Free Republic

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...

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's official announcement is expected to take place on Wednesday. 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.” Portman would likely...

(CNN) — John McCain will hold a large rally in Ohio and possibly two other battleground states August 29 — the day after Barack Obama formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination and the same day the Arizona senator is expected to name his running mate, Republican and McCain campaign sources tell CNN's John King. The McCain campaign is hoping to have 15,000 people at the Ohio rally — roughly 5 times the size of McCain's largest crowd to-date. Two other rallies are also in the works for that day, likely in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Campaign sources say the events are...

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...

The Republican base is angry about deficits, and suddenly administration officials and tax-axing lawmakers cannot stop talking about fiscal discipline. If they were sincere, they would reinstate the pay-as-you-go budget rules that were enforced from 1990 through 2000 and were instrumental in creating budget surpluses from 1998 to 2001. Lawmakers had to pay for new tax cuts and new entitlement spending by raising other taxes or cutting programs. But the foxhole fiscal conservatives do not really mean what they are saying. An audacious administration talking point — advanced most prominently of late by the new White House budget chief, Rob...

Today President Bush met with members of the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit in the Oval Office on Italian Independence Day. The society representatives visited President Bush to present a Medal of Honor commemorating the 40th anniversary of their organization. The same medal was also presented Italian President Carlo Ciampi in November. The President also met with Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore in the Oval Office as well as hosting the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at the White House and held a swearing in ceremony of Rob Portman as the Director of the Office...

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...

President Bush talked about American competitiveness in Maryland and welcomed, along with Secretary of State Rice, Prime Minister Siniora of Lebanon to the WH. He nominated Rob Portman as OMB Director and Susan Schwab for USTR. Vice President Dick Cheney visited troops at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Laura Bush visited with the Lebanese PM's wife at the WH. Welcome to Sanity Island!

Blame GOP Malaise on Bush's Team by Robert Novak Posted Feb 19, 2006 When Dick Cheney finally broke his silence by answering questions from Fox's Brit Hume last Wednesday, four days after the hunting accident, many Republicans could hardly believe it. They were stunned that the vice president indicated he had no regrets about the way the incident was handled. Every Republican I contacted had regrets in abundance. Bush-bashers delighted in exaggerating Cheney's post-accident conduct as a metaphor for everything wrong with George W. Bush's presidency in its sixth year. Nevertheless, there are supporters of the president (and the vice...

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Sugar producer groups are still awaiting word on whether sugar will be part of a World Trade Organization deal to allow unrestricted access to U.S. markets by 50 least-developed countries, officials said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which is leading the Doha round of WTO free-trade talks, is still considering what to exclude from the deal, said Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis for the American Sugar Alliance in Arlington, Va. The United States adopted the proposal last month at the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong, where world agricultural subsidies were...

CINCINNATI -- A resume that includes military service in Iraq and harsh attacks on President George W. Bush wasn't enough to land Paul Hackett on Capitol Hill. The Iraq war veteran narrowly lost a bid to win a special congressional election in Ohio. Hackett was hoping to become the first veteran of the Iraq war elected to Congress. Republican Jean Schmidt beat Hackett and will replace Rob Portman, who left Congress this year after being named U.S. trade representative by Bush. Schmidt is a well-known, experienced Republican who headed the Cincinnati-area Right to Life. Hackett initially opposed the U.S. invasion...

With 62 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Jean Schmidt had 51 percent, or 35,161 votes, to 49 percent for Democrat Paul Hackett, who had 34,175 votes. Schmidt's lead amounted to about 1,000 votes.

Has anyone seen any polls?

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...

FREE traders rarely have much to celebrate in Washington, DC, these days. America's lawmakers seem ever more sceptical of globalisation, reluctant to agree to any new trade deals and gripped by a virulent Sinophobia. George Bush's team is trying all its weaponry in an uphill battle to get a free-trade pact with Central America through Congress. Import quotas have already been slapped on various Chinese textile products. If Beijing does not do something about its currency peg, the risks are that more and nastier protectionism will follow. Although the shouting match with Europe over aircraft subsidies has calmed down as...