El favorito de los insiders

The Washington Post le dedica hoy un perfil de cuatro páginas al Senador Rob Portman. Cuando eso ocurre es que los rumores sobre su favoritismo para ser el running-mate de Romney, van en serio.

He had received a phone call just that morning from a supporter furious about yet another newspaper story suggesting that he was boring. It was not the best of days for Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a man thought to be on Mitt Romney’s list of possible running mates. “I told my staff that I’m so boring that I didn’t even know I was boring,” he said at a large conference table, surrounded by several expressionless members of his staff.

He calmly turned and smiled at them.

The first rule for anyone interested in becoming a vice presidential nominee is that you can’t appear to be interested in becoming a vice presidential nominee. A corollary is that you should never seem to be very upset over criticism about your perceived lack of charisma or any other quality that might aid a vice presidential nominee, lest you look interested in becoming a vice presidential nominee. The whole pursuit is a real headache.

“However the press wants to characterize it is fine,” Portman said, and smiled again.

For weeks, Portman’s name has been among those at the top of Republican vice presidential possibilities. For weeks, ever since he played a vital role in aiding Romney narrowly beat Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary, the buzz about Portman’s status in the vice presidential sweepstakes has been intense, much of it fueled by theories about how he might help Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, carry this critical swing state against President Obama...  Continúa.

El ruido en torno a Portman ha aumentado desde que la semana pasada National Journal reveló que los insiders republicanos y demócratas de la capital lo ven como el candidato más sólido.

Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman has been atop all the lists.

One of the latest appeared in National Journal magazine. When it asked a panel of Democratic and Republican "Congressional Insiders"  which of the most-talked-about vice presidential selections in Congress would make the best pick, Portman won by a landslide.

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats the magazine queried selected Portman, as did 50 percent of Republicans.

One Democrat called him "a solid, well-vetted family man who can sell to Middle America."

"Smart, seasoned guy from a swing state; carries a lot of Bush-era fiscal baggage, though," said another.

Republican described him as a "safe pick" with "the most proven record of backbone and rhetorical restraint," and hypothesized that "he could likely deliver Ohio."