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In their third and final debate of election season at the Cleveland City Club, Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Democrat challenger Ted Strickland sparred sharply Wednesday over President Barack Obama’s health care law, gun control and even Portman’s economic background.
Portman, said Strickland, a former Ohio governor and congressman, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” Portman countered by talking about how his dad risked everything to buy the Golden Lamb, the southern Ohio restaurant that his family operates.
One of their first sharp disputes came over whether or not Portman would echo Sen. John McCain’s vow to oppose all of Hillary Clinton’s nominees were she to be elected president. Portman said he supported a “fair hearing process,” and that he’s supported several of Obama’s nominees, and “looked at each one on the merits.”
Baloney, said Strickland.
“For months he has blocked Judge Garland,” Strickland said, referring to Merrick Garland, who Portman and other Senate Republicans have essentially blocked from being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. “He said this man should not have a hearing or get a vote. He has disrespected the president and he has failed to carry out his constitutional obligation. He has not done his job for months.”
The two also argued about the Black Lives Matter movement, with Strickland accusing Portman of supporting “stop and frisk” – a policy that was struck down by the Supreme Court that allowed police to stop anyone suspected of a crime. He was referring to a bill Portman introduced in 1994 as a member of the U.S. House. That bill never made it out of subcommittee.
And they sparred over the health care law, which Portman says he wants to repeal and replace. “It’s not working for Ohio,” said Portman.
Strickland, meanwhile, said the law is “not perfect,” but insisted it was “a good bill, one we ought to fix and improve.”
“We can do that,” he said, “but the senator has voted to repeal it and I’ve never seen any kind of replacement as part of any kind of vote he’s ever cast.” He praised Ohio Gov. John Kasich for expanding Medicare, though the bill actually expanded access to Medicaid.
Parts of the debate were a redux of an earlier debate in Youngstown. Strickland’s opening statement included details of his hard-scrabble youth in southern Ohio, and Portman worked to equate Strickland’s seeming celebration of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia – Strickland quickly apologized – with the many controversial comments of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Portman also worked to emphasize his bipartisan work, once again reminding voters that he had 45 bills in the Senate, and describing himself as “an independent voice.”
Strickland, however, took exception. He said Portman has fought Obama “every step of the way” and stood with Donald Trump for months before finally saying he wouldn’t vote for him. When it came to being an independent, Strickland said, “he is the great pretender.”
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