Rob Portman is looking to get back into Ohio politics, and is said to be mulling the governor's race or the upcoming Senate seat held by George "RINO" Voinovich. Howard Wilkinson of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the skinny:
Rob Portman, the former congressman and Bush administration official, is going back to his roots by joining the downtown Cincinnati office of the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey to practice international trade law.
But Portman - who begins his new job after the Thanksgiving holiday - is not giving up on the idea of running for public office again.
The law firm has told him he is free to continue traveling Ohio, giving speeches and laying the groundwork for a possible 2010 run for Ohio governor or the U.S. Senate.
"I'm going to look at options and make a decision somewhere down the road," said Portman, who left the White House in June after a stint as President Bush's budget director.
The options, according to Portman, are:
Challenging Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2010.
That would almost certainly mean a primary fight for Portman because other well-known Republicans - including former congressman John Kasich and former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine - are also considering running.
Running for Senate.
Portman said that if Ohio's senior senator, George Voinovich, decides not to run for re-election in 2010, he would consider that race as well.
But Voinovich has said he plans to run; and Portman is scheduled to co-host a fundraiser for Voinovich in Cincinnati next month.
Taking on Ohio's Democratic freshman senator, Sherrod Brown, in 2012.
Mr. Portman, your state and party need you. We need someone who is right of Sherrod Brown and Ted Strickland to be our Senator, someone who has leadership ability. George Voinovich ain't it. Your country needs you in the Senate Mr. Portman. Do not let us down. Or, if you want governor, sit down with Kasich (as DeWine is a joke of a candidate and should go quietly into the good night to die a whimpering political death like the spineless feeb he is) and decide who is going after which race. George Voinovich is a disaster for the state and especially the Republican party. Please, figure out who is doing what and take him on. He needs to be retired before he can do more damage and make Ohio an even bigger joke in Washington than it already is. Shouldn't we have someone in the Senate who can at least have some modicum of stature, to go with our great Minority Leader John Boehner?
