BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

Originally published in the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank

Jeb Bush is probably not running. Neither is Mitt Romney. Chris Christie is trying to hard to recover from Bridge-gate but that doesn’t seem likely.

That means there is a huge gap in the Republican field: The responsible one.

Rob Portman, the senator from Ohio, fills that gap quite nicely. And according to news reports, he is thinking about it very seriously.

Mr. Portman would be the anti-Obama. He has deep experience in both the legislative and executive branches, where President Barack Obama had none. He has a long record of bipartisanship, where Mr. Obama has been one of the most polarizing presidents in history.

Mr. Obama is long on charisma and short on actual substance. With Mr. Portman, it’s vice versa.

I think the American people have overdosed on charisma. It’s time for a president who knows what he is doing from Day One.

And that would be Rob Portman.

There has been plenty of talk about Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and other tea party pretenders to the throne.

Isn’t it time that we start talking about a candidate who will represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party?

Editor’s Note: John Feehery worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans in Congress. Feehery is president of Quinn Gillespie Communications. He is a contributor to The Hill’s Pundits Blog and blogs at thefeeherytheory.com.