Race for Ohio's Senate seat focuses on Bush policies

Lee Fisher has not been in the area since before the May primary, sparking local party worries. TONY DEJAK / AP Enlarge

Memo to Ohio voters: Expect to hear the name of President George W. Bush a lot in the campaign for Ohio's open U.S. Senate seat.

Not from Republican Rob Portman, who worked for President Bush as budget director and trade representative, but rather from Lee Fisher, the Democratic nominee for the seat now held by Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich.

The loss of Ohio manufacturing jobs has made the Bush economic record controversial, and Mr. Fisher has not been reticent about exploiting that opening.

"Congressman Portman was holding the shovel as he and George Bush dug us into the deepest economic ditch in most of our lifetimes," Mr. Fisher said in a recent interview with The Blade.

"He didn't just support the Bush trade policies, he wrote them. He didn't just support the Bush budget, he wrote it," said Mr. Fisher, claiming that Mr. Portman is trying to run away from that record.

Whether Mr. Fisher has the cash and campaign organization to make that case stick - and whether it still matters to the important swing independent voters - are questions that have yet to be answered.

Mr. Portman, after visiting The Andersons complex in Maumee two weeks ago as part of his tour of Ohio businesses, said debates about past economic policy aren't what motivates voters.

"I think what the people in this plant want to know is, 'What are you going to do for me going forward?'•" he said. "The world has moved on. Maybe the Democrats haven't."

He said he has his own plan for jobs, copies of which he distributes widely in his travels around the state.

"Some of it might have been supported by the Bush administration. Some of it might have been supported by other administrations. It's my plan. It's not a plan that goes backward. It goes forward," Mr. Portman said.

Stephen Brooks, associate director of the Ray Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said the Fisher campaign may be trying to energize its Democratic base with a pro-union, anti-free-trade argument.

But he'll also have to reach independents and some Republicans if he wants to win in Ohio's evenly balanced political playing field.

"People have relatively short memories, as is pretty obvious at least elsewhere in the country. What conditions are right now is the main issue," he said.

"It may be the case that Bush administration policies and that era is something we don't want to go back to, but I think voters are also looking for a way to move away from where we are now. Forward is an important issue for both candidates, not just the Portman candidacy," Mr. Brooks said.

He also said Mr. Fisher's campaign probably has not shown its full hand and is waiting until Labor Day, the traditional start of campaigning in Ohio.

Political polling suggests a race with the lead bouncing back and forth. A June 30 Quinnipiac University poll showed Mr. Fisher ahead 42 percent to 40 percent, with 17 percent undecided. An Aug. 16 Rasmussen Reports poll showed Mr. Portman favored 45-37 percent.

Nate Silver, a political analyst for the New York Times, on his Web site, fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com, last week calculated Mr. Fisher's chances of beating Mr. Portman at 20 percent. He said the strategy of Bush-bashing "does not seem to be resonating."

Mr. Portman holds a commanding lead in campaign funds - $8.8 million to Mr. Fisher's $1.2 million.

Unless pro-Fisher outside groups can make up the cash difference for him, Mr. Fisher may have difficulty competing with Mr. Portman's TV ads as the election proceeds, beginning with early voting that starts Sept. 28.

Both candidates are political pros.

Mr. Fisher, 59, was elected lieutenant governor in 2006 as running mate to Gov. Ted Strickland and was elected Ohio attorney general in 1990. In between, he lost two statewide elections - for attorney general in 1994 and governor in 1998.

Before that, he was in the Ohio General Assembly and also ran the nonprofit Cleveland Center for Families and Children.

He overcame a tough Democratic primary challenge from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in May.

As lieutenant governor, Mr. Fisher also wore the hat of director of development for the first two years of his term.

He claims successes in boosting Ohio exports and saving local businesses.

But it's a role that has provided ammunition to the Portman campaign when it comes to criticizing past economic performance.

The campaign derisively labels Mr. Fisher the "jobs czar."

As director of development, Mr. Fisher is now called up to explain why the state has lost 400,000 jobs during his tenure.

In addition, there has been some turnover in his staff: Mr. Fisher is on his third campaign manager and second communications director.

John Collins resigned as communications director in late July to take the same job for Jack Conway, a Democrat running for the Senate from Kentucky.

He declined to detail the reasons other than to say, "It was a personal decision." He said he views Mr. Fisher as "a great candidate," adding, "I think he's going to win the race."

Mr. Fisher has not had a public campaign appearance in the Toledo area since before the May 4 primary election - other than a nonspeaking role when Vice President Joe Biden toured the Jeep Wrangler assembly plant last week.

Mr. Portman, on the other hand, has made himself available publicly three times since the primary. That has caused some angst among local Democrats.

"I would like to see a more aggressive early campaign. Aggressiveness is what I'm looking for. More activity. A presence," said Ron Rothenbuhler, head of the Lucas County Democratic Party.

Mr. Fisher said his campaign is in good shape.

"Our campaign team has never been stronger. We have the team we need to win in November. I think when voters of Ohio find out that Congressman Portman's funding is coming from Wall Street, lobbyists, and the insurance industry they'll realize whose side he's on and whose side I'm on," Mr. Fisher said.

He said blaming him and Gov. Strickland for the loss of jobs since they took office is "an insult to the intelligence of the people of Ohio."

He called Mr. Portman and President Bush "the architect for policies that made it easy for China to dump products into America and cause people to lose work, so I do think people know who drove the car into the ditch."

Mr. Fisher also has a jobs plan on his Web site that he says looks forward, not backward.

Officials of the Portman campaign say their candidate had a good record as trade representative, taking on China over dumping of products.

Spokesman Jessica Towhey said Mr. Portman initiated the first-ever legal case against China before the World Trade Organization because of China's treatment of U.S.-made auto parts.

A lawyer from the Cincinnati area, Mr. Portman, 54, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election in 1993, and in the next six regular elections. From May, 2005, to June, 2007, he served one year each as trade representative and budget director.

He landed the Republican nomination to run for Mr. Voinovich's seat after potential primary challenger Tom Ganley of Cuyahoga County dropped out to run against U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton (D., Summit County).

Mr. Portman's appearance is less like the scourge of working America and more like an insurance guy. His wide smile and casual dress are augmented by his choice of transportation - a recreational vehicle.

In tours of state factories and businesses, about 60 so far, some of which are not publicized, he said he talks to plant managers and workers.

"Our whole focus of this campaign is how to retain and create jobs. I go to companies like [The Andersons] that are doing OK in tough times. I go to other companies that are having to lay a lot of people off and I learn from both," Mr. Portman said.

He said, uttering a refrain heard from other Republican candidates, that businesses are worried about the impact on their costs of regulatory, health care, environmental and tax changes coming from the Democratic leadership in Washington.

"I'm spending time talking to people all over the state and finding out people are frustrated. They're concerned with where we are, the status quo is not working. I agree with them. That's why I'm running. That's what this campaign's going to be about," Mr. Portman said.

Contact Tom Troy at:

tomtroy@theblade.com

or 419-724-6058.