Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer described him as a "textbook Republican" who is opposed to abortion, gun control and high taxes.

After a primary battle with another incumbent whose district was combined with his, McEwen narrowly lost the 1992 general election to Democrat Ted Strickland.

McEwen's 2005 platform was familiar from his past campaigns, advocating a pro-life stance, defending Second Amendment rights, and promising to limit taxes and government spending.

He is a member of many fraternal organizations and civic groups, including Sigma Chi, the Farm Bureau, the Grange, Rotary International, the Jaycees, and the Optimist Club.

In Congress, McEwen, who "had a reputation as a man who thinks about politics every waking moment," claimed Congressional Quarterly, was a staunch conservative, advocating a strong military.

One of the major industries was the United States Department of Energy's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon, which manufactured uranium for nuclear weapons.

It is high time that this experiment in home rule that has proven to be a disaster for our nation be terminated, that we return to some sort of logical government whereby the rest of us can function in this city.

[14] During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, McEwen introduced legislation to end President Gerald Ford's ban on U.S. government employees assassinating foreign leaders (Executive Order 12333) in order to clear the way for Saddam Hussein's removal, McEwen objecting to the "cocoon of protection that is placed around him because he holds the position that he holds as leader of his country.

[19] McEwen in 1990 beat his opponent, Raymond S. Mitchell — who the Dayton Daily News said "is an unknown small businessman who hasn't thought things through" — by three to one.

During his last term, in the 102nd Congress, he left Public Works and Veterans' Affairs for the powerful Rules Committee and served on its Legislative Process Subcommittee.

Late in his Congressional career, he began regular appearances on public affairs programs such as Nightline and the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour and was often a guest on C-SPAN and the Cable News Network.

[2] McEwen often joined his fellow Republicans in making special order speeches in the House, which occur after the business for the day has concluded and are made to a nearly empty chamber.

Congressional Quarterly wrote viewers often found "McEwen playing the trusty sidekick Sancho Panza to Bob Dornan of California, both tilting at the latest liberal windmill.

The Republican expected to retire was Clarence E. Miller, a thirteen-term veteran called "chairman of the caucus of the obscure" for his invisibility on Capitol Hill.

Governor George Voinovich signed the new map into law on March 27, and on April 1 the General Assembly moved the primary to June 2.

Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer wrote that the two candidates were largely identical on the issues: "both are textbook Republican conservatives, opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and costly government programs — unless located in their districts."

[28] Miller carried an unsuccessful legal challenge to the redistricting to the United States Supreme Court, insisting district lines should be drawn on a politically neutral basis.

It spilled across six media markets, meaning that McEwen had to buy ads in cities where most of the viewers couldn't vote in the district.

[29] "I think McEwen's loss was a case of bounced checks and some arrogance," said Alfred Tuchfarber, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati who runs the Ohio Poll.

The election was to fill the vacancy caused by Willis D. Gradison's resignation to become a lobbyist for the insurance industry on January 31, 1993, three months after his re-election.

[33] In the Republican primary on March 16, McEwen faced trade lawyer Rob Portman, who had worked in the White House under President George H. W. Bush; real estate developer Jay Buchert, the president of the National Association of Home Builders; and several lesser known candidates: real estate appraiser Garland Eugene Crawford of Loveland; anti-abortion activist Ken Callis of the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming; Robert W. Dorsey, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and township trustee in Hamilton County's Anderson Township; and Ku Klux Klan leader Van Darrell Loman of Cheviot.

Three other candidates filed and qualified but withdrew from the primary, former Madeira mayor Mary Anne Christie; Lebanon attorney Bruce Gudenkauf, a member of the Warren County Republican Party's central committee; and Donnie Jones, city auditor in Norwood.

Buchert ran campaign commercials citing McEwen's checks, the expenses of his Congressional office, and his campaign finance disclosures, while noting Portman was "the handpicked choice of the downtown money crowd" and was "a registered foreign agent for the biggest Democrat lobbying firm in Washington," labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob.

"[42] After his defeat, McEwen remained active in politics, but press accounts said he spent most of his time in the Washington, D.C., area residing in northern Virginia.

He then moved from his home in Fairfax Station, Virginia and purchased a second residence, a condominium in Hamilton County's Anderson Township, east of Cincinnati.

McEwen drew upon his connections and quickly had high-profile endorsements from Focus on the Family leader James Dobson, former United States Attorney General Edwin Meese, Cincinnati Bengals player Anthony Muñoz, American Family Association president Donald Wildmon, Citizens for Community Values anti-pornography crusader Phil Burress, and former New York congressman Jack Kemp, who came to the district to campaign for him.

"[48] Dobson wrote in his endorsement letter, "I have rarely been more excited about a candidate running in a highly significant race than I am about Bob McEwen for Congress . . . .

[56] On December 16, 2005, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported McEwen was considering challenging Schmidt for her congressional seat in 2006 and had formed an exploratory committee.

[61] Also running were Deborah A. Kraus, who worked for the West Clermont school district's computer services department, and James E. Constable, who ran to protest the care his disabled son received from a state hospital.

[62] "In December [2010], McEwen was hired at a rate of $25,000 per month to assist the Ivorian ambassador to the U.S. 'in exerting his influence in the most strategic way possible,' according to lobbying records.