Are the Bushes Really Willing to Sacrifice the Senate Seat of Rob Portman by Not Backing Trump?
"Ohio's Senator race, like the one for President, will be close, coming down to the voters who show up at the polls. With seven months to go, both contests are up for grabs."
Trump supporters know politics isn't beanbag and won't be taken for granted.
The failure of the Bushes to lose graciously and support Donald Trump may not stop Trump's march to the White House, but it seems likely to kill Rob Portman's chance of being reelected to the Senate from Ohio.
That would be bad...and the result of making Trump supporters mad.
George W. Bush appointed Portman as United States Trade Representative and Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Portman can't afford for disgruntled Trump supporters to take out their frustration with the Bushes on him, but that may happen.
Portman smartly endorsed Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but he's in the race of his life and Trump supporters may punish the Bushes by punishing Portman.
It would be unfortunate, but it is readily foreseeable, because Trump supporters are sick and tired of being taken for granted.
"Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R) has generally said he would support the Republican presidential nominee no matter the outcome of the primaries. On Friday, he exclusively told WTOL 11's Viviana Hurtado that he is endorsing presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
"'I have said for a long time that I intend to support the Republican nominee. Republican voters have now gone through the process, they have selected Donald Trump, and so I'm supporting Donald Trump for President,' affirmed the incumbent Senator.
"Portman is one of a handful of so-called vulnerable Republican lawmakers throughout the country who are in tight races they could lose.
"At play: the Donald Trump factor. Some candidates are staying far away. Others say Trump doesn't factor into their local races and issues.
"Then there are those who have jumped on the Trump train and hope to ride it to victory.
"In the latest polls, for example, a Public Policy Polling (PPP) conducted on March 10, 2016, Senator Portman is locked in a statistical dead heat with his opponent, Democrat and former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland - 40 percent to 41 percent.
"In our WTOL 11 interview, Portman hit Strickland hard on the economic front, criticizing the former governor for Ohio's economic standing when he left office. The Republican pointed to the Buckeye state’s ranking as 48th in the nation for job creation and the loss of 350,000 jobs. Strickland’s governed during the Great Recession.
"Portman noted that Republican leadership, including his own, has turned around Ohio’s economy.
"'Ohio is doing better, finally, than the rest of the country because of Republican policies put in place. Unemployment is better, more jobs are coming in. Again, top 10 in the country. But it's not good enough,' said Sen. Portman.
"A gamble for Senator Portman is how Donald Trump will factor in Ohio. Political analysts say Trump has alienated blocks of voters, including women and suburbanites. But the presumptive Republican nominee has also attracted new people to the GOP, including blue collar voters.
"Ohio's Senator race, like the one for President, will be close, coming down to the voters who show up at the polls. With seven months to go, both contests are up for grabs."
Portman has shown he's a team player, but as a Bush favorite he's a very easy target for Ohio Trump enthusiasts disgusted with the Bushes.
Do the Bushes love Rob more than they hate Donald?
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
Cover
•
Commentary
•
Books & Reviews
•
Climate Change
•
Site Links
•
Feedback
