Is Rob Portman's exit good or bad

[XanaDUer2]

for us.? He's not a Trumper, but voted with Trump a majority of the time. Should he do what's best for him and his family? Will a Trumper take his place? Republicans have caused such gridlock that he feels nothing can be done anymore in a meaningful way.

[getagrip_already]

1. ohio.....

Will surely nominate the very worst republican. They will likely win.

They are an in-bred kind of crazy. We just don't have the numbers there.....

[still_one]

5. Sherrod Brown might disagree with that speculation

[themaguffin]

15. he's an incumbent. When he retires, the next Dem will have a much harder time

[still_one]

19. Ossoff and Warnock demonstrated it can be done

[themaguffin]

20. Yes, because our demographics are changing in the direction that is trending towards blue

[mobeau69]

6. Ohio has A great Democratic senator right now.

[mobeau69]

2. He's a trumpist in my book.

Not a crazy like Gym Jordan but a trumpist nonetheless.

[Turbineguy]

18. Gym Jordan will be his replacement.

It's going to take more than two years to fix the GOP

[still_one]

3. Good only if a Democrat replaces him

[NewJeffCT]

4. He's a conservative Republican

It could be Gym Jordan against Tim Ryan for the open seat. Ryan probably has a better shot against Jordan than he would have had against Portman.

[getagrip_already]

8. I wonder if little gymie is whacko enough for the gop base?

The gop is shrinking, leaving a toxic sludge of whacko's voting in the primaries. Sure, there are a lot of gop voters, but a lot of those aren't primary voters. Some just show up for the general.

They may just want the most extreme piece of shite they see. Maybe someone with facepaint and a head dress.

I'm not sure we can beat jordan. he is very popular with the fox crowd. Hopefully someone crazier gets the nom. It won't matter vote wise in the senate. jordan isn't going to ever support a dem bill.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Jordan is one of Trump's biggest supporters in the House

so, i would think it would make most Trumpsters happy.

[Sugarcoated]

25. My sense is Ryan would kick ass but I don't know Ohio

What do you think?

Any Ohioans care to weigh in?

[NewJeffCT]

26. I thought Ted Strickland had a shot against Portman last time

and Portman won by 20 points. But, I'm a New England resident, so not really qualified to predict Ohio politics.

[gab13by13]

7. I somewhat disagree,

I see his departure possibly meaning that he is going to vote to indict Trump.

[getagrip_already]

12. wing nut welfare ensures otherwise....

One of the biggest obstacles to getting gop members of congress to vote freely when they won't run again is after office earning potential. Between lobbying, the speech circuit, think tanks, college chairs, and consultancies, they can make a large fortune after leaving office - IF they stay in line.

Voting your conscience can be very expensive for an outgoing republican. And that doesn't even touch on the thugs threatening to kill them and their families.

I wouldn't expect to see any sudden freedom being felt because he is retiring. Conviction will only happen if mitch is convinced its the only way to regain power. Right now that doesn't seem to be his calculation.

[Cosmocat]

13. YEP

See what Arizona just did to Cindy McCain and Jeff Flake ...

[NewJeffCT]

24. not to mention self-promotion appearances

on Fox News, OAN, NewsMax and a whole host of RW radio shows.

[KentuckyWoman]

21. I wondered the same thing.

Portman is an actual conservative. I think he is leaving because it isn't worth getting killed for.

[Wounded Bear]

9. It might make the Repub party slightly less sane...

[kentuck]

10. Good!

Chickenshits should not be in the Senate.

[Ohiogal]

11. It's to laugh, really.

His excuse about gridlock. He is part of the problem since he voted with Trump and the GOP almost exclusively and also voted not to impeach the first time.

I do worry that Ohio could vote in a crazy whack job like Jordan or Bill Johnson who would be way worse. Tim Ryan would be an excellent choice.

[Cosmocat]

14. It is grades of horribleness

I mean, he only looks good because the party has devolved into next level shitshow.

We are talking about the difference in dying by carbon monoxide vs ebola.

Portman was a less horrible death, but death nonetheless.

[Happy Hoosier]

16. It easier to win an open seat... so good for us.

Odds are still against us, but less so than beforehand.

[Celerity]

17. Portman is between a Dark Mark and a Wiper, what could replace him will likely be an Unsolved Crime

[ChoppinBroccoli]

23. Neutral. He'll Be Replaced By Someone Just As Bad

On the one hand, it's an opportunity to pick up another Senate seat. On the other, the reality of the situation is that the inept Ohio Democratic Party probably doesn't have anyone they can run for that seat who's capable of actually winning it.

[ElementaryPenguin]

27. Good. I think either Tim Ryan or Marci Kaptur would defeat Gym Jordan...

Provided the election isn't hacked.

An editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer last year called Jordan the second most despicable person in the federal government.