Portman on waiting for Romney’s VP decision, “I’m ready for it to be made, you know? I am.”
CNN chief national correspondent John King continued “The Contenders” series today focused on Sen. Rob Portman. A transcript of King’s report on Sen. Portman, including his one-on-one interview with the senator, is below. Please visit http://www.CNNPressRoom.com for an embeddable video link.
King’s series continues tomorrow focused on Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan; the package will air on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, 4 pm – 7pm ET.
The 2012 campaign is the seventh presidential election that King has covered. In 2008, King was the first to report on Pres. Barack Obama’s selection of then-Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Earlier in his career, King broke the news of Michael Dukakis’ selection of Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and Clinton’s selection of Al Gore in 1992.
**PLEASE CREDIT ALL USAGE TO CNN’s JOHN KING**
TRANSCRIPT
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. IT MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Mitt Romney will be announcing his vice presidential running mate any day now, but Republican voters are already telling us who they want. Take a look at this new CNN/ORC poll.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio is a clear favorite at 28 percent, 12 points ahead of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the House Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal comes in at 8 percent, followed by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Ohio Senator Rob Portman at 6 percent each and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty at 4 percent.
Our chief national correspondent John King has been taking a closer look at all the vice presidential contenders for us.
John, what are we learning about today?
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: You just mentioned Senator Portman there, relatively low numbers in our poll, Wolf. You know, Rob Portman has had a behind-the-scenes role in presidential and vice presidential debates going back nearly 20 years.
The big question this year, will he get a big debate of his own?
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