Josh Kraushaar points out that this isn't exactly a bumper-electoral moment for a Rob Portman VP pick.
He's an insider, and even more damagingly, a Bush insider.
Portman, for all his strengths, is a consummate Beltway insider — one of the worst political sins in this antiestablishment political environment. Even more damaging, he worked for President George W. Bush as the director of the Office of Management and Budget at a time when spending was on the rise.
That’s a double whammy, alienating independents who fear Romney’s economic policies will be a return to the Bush years and disappointing conservatives who could view Portman as complicit in the excess spending.
