Democrats demand that Rob Portman renounce 'birther' comments made at dinner

If the people introducing a politician at a political event make fun of the president of the United States -- say, they tell jokes that question whether the president was born in the United States -- does that politician have an obligation to say: "Hey, fellas? That's not right."

The question is relevant because Rob Portman, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, stood by Saturday while being introduced at the Darke County Lincoln Day Dinner by two men -- former State Rep. Jim Buchy and State Rep. James Zehringer -- who told exactly those kinds of jokes. Even in jest, their comments went to the question of whether Obama meets the legal requirements to be commander in chief, a subject that some won't let die in their attempts to undercut Obama's presidency.

Portman said nothing at the time to correct them.

A recording of the event wound up on Talking Points Memo. And then the Ohio Democratic Party as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started demanding that Portman renounce the "birthers," as they are commonly called.

Portman has not renounced them...

Democrats -- especially those whose job is to find ways to make Republicans squirm -- think they're onto a whole theme, since Portman appeared at a March 1 fund-raising event for the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), whose website has called public officials "Nazis." Portman's campaign likewise called the Nazi language inappropriate, but Democrats said Portman should have canceled his appearance, which he did not.

...many Ohioans still don't know him [Portman], and these kinds of controversies won't help.

...

"The question remains, does Rob Portman doubt the president's citizenship or does he just choose to stay quiet when it is politically convenient?" asked Deidre Murphy at the DSCC. "Portman owes Ohioans an answer as to whether or not he believes President Obama was born in the U.S."

Here are the comments that created this stir.

Buchy: "Lincoln was a skinny lawyer. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was highly respected. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was born in the United States. Obama is a skinny lawyer."

Zehringer: "Rob Portman is an American lawyer. That's the first sentence [on his Wikipedia page]. That's something our president can't say."

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