Portman continued on A4
WASHINGTON — In his Capitol Hill office, Sen. Rob Portman displays a bronze bust of President Theodore Roosevelt on his fireplace mantel and an old Currier and Ives print of President Abraham Lincoln on his wall.
Those are the images that Portman seemingly wants to project of himself — to be a reformer like Roosevelt and a political risk-taker like Lincoln.
But one year into his first term as a Republican senator, who also served in two cabinet positions under President George W. Bush, Portman is struggling to be considered successful in either role.
As one of the most visible members of the bipartisan congressional supercommittee that was supposed to forge a compromise on the federal deficit, Portman pushed an agenda that could be characterized as politically risky and reformist.
In the committee, Portman backed reductions in the popular entitlement programs of Medicare and Medicaid, while also pushing for a major overhaul of the nation’s cumbersome tax code by scrapping scores of deductions and lowering income tax rates.
However, when the panel collapsed with members unable to forge the necessary compromises, Portman was sharply criticized, prompting a searing headline in his hometown Cincinnati Enquirer: “Portman defeated.”
Yet even in the wake of the supercommittee debacle, analysts contend Portman has not been seriously damaged politically. If anything, his influence among Senate Republicans appears to be increasing, in large part because of his expansive resume as a member of both houses of Congress, U.S. trade representative and White House budget director.
“Everyone knows that Portman is a very, very experienced and competent guy; he’s a serious person and very smart,” said Steve Bell, former Republican staff director of the Senate Budget Committee. “I think the disaster of the supercommittee will not taint him personally. He didn’t come across as a hard rock.’’
Charlie Cook, publisher of the non partisan Cook Political Report , said he doubted “the supercommittee enhanced anybody’s career on either side.”
In fact, in part thanks to Gov. John Kasich’s low popularity, Portman may be the Ohio Republican with the most promising national future.
Just 36 percent approved of the job Kasich was doing, according to an October Quinnipiac University poll, while a majority of registered voters in the same poll gave Portman a thumbs up. His deep resume and absence of political negatives keep him in the discussion as a vice-presidential candidate.
“I would be very surprised if the eventual nominee doesn’t have Rob on the short list,’’ said Tony Fratto, who served as White House press secretary to former President George W. Bush.
For his part, Portman is noncommittal about being on anyone’s presidential ticket. “I truly am not seeking that,” he said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News’ Washington Bureau.
Barry Bennett, a Republican consultant in Washington and longtime Portman adviser said that “Rob’s appeal isn’t politically based. There aren’t armies of base activists who live and breathe what Rob Portman said today like there are for Kasich. Rob’s not really a movement conservative. He is a smart, savvy capable manager. That’s his appeal.”
Portman admitted that all of his close political advisers warned him to avoid the supercommittee. “Their view was pretty simple, which is politically you lose either way. You lose if you come up with something because it’s going to be tough medicine. And you lose if you don’t come up with something because (people will say)...it will have failed.’’
Portman said he ignored the advice because, “this is exactly why I ran for office.’’ He was hardly a placeholder, telling Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell he wanted to push the 12-member committee to not only cut federal spending, but to adopt a sweeping overhaul of the tax code, one that would reduce income tax rates while scrapping scores of deductions for the wealthiest of taxpayers.
“I took on the assignment because I think this is the crucial issue of our time — how to grow the economy and how to reduce this record level of debt and the crushing deficits that I think are really impacting the economy,” Portman said. “Maybe I was a little naive. But I took it seriously.’’
Portman was among a group of Republicans who met with three Democrats — Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland — and offered a deal they hoped would break the logjam. It called for extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of next year, scrapping scores of deductions for wealthy taxpayers, lowering income tax rates for everyone and cutting spending by $700 billion during the next decade.
By eliminating deductions, the GOP offer would have raised at least $300 billion in new taxes, a major concession in Portman’s eyes. It marked the first time since the 1990 budget deal backed by President George H.W. Bush that any high-level Republican had approved a tax increase.
“Trust me, I have heard a lot from some constituents who weren’t happy that we put new taxes on the table,’’ Portman said.
But to Democrats, the GOP offer wasn’t much of a concession given the deep spending cuts demanded. “We just can’t go there,” Portman said the Republicans were told.
Jim Manley, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, gives Portman credit for at least trying to increase revenues. “But it falls far short of what is needed and doesn’t begin to address the inequality or lack of balance between the need for tax increases and spending cuts,” he said.
To his critics, that is the essence of Portman. During his successful campaign last year, he projected the image of moderation and made clear he would be willing to work with both political parties. But some analysts suggest he rarely strays far from the party line, such as his vote to block the nomination of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head a new consumer financial protection bureau.
“They will look at what was advertised and what they got,’’ said Dennis Eckart, a former Democratic congressman from Cleveland. “It’s a little hard to complain that Ohio doesn’t have influence in the Obama administration when you vote against an Ohioan for a major post.’’
Portman has maintained he never objected to Cordray, but instead to the new agency’s authority. “This is not about Rich Cordray,’’ Portman said.
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