INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) – Nine miles from the red-white-and-blue-festooned arena where thousands of Republicans are extolling their new presidential nominee, other Republicans are uttering not a word about Donald Trump as they knock on doors and talk to voters.
Americans for Prosperity activists have been helping Sen. Rob Portman for more than a year, telling Ohioans that his Democratic rival, former Gov. Ted Strickland, has a terrible record on the economy. AFP and its allies are using a sophisticated database to find and persuade voters and have already spent more than $8 million on ads against Strickland.
The politicking in Ohio this week vividly shows the multiple personalities of today’s Republican Party. Not all of it is occurring inside the Quicken Loans Arena where Trump will close out the convention Thursday night with his acceptance speech.
And while there’s celebration over Trump, there’s also plenty of Trump-less party building as the GOP and its allies fight to hold onto their Senate majority.
Portman, one of the more vulnerable incumbents, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were among those who took an everywhere-but-Trumpfest approach. Political and policy groups, including ones tied to GOP strategist Karl Rove, are holding events for donors in town for the convention, while minimizing their own presence at the convention itself. That’s a major change from four years ago when Mitt Romney accepted the nomination in Tampa while groups there clamored for his attention.