Editing Rob Portman (section)

==United States Representative: 1993–2005==
In 1993, Portman entered a special election to fill the seat of Congressman [[Bill Gradison]] of [[Ohio's 2nd congressional district|Ohio's second congressional district]], who had stepped down to become president of the [[Health Insurance Association of America]]. In the Republican primary, Portman faced six-term Congressman [[Bob McEwen]], who had lost his Sixth District seat to [[Ted Strickland]] in November 1992; real estate developer Jay Buchert, president of the [[National Association of Home Builders]]; and several lesser known candidates.

In the primary, Portman was criticized for his previous law firm's work for Haitian president [[Jean-Claude Duvalier|Baby Doc Duvalier]].<ref name="news.google.com">{{cite news|title=McEwen, Portman targeted in campaign commercial|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PJpFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5997,4923815&dq=prince-rob+portman&hl=en|newspaper=Daily Times|date=February 18, 1993}}</ref> Buchert ran campaign commercials labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob."<ref name="news.google.com"/> Portman lost four of the district's five counties, but won the largest, [[Hamilton County, Ohio|Hamilton County]], his home county and home to 57% of the district's population. Largely on the strength of his victory in Hamilton, Portman took 17,531 votes (36%) overall, making him the winner.

In the general election, Portman defeated the Democratic nominee, attorney Lee Hornberger, 53,020 (70%) to 22,652 (29%).<ref>{{cite news|title=Democrats and Republicans Split Races for House Seats in 2 States|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/06/us/democrats-and-republicans-split-races-for-house-seats-in-2-states.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 6, 1993}}</ref>

Portman was reelected in [[1994 U.S. House election#Ohio|1994]], [[1996 U.S. House election#Ohio|1996]], [[1998 U.S. House election#Ohio|1998]], [[2000 U.S. House election#Ohio|2000]], [[2002 U.S. House election#Ohio|2002]], and [[2004 U.S. House election#Ohio|2004]], defeating Democrats [[Les Mann]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Ohio GOP picks up 4 Washington seats|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kw5KAAAAIBAJ&pg=3328,5520621&dq=portman+les-mann&hl=en|newspaper=The Vindicator|date=November 9, 1994}}</ref> [[Thomas R. Chandler]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Results of Contests For the U.S. House, District by District|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/07/us/results-of-contests-for-the-us-house-district-by-district.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 1996}}</ref> and then [[Waynesville, Ohio|Waynesville]] mayor Charles W. Sanders four times in a row.<ref name="weeklystandard1">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/more-bad-news-democrats|title=More Bad News for Democrats|magazine=The Weekly Standard|date=March 15, 2010|access-date=August 21, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311212427/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/more-bad-news-democrats|archive-date=March 11, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kemme|first=Steve|title=Portman vows not to take it easy|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/09/19/loc_loc1gportman.html|newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|date=September 19, 2004}}</ref><ref name="congress1" />

===House legislative career===
[[File:Rob Portman testifying before the Senate Budget Committee.jpg|thumb|right|Rob Portman testifying before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Budget|Senate Budget Committee]] in 1998]]
As of 2004, Portman had a lifetime rating of 89 from the [[American Conservative Union]], and ranked 5th among Ohio's 18 House members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-legislative-ratings/?year1=2004&chamber=12&state1=48&sortable=6 |title=2004 ACU House ratings |website=Federal Legislative Ratings |publisher=[[American Conservative Union]] |language=en}}</ref>

One of Portman's first votes in [[United States Congress|Congress]] was for the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] on November 17, 1993.<ref>{{Cite news|url =http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1993/roll575.xml|title=FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 575|publisher=United States House of Representatives Roll Call Vote|date=November 17, 1993|access-date=June 3, 2012}}</ref>

Of Portman's work on the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pete Sepp of the [[National Taxpayers Union]] said, "He set a professional work environment that rose above partisanship and ultimately gave taxpayers more rights."<ref name="weeklystandard1" /> Democratic Representative [[Stephanie Tubbs Jones]] from Cleveland said Portman, "compared to other Republicans, is pleasant and good to work with."<ref name="cleveland1" /> During the first four years of the [[George W. Bush]] Administration, Portman served as a liaison between congressional Republicans and the White House.<ref name="cleveland1">{{cite web|url=http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/04/ready_for_prime_time_president.html|title=Ready for Prime Time President Bush has tapped Ohio's Rob Portman to be the nation's top trade negotiator|date=April 19, 2008|publisher=Blog.cleveland.com|access-date=August 21, 2010}}</ref> Portman voted for the [[Iraq War Resolution]] in [[107th United States Congress|2002]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://voteview.com/gulfwar.htm|title=The Iraq War Vote|publisher=VoteView.com|date=October 11, 2002|access-date=December 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107024756/http://voteview.com/GulfWar.htm|archive-date=November 7, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was known for his willingness to work with Democrats to enact important legislation.<ref name="loyalist" />

Portman has said that his proudest moments as a U.S. Representative were "when we passed the [[Balanced Budget Act of 1997|balanced budget agreement]] and the [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform bill]]."<ref name="weeklystandard1" /> As a congressman, Portman traveled to [[Argentina]], Chile, [[Costa Rica]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], Israel, [[Jordan]], [[Kuwait]] and Mexico.<ref name="RealClearPolitics" /> During his time in the [[United States House of Representatives|House]], Portman began assisting prominent [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] candidates prepare for debates by standing in for their opponents in practice debates. He took the role of [[Lamar Alexander]] (for [[Bob Dole]] in 1996), [[Al Gore]] (for [[George W. Bush]] in 2000), [[Hillary Clinton]] (for [[Rick Lazio]] in 2000), [[Joe Lieberman]] (for [[Dick Cheney]] in 2000), [[John Edwards]] (for Cheney in 2004), and [[Barack Obama]] (for [[John McCain]] in 2008 and [[Mitt Romney]] in 2012).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/us/politics/rob-portman-a-master-of-washingtons-inner-workings.html|title=Possible No. 2 to Romney Knows Ways of the Capital|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 3, 2012|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/potential-romney-vp-rob-portman-method-actor-debate/story?id=16488358#.UIdBQW_A8jI|title=Potential Romney VP Rob Portman is a method actor of debate prep: 'physical mannerisms, parsing of his voice, everything'|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=June 4, 2012|first=Chris|last=Moody}}</ref> His portrayals mimic not only the person's point of view but also their mannerisms, noting for instance that he listened to Obama's audiobook reading to study his pattern of speech.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/portman-to-reprise-obama-role-for-romney-debate-preparation/?partner=rss&emc=rss|title=Portman to Reprise Obama Role for Romney Debate Preparation|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 27, 2012}}</ref>
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