Dartmouth in the White House?

Now that Romney has officially secured the nomination, the next big question arises: who will be his running mate? Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, and Marco Rubio are all sound choices, but Dartmouth grad Rob Portman may be Romney’s best pick.

photo: Joseph Mehling ’69

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Portman graduated from Dartmouth in 1979 where he majored in anthropology.

Since then, Portman has proved himself to be superb politician. From 1993 to 2005, Portman served in the House of Representatives where he won seven consecutive elections with over 70% of the vote. President Bush appointed him to be the US Trade Representative and from 2005 to 2006 and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2006 to 2007. In 2010 Portman won an open seat in the Senate, carrying 82 of 88 counties in Ohio.

In the Ohio primary race this year, Portman demonstrated both his support for Romney and his influence in the swing state of Ohio.  Portman not only endorsed Romney, but actively campaigned with him as well. Instead of just declaring his support for Romney, the freshman senator attended rallies with him, wrote an op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer, and organized a grassroots campaign by taking advantage of his local contacts. In the end, Portman’s efforts were essential to Romney’s close win. In southwest Ohio, “we had about a 30,000-vote plurality,” commented Portman. “That 30,000 obviously was critical, with the 10,000- or 11,000-vote victory statewide.” 

Portman’s intimate experience with the budget could be essential to Romney’s early success as a multitude of tax cuts expire in November and a $3 trillion debt-ceiling increase follows soon afterwards. While the Obama camp would try to paint Portman as the reason behind the Bush deficits, the deficit under his leadership at the OMB was a relatively small $161 billion.

After two cabinet level confirmations, Portman has already been scrutinized by Washington and has a shining reputation. He is known to be very intelligent, judicious, and honorable. While he may not bring the type of charisma that Romney desperately seeks, Portman has a warm charm and agreeable personality.

This is not the first time that Portman has been considered a Vice Presidential candidate. In 2008, many pundits put him on the VP short list. “Portman,” said Times columnist David Brooks, “is an Ohioan with the mind of a budget director and a mild temperament that is a credit to his Midwestern roots.” Now, after a successful freshman year in the Senate, Portman has proved his worth even more.

Rob Portman has remained involved with Dartmouth. Last summer he taught a public policy course and spoke to students in the “Leading Voices in Politics and Policy” lecture series.

Dartmouth is proud to tout Portman as an alumnus and we at the Review wish him the best in his bright political future.

–Will Duncan