Supercommittee death brings Rob Portman new life

By Dana Milbank,
WashPost
Published: November 28

When Sen. Rob Portman finished a speech and news conference on Monday afternoon about the failure of the supercommittee on which he served, I attempted to bestow a premature label on the Ohio Republican.

“Thank you, Mr. Vice President.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Portman replied with a smile. As evidence, he offered, “What’s the one thing you wouldn’t want to do if you wanted to be the VP candidate? Join the supercommittee.”

I’m not convinced.

Had he joined the supercommittee and reached a debt-slashing deal, Portman’s political hopes might well have been doomed: The compromise would inevitably have included tax increases that are poison to the Republican voter base. But if he joined the supercommittee and refused to back down from the Republican no-new-taxes pledge, then the pyrrhic victory would – and did – leave Portman’s conservative credentials intact.

(More here.)