In this Uncommon Knowledge interview, Hoover fellow Peter Robinson speaks with Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Portman discusses the state of US politics and the Republican Party, touching on various important issues, beginning with the shortcoming of the Affordable Health Care act, the right to health care, and the possibility of alternatives. He continues on to discuss the importance of a balanced budget, despite the continuously increased spending initiated by President George Bush, and the need to curb government spending. This leads to a conversation on what it means to be a modern politician, particularly from a swing state like Ohio, and reflections on Romney’s failed bid for election in 2012. The interview ends with a dialogue on what the Republican Party has to offer the future of America and younger Americans’ disillusionment with politics.
Robert Portman
One seemingly innocent ballot initiative which would change California’s recall process—if voters approve it, hasta la vista, future governators!—fits into a pattern of repeat efforts to guarantee that the Golden State remains under one-party, one-mentality dominance.
October 8, 2026
To make itself more open to such intellectual heterodoxy, Harvard could also give it a physical home: an institute for pluralism, modeled on Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. This would offer a non-partisan center that accommodates the intellectual dimensions of conservatism.
October 6, 2026
The problem today lies in our impoverished political imagination.
October 6, 2026