I first learned of him when seeing his book pop up on ‘Best Books I Read This Year’ lists from both Barack Obama and Bill Gates. So I read it, and thought it was fantastic. What am amazing life story, and his climb from poverty amidst addicted family members is admirable. I also liked that the book wasn’t preachy. After finishing the book, I did not have a sense of where he leaned politically.
So I was surprised when he announced his candidacy to be the GOP nominee for Sen Portman’s open seat. He was coming to my town to give a stump speech so I decided to go see him. At the time he was running 4th or 5th in a field of 6 candidates, and I didn’t take him seriously as a candidate. I just wanted to see the guy who wrote the book.
I thought he was an excellent speaker and he had a good grasp of the issues. I went up to meet him after the speech and shook his hand, and he was pleasant enough. But he was also too pro-Trump for my tastes. I really thought he would drop out, and was shocked when he won the nomination.
Still not comfortable with his Trump affiliation, but I’m glad he’s my Senator. I also like Sherrod Brown.