Top Ohio Republicans face down intraparty critics
By
Dan Sewell and Julie Carr Smyth, December 28, 2013
Conservative
restlessness within their own party poses challenges to three
Republican stars in the battleground state of Ohio, where House
Speaker John Boehner, Sen. Rob Portman and Gov. John Kasich all have
riled up the right.
Kasich
upset some by pushing for certain tax increases and embracing
Medicaid expansion under President Barack Obama's health care
overhaul; Boehner is clashing with conservative groups over the
federal budget; and Portman faces backlash from social conservatives
over his about-face in favor of gay marriage.
Whether
the GOP trio can hold Republicans together has sweeping political
implications, given Ohio's role as a swing state and the three men's
own national profiles. Kasich and Portman have been floated as
presidential-ticket contenders, while Boehner seeks to hang on to one
of Washington's most powerful jobs.
Some
party dissidents feel betrayed, seeing an orchestrated effort to
court support among the roughly 20 percent of unaffiliated voters in
Ohio's middle. Kasich could face a primary challenge in 2014 and lose
some conservatives to a Libertarian candidate in November. People are
lining up to oppose Boehner in the district he has held more than two
decades, while there's talk of recruiting a primary challenger for
Portman in 2016.
"The
Republican Party needs to know what it stands for," said Tom
Zawistowski, a leader in the Ohio tea party movement. "We're not
going to let them slide."
Given
the current volatility and uncertainty in U.S. politics, what happens
with the three leaders in Ohio, often seen as a political bellwether,
"could serve as a beacon of national interest," said
Barbara Trish, an associate political science professor at Iowa's
Grinnell College who studies political parties.
Veteran
Ohio GOP consultant Mark Weaver said division over strict adherence
to philosophy and winning elections isn't unique to state Republicans
and that "it's similar to one we're seeing around the country.
Like the Democrats, the Republican Party has some natural tension
inside it, but given the horrific performance of Barack Obama, we're
going to be united in bringing America back from the Obama policies."
Republican
Secretary of State Jon Husted said Boehner, Portman and Kasich face a
classic political conflict: whether to follow, or lead, public
opinion.
"These
guys have been pretty successful in their own right; they're pretty
smart politically. They're trying to skate, as Wayne Gretzky says, to
where the puck's going to be, not necessarily where the puck is,"
Husted said. "That path is not always clear."
Ohio
consultant Curt Steiner places Portman in the leader category. The
Cincinnati native stunned conservative backers in March when he
announced his support for same-sex marriage, after his son Will came
out as gay.
"I
think history will show that he was ahead of the curve," said
Steiner, who helped run Portman's first congressional campaign.
The
former White House budget chief was an adviser and shortlisted
potential running mate in Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign,
and Steiner believes Portman will continue to build his reputation as
a thoughtful leader on "meat-and-potatoes issues that people
focus on the most."
But
some conservatives are distrustful now.
"Rob
Portman's going to pay a price. He was wrong," said Zawistowski,
of Portage County in northeast Ohio.
Kasich's
critics suspect he has one eye on 2014 and another on 2016. He has
drawn favorable national attention — including publicly from Obama
— for his push to make Medicaid available to more low-income
Ohioans, and for some innovative tax and spending proposals that
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said were an overall reduction.
A
big re-election victory in November would almost certainly put him in
play for his party's national ticket.
Talk
of GOP dissidence doesn't much faze Kasich.
"I
don't think anything about it," Kasich told reporters recently.
"I'm not interested in all the political ... you know, if I'm
interested in anything about politics, I'll read Politico."
Democrats
say that while leading Republicans might be trying to appeal to a
wider audience with words, their actions are still for the rich and
against women's health and other issues.
"We've
seen it time and time again," said Jerid Kurtz, Ohio Democratic
Party spokesman. "While they may be changing their language,
their actions are just as destructive to the middle class as ever."
Any
GOP challengers to the Ohio trio face an uphill battle; perhaps the
steepest is in the 8th House District that Boehner, of West Chester,
has carried by large margins since his first win in 1990.
"It's
going to be one of those David and Goliath fights," said Ann
Becker, who leads the Cincinnati tea party, an umbrella for southwest
Ohio groups.
Regional
groups recently held a forum with possible opponents for Boehner, who
this month expressed exasperation in Washington with conservative
groups he felt were pushing House Republicans to oppose bipartisan
budget efforts.
One
announced primary challenger, Troy teacher J.D. Winteregg, hopes to
attract help from Boehner critics outside of Ohio.
"Boehner
is a fundraising juggernaut," he said. "You can't expect to
compete unless you can raise funds from outside the state. But this
race has a national narrative. It's a national race."
Veteran
conservative activist Lori Viars, of Republican-dominated southwest
Ohio, said she sees conservatives split into three groups: those who
will vote for the "lesser of two evils" next November,
those who will make a protest vote, and those who will stay home.
"That
one is frankly my biggest concern," she said, worrying that
lackluster turnout could hurt Republicans overall.
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