DAY 5 OF ROB PORTMAN BIRTHER CONTROVERSY – PORTMAN STILL WON’T SAY YES-OR-NO IF HE BELIEVES THE PRESIDENT IS A UNITED STATES CITIZEN

Is This More Serious Than We Thought?

It’s been five days since Rob Portman’s associates called into question President Obama’s citizenship status at a fundraising dinner in Darke Country, and despite repeated questions, Portman continues refusing to admit that the President of the United States is an American citizen. Saturday evening, former state Rep. Jim Buchy and state Rep. James Zehringer introduced Portman at a fundraiser, where both men made comments calling into question their belief that President Obama is an American citizen. Portman, refused to contradict Buchy and Zehringer when he took the podium, and has done nothing this week to show his views differ at all from their views regarding the citizenship status of the President and Commander in Chief.

“All it would take for Rob Portman to clear up this five day controversy is to answer a simple yes or no question – Does Rob Portman believe the President Obama is an American citizen?” DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy said. “Five full days after his allies called into question President Obama’s citizenship, Ohioans are calling into question Rob Portman’s fitness to serve in public office. The radical views of Portman’s allies might be acceptable in some fringe groups, but it won’t help Portman win over Ohioans struggling following the misguided economic policies put into place by years of Republican rule.”

Portman’s silence on the issue of President Obama’s citizenship is the latest example of the former Bush Budget Director and Trade Ambassador’s unwillingness to distance himself from the extreme fringes of his own Party. In February of 2008, Portman did nothing to refute the highly inflammatory remarks extreme conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham made towards then presidential candidate Barack Obama. Portman followed Cunningham who called the president a “hack” and tried to stir up the crowd by referring to the president using his middle name, Hussein. Last week, Portman refused to sever ties with the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which refers to public officials as Nazis on its Web site. Similarly, while Portman called the group’s statements “highly inappropriate,” he keynoted the group’s biggest event of the year, raising them $15,000 while ignoring calls from 20 Ohio legislators to cancel his speech and distance himself from COAST. The letter from the lawmakers remains unanswered by Portman.