Portman camp to woo Clinton voters
Sen. Rob Portman’s campaign will be hunting for votes in an unusual place this weekend: Hillary Clinton’s campaign rallies.
Portman’s re-election operation plans to dispatch a dozen volunteers to stand outside Clinton's campaign events in Youngstown and Columbus, where they will be passing out flyers highlighting the Ohio Republican's support from three labor unions.
It’s a direct appeal to die-hard Democrats—from a staunch Republican facing a tough re-election battle against former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
"Rob Portman is fighting for Ohio workers and families," reads one of the Portman flyers, listing his endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, and the United Mine Workers. "Support Portman for Senate."
It's unclear what kind of reception Portman's troops will receive. The Ohio Republican is opposed to most of the policies Clinton has embraced in this campaign, from stronger gun control measures to protecting abortion rights.
David Bergstein, a Strickland Campaign spokesman, ridiculed Portman's plans.
“Senator Portman’s campaign is welcome to waste their time on this laughable stunt," he said. "After Portman said just last week that he was 'all in' for Donald Trump, I don’t think he’ll find much support at this event.”
Corry Bliss, Portman's campaign manager, conceded that Clinton's supporters might not like Portman's positions on some key policies. But he predicted his volunteers would get a "great reception" because most Ohioans care first and foremost about pocketbook issues.
"Of course, on many, many issues, Rob Portman disagrees with many of the attendees of these rallies," Bliss said. "But ... if you care about jobs and the economy, there’s only one candidate to support in this race."
Strickland will be at both events with Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who are kicking off the general election campaign in Pennsylvania and Ohio after rallying the party faithful at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week.