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Cleveland automobile dealer Tom Ganley (R) is airing a statewide television ad to introduce himself to the primary voters who will decide whether he or former Rep. Rob Portman should be the party’s nominee in a key open-seat Senate race next year. The 60-second ad touts Ganley’s business background and takes an anti-Washington tone, with a narrator saying that Ganley’s 47-year career of creating jobs and balancing budgets amounts to “hard work the Washington politicians don’t understand.” Ganley speaks only at the end of the ad, in a required disclaimer approving the commercial. “To help create jobs for Ohio, Tom...

Earlier this year, many Ohioans (especially in the northern part of the state) heard the name "Rob Portman" and said, "Who?" Now some are saying, "Rob Portman, next U.S. senator from the great state of Ohio." It is way too early to predict winners and losers in next November's election. But Portman has scored a symbolic victory by surging ahead in the latest Quinnipiac University political poll of registered voters in Ohio. If the election were held today, Portman would get 39 percent of the vote to Lee Fisher's 36 percent.

"I think it's kind of an exciting time. I mean, everyone is cutting back. It's happening in every industry - including our own.”

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio is a neck-and-neck battle for Republican Rob Portman no matter which Democratic candidate he faces, according to the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state. Portman is in a virtual tie with Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher 41% to 40%. Six percent (6%) of Ohio voters favor some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. The former GOP congressman is also essentially even with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, leading by a similarly insignificant 40% to 38% margin. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure how they...

Ohio, a traditional bellwether state, will take center stage once again to gauge how the two major parties will fare in 2010, a year Republicans are hoping to make gains in statehouses and congressional seats across the country. Republicans are looking to defeat Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland with the help of former congressman and Fox News host John Kasich, and win an edge in congressional redistricting in the process. The Republicans are also playing defense in the state, however, hoping to hold onto the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. George Voinovich — a moderate Republican representing a state that...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The exact amounts of the contributions were not reported, but Palin had to list the names of candidates she had financially supported to make SarahPAC a bona fide political action committee. Her contributions to Arizona Sen. John McCain, for whom she served as a running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski...

Aside from a pile of money, Tom Ganley has almost nothing in common with the late Howard Metzenbaum. Yet, in his quixotic quest to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year against favored Rob Portman, Ganley draws inspiration from Metzenbaum. "He showed that it can be done," Ganley said in a recent interview. Ganley, 66, is a conservative Republican from the Cleveland suburb of Brecksville who has never held elective office. Metzenbaum, who died in 2008, was a liberal Democrat from Cleveland who served in the Ohio House and Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate in...

NEW WATERFORD, Ohio – If Ohio is the nation's political weather vane (and you can make a good case that it is), then a two-election trend toward Democrats may be over. “The problems for Ohio are all created in Washington,” says Bill Watkins, owner of The Original Mario’s pizza shop on East Main Street here. “Bailouts, stimulus money, cap-and-trade have only hurt our economy, not enhanced it.” Earlier this month, President Obama and his policies took a hit in the Buckeye State. A Quinnipiac University poll showed the president’s job-approval rating dropped from 62 percent to 49 percent, and Ohio's...

A few sites have noted the Quinnipiac poll in Ohio, showing Gov. Ted Strickland with high approval ratings, way ahead in hypothetical matchups against Republicans, and the possible Democratic candidates leading next year's Senate race as well. What struck me about the poll was the astonishingly low name ID for just about all of the Republican candidates. (The good news for the GOP is that this will change in the next 18 months.) For example, 31 percent of respondents didn't know enough about Mike DeWine to have an opinion of him. He was a two-term senator, folks. Similarly, 68 percent...

Republican former Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell endorsed Rob Portman for U.S. Senate today. The former Cincinnati congressman and Bush administration official "is a principled and experienced leader with a solid conservative record," said Blackwell. "He has been a strong voice for sound fiscal policy, and we need him in the U.S. Senate in these tumultuous economic times." While most endorsements are nothing more than campaign window dressing, Blackwell's will at least be noticed. Blackwell is a conservative who still upsets some members of his party with his hard right views on certain issues. He's also...

After signing two hot dog buns for Tony Packo's Cafe in East Toledo, former Ohio congressman and White House appointee Rob Portman yesterday officially launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate election in 2010.

Former Republican congressman Rob Portman will announce that he is running for the Senate soon after Ohio Sen. George Voinovich’s retirement announcement, according to multiple Republican sources. Portman would give Senate Republicans an accomplished candidate who is likely to clear the primary field. “He’s great on both policy and politics, and you don’t often find that combination,” said Hamilton County Republican party chairman Alex Triantafilou. “His experience in government, his experience in Washington and his understanding of Ohio would make him a tremendous force in the Senate.”

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 21st, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chair of the American Red Cross. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Paulson; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Paulson; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.THIS WEEK (ABC): Paulson; Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Douglas Holtz Eakin, adviser to John McCain; Austan Goolsbee, adviser to Barack Obama; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.; Gene Sperling,...

John McCain is expected to reveal his vice-presidential choice on Friday at a rally in the critical battleground state of Ohio. Mr McCain is seeking to blunt Barack Obama’s hopes of a bounce in the polls after he accepts the Democratic nomination in Denver tomorrow night. The Republican nominee’s move comes after a week in which he and his Republican surrogates have had significant success in inserting themselves aggressively into what was meant to be Mr Obama’s week. Republican guerrilla tactics and attack advertisements have forced the Democrat’s campaign to respond in kind. Mr McCain will appear at a midday...

Predicting a close election in November, former Bush Administration official and Ohio congressman Rob Portman called on Hoosiers to back Republican presidential candidate John McCain at rally Tuesday evening in Fishers. “He’s an authentic American hero and a common sense conservative,” Portman told the partisan crowd. Portman is on McCain’s short list of potential vice presidential running mates. A six-term congressman, he also served as the United States Trade Representative and most recently as President Bush’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a post previously held by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Ohio shows John McCain leading Barack Obama 47% to 40%. He also leads Hillary Clinton 47% to 42%. Last month, McCain led both Democrats by six percentage points. Former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman has been mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential candidate for John McCain. Eleven percent (11%) of the state’s voters say they’d be more likely to support the ticket with Portman on it while 19% hold the opposite view. Republicans are evenly divided. Among unaffiliated voters, 6% would be more likely to vote for McCain with Portman on the ticket and...

McCain Veepstakes: Portman Potential by John Gizzi Just before my interview with possible McCain running mate Rob Portman, former Office of Management and Budget and onetime Ohio congressman, I was at lunch with another Buckeye State Republican -- Rep. John Boehner. Boehner described his profile for an ideal running mate for John McCain. “Has to be younger than McCain,” Boehner said, amid chuckles, “a solid conservative, and someone people could see as President.” Taking it a step further, the top House Republican said that since the two major party nominees will both be U.S. Senators, it was less likely McCain...

More than one Beltway pundit has pegged Rob Portman as a potential vice presidential pick for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). It’s not hard to see why: Portman, 52, is relatively young, has served in the House and in both Bush administrations and hails from Ohio, the mother of all swing states. Portman deflected questions about his name being floated as a potential running mate for McCain. He didn’t take himself out of contention, but instead shifted the conversation to talk about his interest in running for Ohio governor or a U.S. Senate seat.

Former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman says he's not giving up on running for higher office. Portman is joining the Cincinnati law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey. But he tells The Cincinnati Enquirer that the firm says he's free to continue traveling Ohio and laying the groundwork for a possible run for Ohio governor in 2010. Portman has started his own political action committee to finance his political trips around the state. He says other options include running against Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in 2012.

White House budget director Rob Portman is stepping down and will be replaced by former Iowa Republican congressman Jim Nussle, senior administration officials said today. The president is scheduled to make the formal announcement at the Roosevelt Room later this afternoon. Administration officials described the decision as motivated by Portman's desire to spend more time with his wife and three teen-aged children. Since returning to Washington as a congressman 14 years ago, Portman has been commuting weekly to his Cincinnati home, and his press secretary said he had tired of that. SNIP Still, the news of Portman's departure seemed to...

Portman, formerly the U.S. trade representative and a Republican congressman from Ohio, was nominated in April by President Bush to be director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was confirmed by the Senate and took office May 29. Portman released OMB's Mid-Session Review July 11 showing a 30 percent drop in the deficit figures forecast last February. He was interviewed July 12 by Insight section editor Robert J. Caldwell. For the first time in years, the news on budget deficits is good. To what do you attribute this? The tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 have been successful....

The US budget deficit is falling, but it is expected to rise again next year. Unfortunately Rob Portman, head of the Office of Management & Budget has fallen into the leftist trap of saying next year's rise is due to a slow in the growth of revenues. Huh? Revenues go up (albeit more slowly) and this causes the deficit to go up? Nope. Arithmetic does not work like that. If revenue goes up and the deficit goes up that can only be because expenditure is rising even faster. As ever, the deficit is caused by runaway expenditure. Quentin Langley is...

Young Miss Portman wishes to teach her future children a lesson in Judaism, but is meanwhile unable to find a Jewish hubby Can't stop making headlines: On Sunday Ynetnews reported that Natalie Portman is about to appear fully naked in her new feature film, and on Monday ContactMusic reports she is keen to teach her future children about her Jewish religion, even though she is still struggling to meet the right Jewish man. The Israeli-born star immigrated to the United States when she was a 3-year-old toddler. But sadly for Portman, she discovered that her interest in the ancient religion...

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday nominated Trade Representative Rob Portman (news, bio, voting record) as the White House budget director, turning to a Washington insider and longtime friend as part of an effort to re-energize the administration and boost the president's record-low approval ratings. Bush said more changes are in the works under his new chief of staff, Joshua Bolten. "With a new man will come some changes," the president said. But he emphasized anew that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's job is safe, despite calls for his resignation from a half dozen retired military commanders. "I hear the voices...

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed Republican Jean Schmidt Sunday to fill former Rep. Rob Portman's seat in the 2nd Congressional District, saying she understands the district's needs and is better able to help meet them than her opponent. Schmidt will face Democrat Paul Hackett Tuesday in a special election to replace Portman, who left to become U.S. trade representative. Schmidt, a lifelong resident of Clermont County and a former state representative, knows how to make deals and has offered specific examples of projects and programs that would help the seven-county southern Ohio district, the newspaper said. The newspaper praised...

It's a fight to the finish to represent the Second District in Congress. In just three days voters in Ohio's Second Congressional District will choose a replacement for Rob Portman, who was recently appointed a US trade representative by the Bush administration. Both Republican Jean Schmidt and Democrat Paul Hackett were out in force Saturday, shaking hands hoping to get some last minute exposure before Tuesday. Whether on TV or even just driving around the Tri-state, it's hard to avoid mention of Tuesday's special election. The congressional race between Hackett and Schmidt is even getting the attention of the national...

``Star Wars'' star Natalie Portman is convinced her shaved head makes her look like a terrorist. The itty-bitty actress, 24, who lopped off her lush locks for the upcoming ``V for Vendetta,'' told Newsweek she suspects her chrome dome was the reason New York's finest pulled her over by the Midtown Tunnel the other day. ``I've never had that happen to me before,'' the Harvard grad confessed to the weekly news magazine. ``It's supposedly random . . . My registration was expired because I had been out of town, and it was my first day back. I'd been in Israel...

Hackett on attack in race He sets sights on Schmidt By Barry M. Horstman Post staff reporter When a Democratic Congressional Unity Breakfast can be handled quite easily at a table for three at a downtown Cincinnati restaurant, Paul Hackett needs look no further for evidence of just how uphill his campaign in the 2nd Congressional District will be this summer. Looking for something, anything to draw attention to the special Aug. 2 general election to replace former Rep. Rob Portman, Hackett met Thursday morning with two of the five candidates he defeated in last week's Democratic primary. The other...

Washington (The Daily Standard) - THE FIRST SALVOS have been fired in a trade war that is unlike any other. Not that all has been peace and quiet on the trade front until now. Opposition to the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by America's inefficient but politically potent sugar beet producers and apparel makers has delayed congressional approval. Bob Zoellick, who negotiated that agreement before moving up to the number two spot in the State Department, is confident that opposition will be overcome, but at the moment it is a close-run thing. And remember jokes about world trade agreements...

McEwen and Schmidt are neck and neck. Schmidt tore up in Clermont County (around 3000), her home county. That is keeping her in this thing. McEwen won by a nice margin in Warren County (1500 or so), and Brown County (about 600). He and Schmidt are running neck and neck in Hamilton County (McEwen was winning by about 200). No results from Adams, Scioto, or Pike. Pat DeWine is in 4th. Schmidt has opened up a bit of a lead on WLWT, probably Clermont coming in.

McEwen leads, Brinkman, Schmidt, Dewine 5.44% reporting

Just wondering if there was any news so far this week. It seems as though things are very tight and getting nasty. DeWine seems to be attacking McEwen. Like I asked before, are the polls showing something? DeWine is attacking the check bouncing stuff. Brinkman's folks are attacking on the carpetbagging stuff and deservedly so. The Club for Growth is on the attack against Jean Schmidt for raising taxes during his stint in the Ohio House. I have said this before, but these Ohio state legislators crack me up. They ran promising not to raise taxes (remember all the Taxin...

Congressional race: Divide to conquer? With the vote so split up, the winning tally may be strikingly low By Barry M. Horstman Post staff reporter A seat in Congress - one of the most coveted prizes that American politics has to offer - could be won by fewer votes than it takes to get elected to student government at a decent-sized university in next week's special 2nd Congressional District election. With 11 Republican candidates and five Democrats - six, counting one running as a write-in - competing for the seat vacated by Rep. Rob Portman, an anticipated low turnout could...

The Values Voters Candidates Forum took place at the Montgomery Assembly of God Church in that Northeast Cincinnat suburb from 7-9 PM last night. There was a meet and greet with the candidates afterwards, which I did not attend. The Forum came together as the result of invitations to every candidate from Citizens for Community Values Action. The small PDF flyer for the event is here. Overview Outside campaign signage was heavily McEwen, with relatively modest signage from most of the others who attended. Prerecorded, mellow, crisp, and almost surreal religious piano music filled the room in the 20 or...

Shattering the decorum that has governed their campaign to date, several top Republicans in the 2nd Congressional District race Wednesday night caustically attacked each other, trading bitter exchanges over issues as traditional as voting records and as personal as divorce and individual finances. In the most combustible debate yet in the battle for the GOP nomination in the special June 14 primary for the U.S. House seated vacated by former Rep. Rob Portman, an Anderson Township forum saw Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine harshly lash out at several opponents in defending himself against what he sees as their attacks on...

This thread links to a blogpost which in turn excerpts a post-mortem column on the 1993 special primary election for the 2nd District (OH) Congressional seat. On the GOP side, Rob Portman won. Bob McEwen, who had lost in the Sixth District race in November 1992 under the cloud of the House Bank Scandal and extensive (and expensive) travel tastes, moved into the second district when the seat was vacated by the retiring Willis Gradison, and finished a somewhat-distant second.

Former Congressman Bob McEwen wants his old job back. Thursday McEwen announced his candidacy for the G.O.P. nomination to succeed newly-appointed Trade Representative Rob Portman as the representative for the heavily Republican 2nd Congressional District. Portman has been nominated by President Bush to become the next U.S. trade representative. As in 1993, when he lost to Portman in a primary, McEwen has had to buy a home in the district to establish residency. Observers view McEwen and Ohio state representative Tom Brinkman as vying for the support of social conservatives, who are not particularly happy with the perceived front-runner in...

AP) All those "Star Wars" geeks, who've been waiting for weeks outside movie theaters with their Yoda sleeping bags and their homemade lightsabers, finally have a film that's worthy of their perseverance. The Force is strong with "Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," the sixth and final piece in George Lucas' galactic saga, which represents a welcome return to the ideas and the spirit that made his original "Star Wars" a pop-culture juggernaut 28 years ago. The circle is now complete, as Lucas' characters are fond of saying, and much of the film's joy comes from watching these familiar...

Fritz Wenzel's The Daily Notebook (updated daily; sometimes more often) Tuesday, May 3 CINCINNATI - With the swift confirmation last week of Congressman Rob Portman as President Bush's new U.S. Trade Representative, the race is officially on to grab hold of his seat in the U.S. House. And it has attracted quite a cast of characters. Perhaps the best known is Pat DeWine, the son of the U.S. Senator. He's widely disliked, for a number of different reasons, among them the fact that he just won a seat as a Hamilton County commissioner in November, and is now wanting to...

Congressman Portman resigned to become Bush's trade represenatative. District Map List of candidates and possible candidates off of Politics 1 Tom Bemmes (R) - Teacher, Professional Magician & '99 Reading School Board Candidate John Bridgeland (R) - Ex-White House Aide, Ex-Congressional Aide, Businessman & Attorney Tom Brinkman Jr. (R) - State Rep. & Printer Pat DeWine (R) - Hamilton County Commissioner, Ex-Cincinnati Councilman & Son of US Sen. Mike DeWine Bob McEwen (R) - Ex-Congressman, Ex-State Rep., Consultant & Lobbyist Eric Minamyer (R) - Symmes Township Trustee, Attorney, Ex-Congressional Aide & Navy Veteran Tom Raga (R) - State Rep. &...

With U.S. prisons filling up with aliens, 10 million illegals here and counting, Californians fleeing east, savage Salvadorian gangs battling with machetes inside the Beltway, and Minutemen headed for the Arizona border, Rip Van Republican has awakened to the threat of open borders. Meanwhile, the White House dozes on. But just as the chickens are coming home to roost on the Bush failure to defend America’s frontier, so they will soon be coming home on Bush’s embrace of free-trade fanaticism. As I write, the Department of Commerce has just released the trade deficit numbers for February. Again, the monthly trade...

President George W. Bush's nominee for US trade representative on Thursday promised a “more aggressive approach” on China and said he would launch a “top-to-bottom review” of US trade relations with Beijing. Rob Portman, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, responded to mounting anger in Congress over Chinese trade practices by saying he would go there soon to “deliver a strong message in person to Chinese officials.” “China does not always play by the rules,” he said in testimony that criticised China for intellectual property piracy and industrial policies that exclude US goods. “We need a tougher approach.”...

CINCINNATI -- Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis says Pat DeWine should resign as county commissioner now that he's running for Congress. In a letter to DeWine, Leis criticized his fellow Republican for running for higher office just three months after winning a seat on the commission, News 5's Raegan Butler reported. DeWine is running in an upcoming special election for Rob Portman's seat. Portman has been nominated to be U.S. trade representative in President George W. Bush's cabinet. "I think your candidacy for Congressman of the 2nd Ohio Congressional District is an affront to the voters of Cincinnati and Hamilton...

Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital received a $50 million donation last week from one of the people born there – famed Jewish actress Natalie Portman. Portman’s donation is earmarked for an improved and expanded emergency trauma center being funded by the Hadassah Women's Zionist movement. The expansion will enable three times as many victims to be treated at once. At a ceremony Thursday evening at the Jerusalem Theater, Dr. Kobi Assaf, Hadassah Hospitals’ director of surgery and shock trauma said the expansion of the trauma center will save many lives. "One of the most crucial things we can do for trauma patients...

CINCINNATI -- Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine and State Representative Tom Brinkman are the first to officially announce their candidacy for the 2nd congressional seat, News 5 reported. DeWine was elected Hamilton County Commissioner last November. He previously served on Cincinnati City Council. Brinkman is a state representative. Both are Republicans. Several others are expected to join the race to fill Rob Portman's seat, assuming the Senate confirms Portman's nomination as U.S. trade representative. Primaries could be held as early as May with a special election possible in August. Gov. Bob Taft will set the date once after Portman vacates...

President Bush has chosen Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as the new United States Trade Representative, according to an administration source. He will replace Robert B. Zoellick, who is leaving to become the number two person in the State Department.

Well, Oscar Night is upon us again. And if Chris Rock is nearly right, I might be the only straight white man who watches the Oscars for both the pretty women almost dressed plus the primetime fun of making rude comments as the awards are handed out. I think I seen about every Academy Awards when I've been able to since my folks got a television set in 1955. It was always in the back of my mind to one night walk up and accept one of those small golden guys. I tried the acting route, even obtaining a SAG...

Hollywood star Natalie Portman, nominated for a best supporting actress award at this month's Academy Awards, stirred a scandal over a kissing scene by Jerusalem's Wailing Wall -- the most sacred spot in Judaism, the top-selling Israeli daily said. The Israeli-born 23-year-old, who may be awarded a golden statuette next Sunday for her role in the film "Closer," was on location in Jerusalem for the shooting of "Free Zone", an Israeli-directed film, Yediot Aharonot reported. But a kissing scene with co-actor Aki Avni in a car park next to the Wailing Wall infuriated religious Jews praying at the site, who...

PITTSBURGH - One of the youngest mayors in the country has resigned three years into his four-year term, saying he wanted to pursue opportunities outside of Pennsylvania. Chris Portman, who was 19 when he took office in Mercer three years ago, announced his resignation in a letter dated Dec. 28. Portman could not be reached for comment Sunday. His father, David Portman, said his son left for an out-of-state opportunity. "He left on good terms, there was no problems or anything," the elder Portman said Sunday.

NATALIE Portman has apologized for a quote in Allure magazine she says was taken out of context. "I'm not black, but I know what it feels like." The magazine got a flood of reader mail blasting Portman's insensitivity. Now she's backtracked. "If I had spoken more articulately, I might have conveyed what I truly feel," Portman writes. "I could never know what it is like to be a black American ...