rob portman has been criticized for lacking star power. tame. senators like kelly, from rob portman has been criticized for lacking star power. other senators like kelly, from new hampshire and market has be for lacking star power. other senators like kelly, from new hampshire and market rubio from florida could be helping key battle ground states. there's also tea party favorites, congressman paul ryan. don't forget about romney's former republican rivals. their road block, a brittle primary season. son of g.o.p. contender, ron paul, endorsed romney and plays the attack dog. >> president romney is taking his last year of presidency to campaign. >> so just the big question, when is mitt romney going to make the announcement. it is an ongoing process. it takes a lot of betting. in 2008, john mccain waited before the republican convention to announce sarah palin. >> waiting and washington waiting to find out who the person will be. torry gun live tonight in dc. thank you for that report. >>> abc 2 news will be right back. >>> stock market closed u

rob portman seems to be a theme. >> everybody has got to say rob portman but i also like t. paw.ked it's like, i have to serve my country so i have to go with mitt romney. yes, eve van gel cal christian. the other one i want to throw is is susana martinez would help mitt romney with hispanics and women. >> steve, be how about you? you have a name that i thought was very interesting. you have someone out there that said, i wouldç be great at thi >> i will say i have portman on the list, too, but my number one right now i have is john thune, senator from south dakota, he has this balance, this sort of perfect balance from being boring but being marketable at the same time. i think the romney campaign is so risk averse, they are not lookingi looking for the bold sarah palin. he wants the subordinate, lieutenant governor of massachusetts. i think thune fits in there and the other one is kelly from new hampshire. she's only been in the senate since 2010. i think that's a real long shot. >> the two from new england. >> there's that but, let's be honest, if you're looking at a potentia

sunday, rob portman will be with him in ohio, the ohio senator. monday, paul ryan will be with him. all these people have something in common. they were all mentioned as vps. lot of chatter. do you expect mitt romney to make an earlier than expected decision? by that i mean sometime right before the convention on this? how far along is the process? >> there haven't been any decisions made about making a decision. that's about as apt a summary as i can tell you. >> that's incredibly insightful. >> i think this is going to be a very detailed process. i think that's reflected in the governor's appointment of beth myers as part of his search committee. i think it will be a lot of information, going to be a lot of discussion, going to be a great deal of vetting and i think it will ultimately come down to a decision the governor makes. when he makes it, beth will learn, i will learn and so will the american people.

rob portman knows them all.ry well connected among republicans and democrats and he brings something that governor like pawlenty doesn't bring. that sense, that instains you sense of what's possible, and how to work the system. i believe mitt romney, if he's serious about this, he'll look at portman. >> congressman, as a democrat, who's the person you fear the most in terms of a vice presidential pick? >> i'm not sure there's someone out there i would fear the most. i think certainly without ohio, romney can't win the president. >> right guy, solid guy. he would help mr. romney in ohio. but, mitt romney has to win florida, he has to win ohio, probably has to win virginia, he has a choice to make, to some degree, i think he'll be driven by what he has to win more so what he should do to get a solid vp to run with him. >> more of the roundtable. we'll be back with 60 seconds. can women have it all? the atlantic magazine cover that has everyone talking. and hbo's "the newsroom." debuts tonight. will you be watching

somebody like rob portman does not have the name i.d.front of a cpac crowd. >> mitt romney did win the cpac vote in february. i was there for it. trust me, when his name was mentioned it's not like the room was enthusiastic. this is a very conservative crowd here. if you're mitt romney, you really want a candidate who can do no harm. frankly, i think out of all the people on here and portman is getting all the attention, i think bock b mcdonald is closer terms of what mitt romney may need, governor from virginia. the story he can tell, i think so much heat has been on portman. i think a lot may go towards mcdonald once the choice is made. >> three of those guys are from very important swing states. >> of course. >> rob portman from ohio, marco rubio is from florida and mcdonald is from virginia. i think the geography may be a factor in this one. >> roland, what about chris christie, though? he's been tireless campaigning on mitt romney's behalf and endorsed him really early. god, the guy's a fighter. he'd be a good debate there. >> first

that may not be something rob portman wants to do. >> right. the romney campaign goes forward with an early vp pick and it happens to be rob portman, that's probably going to take him out of the running. he's got to prepare for his own october vice presidential debate if it is him. but it's going to be someone very comfortable to romney. i wouldn't eliminate someone like tim pawlenty, who has been out with him, knows him well, but you're right, it's got to be someone willing to challenge the candidate and be able to deliver that blow that you know your opponent is going to do onstage in prime time under the lights. >> of course, john kerry also has his own future at stake, not only being the chairman of the foreign relations committee but widely discussed as a potential future secretary of state if there were a second obama term. so how eager is he going to be to be nasty and mean and really challenge barack obama in debate prep? >> well, that's true, but you know, it's almost the truth hurts sometimes, that could help him in the end, being a t

and david drucker had an interesting article about rob portman and what it would mean to mitt romneyup there, shows obama with portman, 47%. very fascinating stuff. >> yeah, i think that in the old way of looking at vice presidential candidates is that, can they win you a state, can they make you stronger in a particular region where you might be weak. and i think because politics in this country has become so nationalized, that's the old way of looking at it. what i did was take a look at rob portman's political network in ohio and can he get them to do things for somebody other than himself? and even if rob portman is not on the ballot, a number of conservatives and republicans i talked to in ohio, including in those key rural areas where romney is going to need a high turnout in order to beat the president, the message i got was rob portman has a lot of credibility. he's got credibility with the tea party faction, he's got credibility with your rank and file republicans, and rural republicans. he can can get them to go to work for governor romney, even if he's not on the ticket. a

of course, there is rob portman. the downside to portman, i guess the upside is ohio, ohio, ohio.is the former budget director for george w. bush which would certainly give a talking point to the obama camp. >> exactly. rob portman would bring a ghost to the party because he's got that association with president bush and not only the association with the bush administration, but also the bush budget which a lot of people are still remembering, the bush economic policies led to a lot of economic distress that we're still trying to dig our way out of. also, just one thing very quickly, pawlenty, besides bringing contrast, you've got to look at what his liabilities are and that includes the fact that he is not necessarily all that popular, wouldn't necessarily bring minneapolis or minnesota along with him to the romney campaign and left the state with a bit of a budget problem they're still trying to work themselves out of. >> thanks so much. >>> the first rule about veep club, you do not talk about it. mark halpern will, next. >>> plus, america awaits the big decisions, expected soo

rob portman to me is that.didn't talk about con dal ease a rice as an afterthought. >> that's the kind of person he goes after. a long shot. rob portman on that list and perhaps bob mcdonnell. >> you are saying he is going to go super save another white dude like him. >> look at what he has done. super save super boring. >> viciously attacked in the next segment. that helps a little bit. and a ton of money. >> what vice presidential candidates do as well. >> that's what pawlenty would be terrible. christie might be good at. thank you, michael. now, coming up on the show we've got noreen mustafa live in egypt. she is going to report to us on this massive gathering in tahirir square and the situation that hosni must bearac ismubarak. and this heck of a war among the campains moveon versus the romney campaign. we will have a moveon representative on the show as well. cock right back. janeane garofalo is on joy behar one week only until the fall. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm ab

send a pancakes with senator rob portman. >> it is great to have rob portman here. >> something in wisconsin with congressman paul ryan. so far romney has kept their vice-presidential selection process close to the vest. abc news reported this morning the romney campaign was not doing a background check on marco rubio. the young senator is wildly popular among conservatives. some say he could put florida bacchant to the column for republicans. they say he could close the gap with president obama, and hispanics. this evening, romney personally disputed that report. >> marco rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process. >> that makes him the only contender the campaign has been concerned is on the list. >> if you raised expectations so high end he becomes seen as the likely candidate and then does that depict, you may do yourself some damage. >> that was carrying travers. it looks like him plenty is the front-runner. romney insists that he in one top staffer know what is going on. >> president obama told world leaders he is confident that europe will resolve the debt crisis. the pre

i think rob portman is another one who has had a public profile, who has been vetted in the public forte some time, not huge risk takers, able to stay on the talking points for the most part. what's going to be interesting now, i think, is to see both paul ebty and portman auditioning, continuing to audition, for the role of attack dog because that's, of course, the role that any veep would play. i think you're going to see them be continued surrogates and continue to make those appearances and showing whether they could be the one to take the lead in that role if they were picked in the next couple of months or around the time of the convention. >> jeff, i know you have your ear to the ground as well here. who are you hearing? we hear a lot, for example, my colleagues on "morning joe" talk about senator portman. that, you know, mitt rom my wants someone who does not upstage him, if you will, an enhancer, but not a sarah palin who comes in and all of the focus immediately goes to her and what she is saying for good and for bad. >> i think sarah palin and joe biden are the models here,

we hear a lot about rob portman visiting israel last week.d still broadband mcdonnell and what are you hearing in washington about all of these guys? why are you laughing? >> i don't know. any time you use the term transvaginal probe when you talk about a vp pick, it is exciting. >> it is part of the portfolio. >> i think what they will want to do is sarah palin did teach them something last time around which is you don't want that much excitement in your game changer. i think boring is going to be still more what they're looking for this time around which is one of the reasons that rob portman has been talked about. he has many excellent qualities and good qualifications and he is also as people say a boring white bred kind of guy and i think it has a lot of cache these days as opposed to chris christie or marco rubio. >> is that because anybody with a personality is going to over shadow mitt romney immediately? >> it doesn't take much to over shadow mitt romney with personality. i think if he is looking at rubio, it is probably to gain on t

makes three stops sunday in ohio with senator rob portman.e went to wisconsin with house budget chairman and house member paul ryan. finishes things up on tuesday. more on what he hopes to accomplish. >> the irony of mitt romney being forced to respond on immigration as we heard earlier is that it came as mitt romney was embarking on a bus tour. he is traveling to six states from new hampshire to iowa that have in total, 74 electoral votes. that is more than one fourth of the amount needed to win presidency. paul ryan, the budget committee kmarm, tim pawlenty, and john boehner. he is courting another important is and that is the republican base in small town, america. >> everywhere i go, i meet people who represent the best of america. they are hopeful, hard working, determined and proud. but they are also anxious and they are worried. they are tired of being tired. and they're tired of an attached and distant president who never seems to hear their voices. and then i make sure i continue to hear the people of america. rfr while the obama adm

it's an appeal that focuses speculation, as well, on ohio senator rob portman, who could help romneyll to balance the budget. this week reports also emerged saying budget chairman paul ryan, a celebrated fiscal conservative, has formally begun the vetting process. >> yes, they're looking for someone who brings something that adds, generally not only to your ability on the campaign trail, but more importantly i think to your ability to governor effectively once you're elected president. >> the big question is what message does romney want to send with his vice presidential pick? does he play it safe, or go for a game changer? there are lessons from 2008, when maverick senator mccain plucked sarah palin, a little-known governor of also ka, out of obscurity. but insiders say that has become a cautionary tale. leaving the romney campaign more apt to make a conventional choice for the number two spot. >> thanks, guys. >> so, there it is. discuss. governor richardson, you've been in this position before. now, think of it from mitt romney's position, what is the message he wants to send? >>

people that are getting a lot of buzz right now rob portman, and tim pawlenty. a lot of people discounted. he is a great surrogate and offers a lot that romney does not. he is popular and strong in the midwest. he is getting a lot of attention paid to him. >> there was a notable absence. marco rubio was not there. was this a snub? >> he is coming out with a book. there was some back and forth about whether he was invited. he said he was and he wanted to spend time with his family and some people did not know of that was true or not. all the other vp contenders were at the retreat. that was a noticeable absence. >> a big question mark there. thank you. the emotional. old debate in maryland is heating up. we have the latest from annapolis. >> irene and anthony's son was attacked by a pit bull. his injuries prompted a court case that ended in a ruling by the highest court depending -- declaring pit bulls dangerous. owners could be liable for the bites without evidence of a dog being dangerous. it caused an uproar. >> pit bulls are the sweetest dogs in the world. >>

actually when you first mentioned rob portman, that's what i thought you would say.e doesn't need to choose somebody to unite the party. he can do like kennedy did with johnson who gave him texas. somebody gives him pennsylvania and ohio. i don't think you will try to reshuffle the deck. he doesn't need that. this is a dead heat election. >> he doesn't need to energize or excite the base? >> doesn't appear to. we all know why. barack obama is the great uniter of republicans and conservatives. romney -- >> who would you have on your short list? >> would make the threshold decision. what do i want to accomplish? >> assuming he wants to do no harm and pick a big state, pick up a state. >> the people that tom corbett did in pennsylvania would scott walker give you wisconsin and rod portman give you ohio and would rubio or mc donald give you florida or virginia and you have to win those anyway. they are real things that have to be thought about. that's why i think it's reassuring to republicans that they are going about this in a very thoughtful deliberate manner and don'

brief introductory remarks by center rob portman -- senator rob portman. this is about 20 minutes. >> was a great turnout. rain or shine, we are here to wish the next president of the united states and happy father's day. we cannot wait to try some of these pancakes. anything with northeast ohio maple syrup on it is delicious, right? we are here because we are concerned about the direction of our country. we are concerned for our families, for our state and country. we are concerned because we have a president who does not know how to turn things around. we heard last week, he told us, don't worry, the private sector is doing just fine. he needs to get out more. he needs to spend less time at hollywood fund-raisers and more time with small businesses in the state of ohio. he says things are fine, all we need is more government. is that what you believe? ohio can make a huge difference this year. in two of the last three presidential elections, ohio decided he would be the next leader of the free world. we cannot afford four more years of barack obama. let'

should he pick rob portman even though rob portman was the u.s.resentative at a time when people are seeing their jobs go overseas and the u.s. trade representative is the one that negotiates the trade agreement? >> if we are going to tell the truth, he probably should be serious considered. if we are going to have this nonsense where we say bain cost all of these jobs and everything and this kind of nobodynsense, maybe he should look elsewhere. portman understands how to create jobs. >> when bain tried to get the washington post to retract, they said no. he has to do more than say other people are lying. >> there we agree. >> i think it's interesting portman's stock has gone down and huckabees has risen in terms of vice presidential contender. >> he is the one that said mitt romney looks like the guy who fired you. >> that will keep being replayed. >> it would. >> he is not go going to repeat it. >> here, i am interested duf in your prediction. has it changed at all? ? >> i think pawlenty's stock has moved up in the last several weeks. >> i agree

or bob portman -- >> his name is rob portman, rob portman. >> sean: he's competent, he's smart. >> he'sk cheney. he is a young-- >>> do we need somebody more dynamic. >> but we need somebody-- >>> i agree. i want -- >> yeah. >> sean. >> i like rand paul. >> sean: i like rand paul. >> governor christie. >> sean: wait a minute. this is a good idea. >> rand paul, he's a social conservative, he stands -- he's principle audio. >> sean: who do you like? >> i like governor christie. smash mouth, somebody with charisma. big and bich. that will be the slogan. big and rich. >> you know, is marco rubio going to take if? >> sean: yes, yes. >> america needs you. >> that maybe brings colorado, nevada and possibly, maybe new mexico. >> sean: what did john kasich? your friend? >> i love john kasich. but he is radioactive. >> sean: he's like scott walker, he fixed the state, the credit ratings's up. >> kasich's doing well in ohio, but romney's message in ohio is that things are bad and the message of kasich is that things are good. >> sean: we have to take a break. but first, time to check in with greta

he's arriving in troy this hour with ohio senator rob portman, a potential running mate. house speaker john boehner is there welcoming them to his home district, and earlier romney made his strongest statements yet on the president's surprise shift on immigration policy. he told cbs today that the president's decision is rooted in hopes of political gain. >> what the president did, he should have worked on this years ago if he felt seriously about this. he should have taken action when he had a democrat house and senate, but he didn't. he saves these sort of things until 4 1/2 months before the general election. >> why do you think he did that? >> i think the timing is pretty clear. if he really wanted to make a solution that dealt with these kids or with illegal immigration in america, then this is something he would have taken up in his first 3 1/2 years, not in his last few months. >> so he did it for politics? >> well, that's certainly a big part of the equation. >> romney would not say if he would definitely repeal the president's policy shift, only that he would loo

rob portman joins romney sunday. paul ryan will be on the trail with romney on monday, so as you can see, we'll see who's got the most chemistry with the nominee at this point. you're going to see a lot of the romney family by the way, also, on this trip. finally, we paid a lot of attention to ohio in the last 24 hours, but is there a more important domestic political event that will take place than overseas sunday on greece where voters will decide on whether or not the country stays inside the european union? it could have a profound effect on europe's economy, which in turn, has big impb kagss for our economy and our election here. tim geithner sized up the stakes this week with and ra mitchell, saying he's confidence the euro zone will hold together, but arguing europe does need to do more. >> we can't make these choices for them. it's 17 countries. incredibly difficult politician. the economics and financial is very tough. and so they're going to have to figure out what works for them. and what we are doing is w

i'm talking about rob portman. >> i think either portman or ryan allows democrats to make a strong argumentabout the economic past or future. i think both of those would be very interesting for democrats and allow a lot of fodder. >> kevin, will you give us anything on this? or are you going to clam up? >> i always say that you are smart to ask and i would be very dumb to answer. >> we have a rich tradition recently of people answering. saying what's on their mind here. >> i have a tradition of avoiding those questions. i think it will be a lens to look at governor romney the type of decision he makes. this will be his first decision as potential president. >> when will he make it? >> that i don't have an answer for either. >> we can rule out donald trump. >> i don't know. can we? >>> next up the items on our list around the table. that's bush back at the white house. the portrait unveiling. this is a rare moment of bipartisanship in washington. it's also humorous, too. listen to the former president with this president. >> i am also pleased, mr. president, that when you are wandering these