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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Ohio Sen. Portman endorses Romney for president
By Jack Torry
Washington Bureau
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Sen. Rob Portman will endorse Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney and appear Thursday with the former Massachusetts governor at a campaign rally in Charleston on the eve of Saturday’s crucial South Carolina Republican primary.
Portman, the first-term Ohio Republican, said Wednesday that Romney “would be the right guy to turn things around and bring back jobs. And I think he has the best chance of beating President Obama.’’
“I have been encouraged by what Governor Romney has been saying on the economy,’’ Portman said in a telephone interview. “He’s not just focused on what Barack Obama has done wrong. But he is focused on a pro-growth message … constructively laying out an aggressive pro-jobs agenda.’’
Portman’s move was yet another sign that the Republican establishment is coalescing around Romney as its likely nominee. Portman is highly regarded among Republicans, in large part because of his past record of serving as White House budget director and U.S. trade representative under former President George W. Bush.
In addition, Portman’s appearance with Romney likely will fuel speculation that Romney would consider Portman as a potential vice presidential running mate. Portman would help Romney in the critical state of Ohio in the fall election.
Portman’s endorsement also reinforces Romney’s message of curbing the swollen federal budget deficit and boosting the economy. In a statement hailing Portman’s endorsement, Romney said that “bringing fiscal sanity to Washington is critical for our country’s future economic health and national security.’’
He said Portman has “been a leader’’ in the Senate “in the fight for a balanced budget, and I look forward to working with him to make the federal government simpler, smaller and smarter.’’
Ohio GOP officials had predicted for months that Portman would endorse Romney, who took the time last year to meet privately with Portman in his U.S. Senate office. But Portman originally said he wanted to wait until the Ohio primary in March before backing a candidate.
In addition to campaigning with Romney, Portman also will attend the Republican presidential debate Thursday night in Charleston. Polls suggest that Gingrich’s aggressive performance in Monday night’s debate has sparked a resurgence in his South Carolina campaign.
At an outdoor rally yesterday at Wofford College in Spartanburg, Romney offered a robust defense of American business, warning that “free enterprise is under attack from the right and left.’’
Describing this year’s presidential election as a struggle for “the soul of America,’’ Romney assailed Obama while simultaneously taking a shot at GOP rival Newt Gingrich for his criticism of Romney’s work in the 1980s and 1990s as head of a private equity firm.
“This president has got it entirely wrong when he attacks the private sector,’’ Romney said. “Don’t attack the private sector. Don’t attack risk takers. Don’t attack those that are trying to create a brighter future for themselves and their family.’’
“Don’t attack profit,’’ Romney said. “Profit, by the way, is what allows businesses to hire people and grow. Free enterprise is under attack from the right and left.’’
Romney appeared to leave his audience with the impression that he is competent, but not inspiring in the way Obama electrified young voters in the 2008 campaign.
Tracey Snively, a freshman at Wofford, acknowledged that Romney was “a lot better spoken than I thought originally.’’ But he said he yet to decide on who he will vote for Saturday.
Erin McGaha, a freshman at Wofford, described Romney as “very intelligent and knows what he’s talking about,’’ while Hamp Freshley, a Wofford freshman, said Romney “knows what he’s talking about.’’
TweetKasich to deliver state of state address in Steubenville
Gov. John Kasich will deliver his 2012 State of the State address on Feb. 7 at Wells Academy in Steubenville, which sits on the Ohio River next to West Virginia.
The Kasich administration noted that Wells Academy is the highest-ranking public elementary school in Ohio as measured by student scores on standardized tests.
The State of the State is delivered before a joint session of the General Assembly so lawmakers will pass a joint resolution allowing it to convene for the day in Steubenville instead of in Columbus at the Statehouse.
Wells Academy serves 319 students in preschool through fourth grade. It has been named an Ohio School of Promise each year since 2003, was one of two Ohio schools to win the national Distinguished School Award, and had 100 percent of its tested students deemed proficient in math and reading last year.
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TweetOnly one congressional seat Republicans captured in ‘10 is competitive this year, Dems say
By Jessica Wehrman Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Of the five U.S. House seats taken by Ohio Republicans in 2010, only one of them - the 6th district, currently held by Rep. Bill Johnson - has so far emerged on the Democrats’ list of competitive races for 2012.
The Marietta Republican upset then-Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville, 14 months ago. Wilson has announced he will seek the seat again this year.
Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that the Johnson-Wilson race is one of 18 targeted “Red to Blue” races - races where Democratic challengers could unseat Republicans or win open seats - that Democrats see as competitive this year.
Democrats have also selected 18 other “Red to Blue” districts where they haven’t listed a Democratic candidate, but where they see the district as ripe for Democratic takeover. None of those districts are in Ohio.
But Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel noted that incumbent Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Copley Township, whose home was drawn into the district currently held by Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, is considered a “Frontline” race. In December, Sutton was added to the DCCC “Frontline” program, which seeks to keep incumbents in office in tough districts.
Israel also said the party assumes the new Columbus area 3rd Congressional District will be won easily by a Democrat.
Still, Israel said, this was just the first roll-out of “Red to Blue” races, and he said the list may grow longer as the campaign season unfolds.
Israel cited recent poll results to indicate that Democratic House candidates might have an advantage in 2012. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week, for example, showed that voters would support a generic Democratic candidate over a Republican candidate in their district by four points.
“One year ago we had a gale force wind blowing against us,” he said. “Now we’ve got a nice wind blowing at our backs.”
Johnson was one of five Republicans to defeat Democrats in Ohio in 2010. Reps. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, and Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, also defeated Democrats.
Mark Weaver, a Johnson campaign spokesman, said it was “no surprise” that Democrats have targeted Johnson. “They don’t want him to continue his message of change in Congress,” he said.
He said Democrats’ optimism about their odds in 2012 is for naught.
“There is a lot of wind coming from the Democratic leadership, but it’s not a gale force,” he said. “It’s the hot air of incumbents desperate to keep politics as usual in Washington.”
The district has a pro-Republican “index” of about 54 percent.
TweetDems introduce bills for rape victims
Ohio hospitals would be required to offer emergency contraception to female patients who have been raped under two bills being introduced in the House and Senate by Democratic lawmakers.
This marks the fourth time since 2006 that this legislation has been pushed in the Ohio General Assembly.
A survey of emergency rooms found that nearly 20 percent of Ohio hospitals do not guarantee access to emergency contraception, according to the bill sponsors. Under the bill, hospitals would be required to have policies in place to ensure access to the medication for rape victims.
The Ohio Hospital Association is aware of the bill but has not taken a position. OHA spokeswoman Mary Yost said that a majority of Ohio hospitals do provide the emergency contraception medication.
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TweetRomney leads GOP contenders in Ohio
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the field of Republican primary contenders in Ohio and 51 percent of Ohio voters say President Obama does not deserve a second term in the White House, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.
If Ohio held its GOP presidential primary right now, Romney would take first place with 27 percent, followed by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with 18 percent, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 17 percent, Congressman Ron Paul with 10 percent and Texas Gov. Rick Perry with 4 percent, the poll said.
The Ohio primary is March 6.
The poll found that in the general election in Ohio, Romney would garner 42 percent to President Obama’s 44 percent. Fifty-one percent of Ohio voters do not approve of the job Obama is doing as president.
“Gov. Mitt Romney is comfortably ahead of the Republican field,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “If he continues to win primaries elsewhere, that margin will likely increase by the time the voting comes to Ohio on March 6. But if he should lose his momentum - and some primaries - then that lead might not be safe.”
A Quinnipiac University survey on Dec. 8 put Gingrich at 36 percent, Romney at 18 percent, Paul at 7 percent, Perry at 4 percent and Santorum at 2 percent in the Ohio primary.
Ohio voters say Gingrich has the right kind of knowledge and experience to be president and is best qualified to handle foreign affairs but they view Romney as best able to handle the economy, the poll found.
“GOP voters think highly of Gingrich, but are much less likely to back his candidacy,” said Brown.
In the general election, Romney and Obama both hold strong support from voters in their respective parties but the two tie among independent voters, the poll said.
“With Ohio being perhaps the most important single state in the country when it comes to the Electoral College math, all indications are that if Romney is the Republican nominee it will be a very, very close contest,” said Brown. “The president’s problem is getting back the voters who voted for him in 2008 but went for John Kasich for governor in 2010. His main obstacle may be that voters say 48 - 42 percent that Romney is better able to fix the economy.”
The poll, taken Jan. 9 -16, surveyed 1,610 registered voters on land lines and cell phones and it included 542 Republican primary voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percent overall and a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percent for the GOP primary questions.
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