Ohioans keep hammering Rob Portman

More than 3,000 Americans are dying from COVID-19 every single day.

Hospitals and health care workers are being strained.

Almost 21 million filed for unemployment in the past month.

Republicans are finally willing to pass a desperately needed relief bill because Mitch McConnell is worried about losing the Senate runoff elections in Georgia.

Sen. Rob Portman is pretending that he’s pushed for this legislation now that he’s worried about his own re-election, but he has been taking a wait-and-see approach on coronavirus aid for months.

Ohioans see through his act. They’re calling him out in papers across the state.

In the Dayton Daily News and Clermont Sun, Ohio Democratic Party Vice Chair Rhine McLin writes:

When Rob Portman says, “I think we need to act now” on coronavirus relief legislation, I wonder what’s different today than six months ago, when Rob opposed the House-passed Heroes Act.

Here’s what’s different — Rob has to run for re-election.

Now that he’s worried about his political future, Portman is pretending to care about getting something done to help the thousands of Ohioans who have lost their small businesses, who have lost their jobs, who are going hungry, who are on the verge of eviction.

Meanwhile, a little over 5,000 more Ohioans have passed away from COVID-19 since the House sent their comprehensive coronavirus package to the Senate. That’s 5,000 lives lost while Rob played politics.

In the Dayton Daily News, Marjorie Stilwell responds to McLin’s op-ed:

Thank you, Rhine McLin for calling out Rob Portman’s opposition to coronavirus aid. The senator has repeatedly not taken care of his constituents on that and many other issues, such as gun reform or speaking out in his party’s abuse by the hands of President Trump. Letters or emails sent to his office totally denies others’ voices and dismisses our points of view readily.

In the Defiance Crescent-News, Connie Allgire writes:

In the Norwalk Reflector, Kate Rivet writes:

Sen. Rob Portman has spent the last four years pretending like Donald Trump’s tweets don’t matter.

During a 2017 “Meet the Press” appearance, Chuck Todd asked Portman about Trump’s Twitter habits, and Portman said, “If you’re focused on the tweets and not focused on actually accomplishing what people are looking to happen for them and their families, then you are getting out of touch with the American people.”

Meanwhile, Portman has refused to hold a single public town hall with his constituents for six long years. That’s the very definition of out of touch.

Now that President-elect Joe Biden is selecting his team, Portman suddenly thinks social media posts should be disqualifying. He has pledged to oppose Neera Tanden as the Office of Management and Budget Director because of — you guessed it — her tweets.

He told the Washington Post, “The concern I have is both judgment, based on the tweets…and of all the jobs, that’s one where I think you would need to be careful not to have someone who’s overtly partisan.”

If Portman was so concerned about an OMB director being “overtly partisan,” why did he vote for Trump’s pick, Mick Mulvaney (one of the leaders of the hyperpartisan Freedom Caucus)?

And if Portman was so concerned about judgment, why did he vote for Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, Alex Acosta, who approved the sweetheart plea deal given to Jeffrey Epstein?

Here’s a hint — Portman doesn’t care about anything, except his political future.