pollster, Portman, a passive sort of pol, is "pretty undefined with voters right now. 36 pct. have no opinion one way or the other, with only 28 pct. approving of him to 35 pct. who disapprove. He doesnt have the kind of politlcal capital stored up that lets you vote against something more than 60 pct. of your constituents support."
As I've mentioned before, one of Portman's favorite responses when the other side doesn't agree with his position is that he's disappointed. In the wake of the PPP poll, he has a lot to be disappointed about.
UPDATE: Portman voted NO on cutting off debate to raise debt limit, defying Senate minority leader McConnell; Ohio's Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown voted yea. Measure passed handily. If it had failed, it could have led to another government shutdown. Way to go, Rob!
About Joyce: Wasn't he the guy who succeeded Steve LaTourette and billed as a moderate in the mode of his predecessor? We're still waiting, folks. Renacci, meanwhile, has been a perfect fit for the Tea Party.
Since the congressional districts were mercilessly gerrymandered by Republicans, Summit County's bizarre carving have left us with four congressmen who don't have homes in the county. (For comparison's sake, Gaul had only three parts.) Religious scholars might call it penance for the sin for long harboring the late John Seiberling back when the liberal Democrat represented the entire county.
Today, Renacci calls Wadsworth home; Fudge, Warrensville Hgts; Joyce, Russell Townshp in Geauga County, and Ryan, Howland ( near Warren).
On the map, the four new districts are virtually indescribable, appearing as though they fell off a truck. Look for yourself.
* * * * *
Sen. Rob Portman can't be feeling too chipper these days. The latest Public Policy Poll revealed the Ohio Republican is taking a heavy shelling from voters for his vote against extending unemployment insurance. The PPP figures say 51 pct. of the Buckeye voters are now less likely to vote for him; only 27 pct. more likely.
According to the pollster, Portman, a passive sort of pol, is "pretty undefined with voters right now. 36 pct. have no opinion one way or the other, with only 28 pct. approving of him to 35 pct. who disapprove. He doesnt have the kind of politlcal capital stored up that lets you vote against something more than 60 pct. of your constituents support."
As I've mentioned before, one of Portman's favorite responses when the other side doesn't agree with his position is that he's disappointed. In the wake of the PPP poll, he has a lot to be disappointed about.
UPDATE: Portman voted NO on cutting off debate to raise debt limit, defying Senate minority leader McConnell; Ohio's Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown voted yea. Measure passed handily. If it had failed, it could have led to another government shutdown. Way to go, Rob!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Jim Petro joins the pro- gay-marriage cause
Last year, my daughter Corbin married Jessica Gelman in Massachusetts, where same-gender marriages are legal. They are expecting a child soon, and deserve the same protections guaranteed to other families. Seeing their happiness, and realizing all the rights they would be denied here in Ohio has proven to me the importance of equal marriage in our state"Referring to FreedomOhio's grass-roots initiative for an amendment to kill the gay marriage ban in the Ohio, Petro said;
"I'm thoroughly convinced that bringing marriage equality to Ohio is the right thing to do. This amendment is rooted in a central conservative value, namely, freedom - the freedom to love, the freedom of religion, and the freedom from big government. I am proud to endorse the amendment."Good, Jim Petro!
Perhaps it will lead other prominant Republicans to shed their own enmity to the social values that are rapidly changing these days. There are doubtless other social conservatives faced with offspring (or their closeted selves) who could step forward. And at the local level, every county GOP chairman, the field hands of the people in power in Columbus, needs to address the question. So what about it, Alex Arshinkoff? It's 2013, you know.
By the way, Phil Burress, the head of Citizens for Community Values (a conservative Cincinnati group that germinates in southwest Ohio) hissed that Petro has no right to impose his own family values on others. Hey, Phil. Isn't it the other way around? Thought so.
Friday, June 14, 2013
From the new world of Portmania - terrible spelling
I should have known. No sooner had I posted a lament about the abuse that my misspelled surname had suffered over the years, a letter from Sen. Rob Portman arrived to Nancy Zardn. She had prompted the attention of the Ohio Republican's office by writing to him with a complaint about Sen. Poutman's opposition to background gun checks.
In a standard form letter rejecting her plea for sanity, Sen. Porter repeated all of the things that he has been saying publicly to defend his troubled position, i.e., background gun checks are useless and we need instead to do more research on gun violence.
Like all of the others in the grasp of the National Rifle Assn.,the good Sen. Portnoy has yet to calculate the number of new victims of such gun violence will claim in the years - if ever - that it will take for the best minds to find a clue to societal mayhem.
But he did want Nancy to know that he has supported amendments to make sure that the mentally ill will get treatment. He didn't say how we will know who they are if they are not checked before they buy a gun?
Sen. Poorman does show more concern for the deadening effect of gun laws on "most private sales and private transfers of guns".
Huh? All the while Portmania is setting in with the friendly Ohio media for a divine
soft-spoken Republican who looks like a Republican to seek the presidency in 2016, even if he nearly always sounds like a mild-mannered open-collar public information officer of the Tea Party.
I mentioned earlier that one pundit even wrote that Sen. Portals had a "strong resume".
But it remains to be seen whether his mimeograph machine will ever be updated to learn how to spell people's names. By the way, Sen. Poobah, it's Nancy Zaidan - as in Zaidan. .
In a standard form letter rejecting her plea for sanity, Sen. Porter repeated all of the things that he has been saying publicly to defend his troubled position, i.e., background gun checks are useless and we need instead to do more research on gun violence.
Like all of the others in the grasp of the National Rifle Assn.,the good Sen. Portnoy has yet to calculate the number of new victims of such gun violence will claim in the years - if ever - that it will take for the best minds to find a clue to societal mayhem.
But he did want Nancy to know that he has supported amendments to make sure that the mentally ill will get treatment. He didn't say how we will know who they are if they are not checked before they buy a gun?
Sen. Poorman does show more concern for the deadening effect of gun laws on "most private sales and private transfers of guns".
Huh? All the while Portmania is setting in with the friendly Ohio media for a divine
soft-spoken Republican who looks like a Republican to seek the presidency in 2016, even if he nearly always sounds like a mild-mannered open-collar public information officer of the Tea Party.
I mentioned earlier that one pundit even wrote that Sen. Portals had a "strong resume".
But it remains to be seen whether his mimeograph machine will ever be updated to learn how to spell people's names. By the way, Sen. Poobah, it's Nancy Zaidan - as in Zaidan. .
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Portman collecting style points in...New Hampshire
SAVE THE DATE. Friday, June 14. ( Flag Day.) Where: Salem, New Hampshire. What: Republican Party private fund-raiser. Time: After sundown. Cost: $250 a ticket. Celebrity guests: Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
Let the speculation begin on connecting the dots. Or as the Columbus Dispatch told us about its favorite senator, Portman is "considered a possible presidential hopeful." Or not.
It gets better, but not much. A Portman spokesman said his boss "reached out" to Ayotte to tell her he would be in the state for a Dartmouth College reunion. So she asked him to host the fund-raiser. For the Ohioan, a fund-raiser is one way to collect good-buddy style points when dreaming of a better job. Particularly in New Hampshire, which breaks the ice for the remaining presidential campaign.
Portman and Ayotte's most recent collaboration saw them both voting against the background check gun bill. Up, up and away...
Let the speculation begin on connecting the dots. Or as the Columbus Dispatch told us about its favorite senator, Portman is "considered a possible presidential hopeful." Or not.
It gets better, but not much. A Portman spokesman said his boss "reached out" to Ayotte to tell her he would be in the state for a Dartmouth College reunion. So she asked him to host the fund-raiser. For the Ohioan, a fund-raiser is one way to collect good-buddy style points when dreaming of a better job. Particularly in New Hampshire, which breaks the ice for the remaining presidential campaign.
Portman and Ayotte's most recent collaboration saw them both voting against the background check gun bill. Up, up and away...
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Next GOP chief: blessed or not a dime's difference?
THURSDAY'S WASH:
Today's book-length profile of Tea Partyer Tom Zawistowski in the Beacon Journal even overwhelmed the return of Mike Brown to the Cavaliers, who merited no more than a front-page blip directing the readers to the sports page.
The latest threat to the GOP establishment, Zawistowski has decided to offer himself up as a candidate for the chairmanship in a showdown with Matt Borges, whom the party's front office had projected as a replacement for Bob Bennett. But new concerns about Borges arose among the Party's moral compasses when it was learned that their man owed more than $161,000 in federal taxes.
On the other hand, his challenger, who is from Portage County, said he was urged by local party officials to rescue the older party from its certain fate. He has the typical Tea Party profile, including his expressed opposition to the bailout of General Motors.
Enough of that. I was more interested in the skittish responses to BJ inquiries from two of the most prominent GOP locals regarding their preference in this historic clash. County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff said he wants whatever Gov. Kasich and the four state officeholders want, whomever that may be.(Guess!) And then Lauren LaRose, a Republican central committeewoman and wife of State Sen. Frank LaRose, offered still more perspective on the party's untidy situation. She thought the party was "blessed to have two good candidates for chaiman". But she thought the better of the blessed would be Borges as "the best fit to lead our party". Even with the tax lien.
* * * * *
Speaking of Mike Brown, he was replaced by Byron Scott a couple of years ago for not winning a championship with LeBron James on the floor. So now we have more to add to the Cleveland athletic teams' revolving doors, through which an endless number of coaches and managers come and go. Mike Brown is now back to replace a fired coach (who replaced him when he was fired.) Owner Dan Gilbert , however, says Brown, a former Coach of the Year winner, should not have been fired in the first place. Go figure.
* * * * *
The fallout from some Republican senators who voted against the background check law is getting serious. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has seen her approval rating drop 15 points. And Sen. Rob Portman is drawing a lot of heat in the letters I've seen from his hometown area of Cincinnati.. Some of this miscalculation by the Ayottes and Portmans has the taint of the Iraq invasion apologists like Dick Cheney , who declared the U.S. would be recognized as saviors in a war that might not last more than a few monthe. Portman, a positive thinker, says background checks are useless, which is what the NRA says,which is not what 90 pct. of the public says.
Today's book-length profile of Tea Partyer Tom Zawistowski in the Beacon Journal even overwhelmed the return of Mike Brown to the Cavaliers, who merited no more than a front-page blip directing the readers to the sports page.
The latest threat to the GOP establishment, Zawistowski has decided to offer himself up as a candidate for the chairmanship in a showdown with Matt Borges, whom the party's front office had projected as a replacement for Bob Bennett. But new concerns about Borges arose among the Party's moral compasses when it was learned that their man owed more than $161,000 in federal taxes.
On the other hand, his challenger, who is from Portage County, said he was urged by local party officials to rescue the older party from its certain fate. He has the typical Tea Party profile, including his expressed opposition to the bailout of General Motors.
Enough of that. I was more interested in the skittish responses to BJ inquiries from two of the most prominent GOP locals regarding their preference in this historic clash. County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff said he wants whatever Gov. Kasich and the four state officeholders want, whomever that may be.(Guess!) And then Lauren LaRose, a Republican central committeewoman and wife of State Sen. Frank LaRose, offered still more perspective on the party's untidy situation. She thought the party was "blessed to have two good candidates for chaiman". But she thought the better of the blessed would be Borges as "the best fit to lead our party". Even with the tax lien.
* * * * *
Speaking of Mike Brown, he was replaced by Byron Scott a couple of years ago for not winning a championship with LeBron James on the floor. So now we have more to add to the Cleveland athletic teams' revolving doors, through which an endless number of coaches and managers come and go. Mike Brown is now back to replace a fired coach (who replaced him when he was fired.) Owner Dan Gilbert , however, says Brown, a former Coach of the Year winner, should not have been fired in the first place. Go figure.
* * * * *
The fallout from some Republican senators who voted against the background check law is getting serious. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has seen her approval rating drop 15 points. And Sen. Rob Portman is drawing a lot of heat in the letters I've seen from his hometown area of Cincinnati.. Some of this miscalculation by the Ayottes and Portmans has the taint of the Iraq invasion apologists like Dick Cheney , who declared the U.S. would be recognized as saviors in a war that might not last more than a few monthe. Portman, a positive thinker, says background checks are useless, which is what the NRA says,which is not what 90 pct. of the public says.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Brown and Portman: A tale of two senators
As we continue to plumb the depths of fear among Tea Party-NRA-bullied Republicans, you'll find no better contrast than in your Ohio.Sen. Sherrod Brown, a liberal Democrat, has cast the Tea Party and the NRA to the winds, twice winning his U.S.Senate seat against conservative Republicans - then incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine and again against Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, who ran with King Midas, Karl Rove and Wayne LaPierre at this back.
Now we turn to Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, among the most fearful of a Tea Party challenge, who joined the cavemen in the Senate in voting against the background check bill.Now I ask you , on a scale of one to ten, where do you rank each of these guys on profiles in courage facing the same Ohio voters?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Background vs. backbone: You name it
Now that the defeated background check bill has become an NRA trophy despite 90 pct. public support and a 54-46 majority in the Senate (without Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman's support) , shouldn't we now stop referring to it as a background check and instead call it a "backbone check" for the senators who voted against it?
Sunday, March 17, 2013
A Portman in the (gay- marriage) storm
Sen. Rob Portman, a dutifully faithful inhabitant of the Party of No, said "yes" this week and you would have thought that he had just endorsed universal medicaid even for the one percenters. Instead, he ended his long opposition to gay marriage, thus becoming the first Republican senator to do so. Do we need further evidence that Republicans on Capitol Hill have all arrived from the same hatchery?
Portman, an Ohioan, was clearly influenced to change his mind by the fact that his 21-year-old son Will is gay - a revelation that young Portman advanced to his family a couple of years ago. But it wasn't until lately that Rob finally decided that maybe gay marriage isn't such a ghoulish idea after all now that one's sexual preference is shown to be non-partisan and even all in the family.
The response, as you might expect, has ranged from one end of the political spectrum to the other. Doug Preisse, the gay chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Columbus Dispatch that he is "pleased and proud" of Portman. On the other hand, Speaker John Boehner, who has been in a snit about a lot of things, disagreed with the senator's about-face.
One of the papers that arrives on my breakfast table every morning did see something positive in Portman, declaring in a front-age headline that his new position could mean that he's a Republican "open to change". The analysis by Henry Gomez, the Plain Dealer's politics writer, was largely friendly and even noted that Portman was once the reputed trusted economic advisor to George Bush the Second.
As we rummage through the ruins of Bush's economic catastrophy, I doubt that Portman is eager to be reminded of his role.
It is now fair to ask that if the senator's son weren't gay - as are many sons and daughters across the land - would he be so willing to change his mind? Let me stretch my neck way out and say that in this instance, his new form followed function for Portman as a caring father.
And I doubt he will be left without scars by the social conservatives who control the party at its aorta. Before his announcement, the senator tweeted back on March 8: "Today is the last day of National Invasive Species Awareness Week. It's a great way to focus attention on an important issue for Ohio."
He just did. All the way to his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Portman, an Ohioan, was clearly influenced to change his mind by the fact that his 21-year-old son Will is gay - a revelation that young Portman advanced to his family a couple of years ago. But it wasn't until lately that Rob finally decided that maybe gay marriage isn't such a ghoulish idea after all now that one's sexual preference is shown to be non-partisan and even all in the family.
The response, as you might expect, has ranged from one end of the political spectrum to the other. Doug Preisse, the gay chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Columbus Dispatch that he is "pleased and proud" of Portman. On the other hand, Speaker John Boehner, who has been in a snit about a lot of things, disagreed with the senator's about-face.
One of the papers that arrives on my breakfast table every morning did see something positive in Portman, declaring in a front-age headline that his new position could mean that he's a Republican "open to change". The analysis by Henry Gomez, the Plain Dealer's politics writer, was largely friendly and even noted that Portman was once the reputed trusted economic advisor to George Bush the Second.
As we rummage through the ruins of Bush's economic catastrophy, I doubt that Portman is eager to be reminded of his role.
It is now fair to ask that if the senator's son weren't gay - as are many sons and daughters across the land - would he be so willing to change his mind? Let me stretch my neck way out and say that in this instance, his new form followed function for Portman as a caring father.
And I doubt he will be left without scars by the social conservatives who control the party at its aorta. Before his announcement, the senator tweeted back on March 8: "Today is the last day of National Invasive Species Awareness Week. It's a great way to focus attention on an important issue for Ohio."
He just did. All the way to his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Portman checking with Tea Party on matters of state
"I don't agree with everything he does," Littleton told Hallett, "but I'm pleased with his approach to every problem" Read: When Tea Partyers say nice things about somebody, he's their guy.
Portman, a Republican once known as a harmless right-leaning centrist, has been drawing renewed attention since his bid to be Mitt Romney's running mate came up empty. (Maybe the Mitties thought he was a tad too dull despite his credentials as a senator from a battleground state. Or maybe they were skittish about his work as George W. Bush's budget director and let's not go into that.)
Since then, Portman has emerged as anything but the middle-of-the roader that he promised to be when he ran for the Senate. He has joined the GOP goon squad filibustering President Obama's nomination of a highly qualified woman - Xenia native Caitlin Halligan - to the appellate court of the District of Columbia because, um...she's a "judicial activist".(When Republicans can't find anything scarier to say about a judicial nominee, they put their pennies into the machine and out pops "judicial activist".)
Oh, Portman has also walked away from fellow Ohioan Richard Cordray, opposing Cordray's recess appointment as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because he doesn't like the Bureau's consumer mission.
I've written about Portman's developing taste for right-wing issues several times merely to call attention to his dual brand as a moderate and now a Teabagger. Hallett mentions that Portman could be shoring up his credits with the Republican wild side to run for president in 2016. We can hope.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Meet the "moderate" Rob Portman
Oh. That Rob Portman? Right.
I know it's hard to keep track of him unless you're a political junkie. As an un-showy Mr. Plain, he prefers to remain below the radar. Ohio's doting newspapers seldom report his votes on major issues, which is doubtless why even the national media have described him as a political moderate, or a "center-rightest''. All of which gives the senator cover to act while he's still locked in to his days as a congressman representing his conservative district in Southwestern Ohio.
Whether it's gun control, abortion rights, a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage and a host of other way-over issues, you'll find him voting with the extreme right. Just this week he voted to hold up Chuck Hagel's nomination. Portman says he wants more facts on Benghazi. That, of course, joins the Republican fishing expedition that merely delays an up-or-down vote.
Moderate? Centrist, when the Party of No needs to pull away from the fringe? Show me.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
PolitiFact: Here lies the biggest 2012 lie
In short, he claimed that Chrysler would cost American workers their jobs by moving its Jeep production to China. PolitiFact described his campaign ads as "brazenly false". So did Chrysler's front office. (An Italian company that has controlling interest in Chrysler said that although China will start building Jeeps, it would have absolutely no effect on Jeep production in the U.S., which, in fact, is expanding.)
That wasn't good enough for Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, one of Romney's top advisors, who's waving to you in the above photo. He went on CNN just before the election to defend the political handiwork. "I thought it was an important ad to run,'" Portman said in an effort to convince Ohio voters that President Obama was destroying the company in America.
But he added: "It doesn't mean that we'll have fewer jobs here, because hopefully our market will improve here as well, particularly under Mitt Romney if we get an expanding economy"
While we're at it, Talking Points Memo listed all of the Republicans on Capitol Hill who have pulled away from the Grover Norquist tax pledge. There is only one Ohio Republican , retiring Rep. Steve LaTourette, who originally signed it, then backed off. Portman remains firmly on the signers list.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Rob Portman heading for the Twilight Zone?
What...What in the world did Ohio Sen. Rob Portman have in mind when he joined 37 other Republican senators, a majority of whom were from southern states, in opposing U.S. support for a United Nations Disabilities Treaty? I mean, even John McCain and a wheel-chair bound ex-Sen. Bob Dole (pitifully rolled onto the Senate floor for moral support) favored the measure.
Maybe I read too many articles about Portman being a calm and deliberative nice guy from Cincinnati who was Mitt Romney's cupbearer throughout the campaign as a GOP "rising star". Maybe I almost believed that George W. Bush's budget director and trade representative could lend a glimmer of sanity to the Republican side. Or maybe he simply caved under the maniacal pressure from Tea Partyers and homeschoolers who foolishly supposed the measure would be a blow to U.S. sovereignty as well as curtail the rights of parents with disabled children.
After all, in June, the hometown conservative Cincinnati Enquirer, long a Portman booster, had an online story with a provocative headline asking: The Loyal Soldier: Is Rob Portman the next vice president? Not yet, as the November election results told us.
Yet, in the disabilities vote, Portman turned up on the southern conservative roster in a 61-38 tally that failed because a two-thirds vote was required for passage. We were told that the biggest concern of the 38 aginners was what it might do to homeschooling. Sixty-one other senators, including all of the Democrats, considered that hogwash, which, of course, it was.
Oh, my. The drum roll continues anyway in the media. Now the Dayton Daily News is suggesting that a Kasich-Portman presidential ticket could arise in 2016. After all, the Columbus Dispatch has reported that the governor's name has "surfaced as a potential" presidential candidate. Don't clip. Don't save.
Still, that would be perfect match. Kasich has been known to say silly things. And Portman has downgraded his own public image with his crazy swing to the far right in opposing the disabilities measure. It could be harder for this GOP "comeback" team to receive serious consideration unless by 2016, the party has decided to move its show to the Twilight Zone.
Maybe I read too many articles about Portman being a calm and deliberative nice guy from Cincinnati who was Mitt Romney's cupbearer throughout the campaign as a GOP "rising star". Maybe I almost believed that George W. Bush's budget director and trade representative could lend a glimmer of sanity to the Republican side. Or maybe he simply caved under the maniacal pressure from Tea Partyers and homeschoolers who foolishly supposed the measure would be a blow to U.S. sovereignty as well as curtail the rights of parents with disabled children.
After all, in June, the hometown conservative Cincinnati Enquirer, long a Portman booster, had an online story with a provocative headline asking: The Loyal Soldier: Is Rob Portman the next vice president? Not yet, as the November election results told us.
Yet, in the disabilities vote, Portman turned up on the southern conservative roster in a 61-38 tally that failed because a two-thirds vote was required for passage. We were told that the biggest concern of the 38 aginners was what it might do to homeschooling. Sixty-one other senators, including all of the Democrats, considered that hogwash, which, of course, it was.
Oh, my. The drum roll continues anyway in the media. Now the Dayton Daily News is suggesting that a Kasich-Portman presidential ticket could arise in 2016. After all, the Columbus Dispatch has reported that the governor's name has "surfaced as a potential" presidential candidate. Don't clip. Don't save.
Still, that would be perfect match. Kasich has been known to say silly things. And Portman has downgraded his own public image with his crazy swing to the far right in opposing the disabilities measure. It could be harder for this GOP "comeback" team to receive serious consideration unless by 2016, the party has decided to move its show to the Twilight Zone.
Monday, November 12, 2012
The speculation continues: Portman? Kasich?
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the long-suffering protagonist laments to his friend Horatio that his mother remarried so quickly after his father's death that the leftover "funeral bak'd meats" for his father's wake were served at his mother's wedding.
Methinks there is something Shakespearean in the rush of speculation in the wake of Mitt Romney's political death last week about what leftovers will seek to succeed him four years hence. Alas, politics is forever impatient and doesn't provide for pauses or vacuums.
Amid all of the speculation, a case in point arrived via the Columbus Dispatch that centered on an Ohio dream candidate featuring either leftover Sen. Rob Portman or Gov. John Kasich at the top of the heap.
Or as the Dispatch's Jack Torry wrote on Sunday:
Oh, about Harding... He was dead-set against taxes, opposed America's entrance into the League of Nations and on other matters raised the generic Republican flag. Some historians also suggested that his rise was clearly aided by the fact that he very much looked like a president.
Some familiar?
Methinks there is something Shakespearean in the rush of speculation in the wake of Mitt Romney's political death last week about what leftovers will seek to succeed him four years hence. Alas, politics is forever impatient and doesn't provide for pauses or vacuums.
Amid all of the speculation, a case in point arrived via the Columbus Dispatch that centered on an Ohio dream candidate featuring either leftover Sen. Rob Portman or Gov. John Kasich at the top of the heap.
Or as the Dispatch's Jack Torry wrote on Sunday:
"Less than one week after President Barack Obama defeated Mitt romney, Kasich and Portman are being talked about as serious candidates in 2016. If they run, they could provide that most prominent moment for Ohio politics since 1920, when Republican Warren. G. Harding of Marion defeated Democrat James Cox of Dayton for the Presidency."The article even quotes John Brabender, a senior advisor to Rick Santorum's dead-end campaign (!), as describing both guys as "certainly credible." Some other Republicans gave pro-forma applause to both Ohioans. That much alone could get the juice flowing. Are you ready for it, Iowa?
Oh, about Harding... He was dead-set against taxes, opposed America's entrance into the League of Nations and on other matters raised the generic Republican flag. Some historians also suggested that his rise was clearly aided by the fact that he very much looked like a president.
Some familiar?
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