Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic nominee for Senate, has been absent for President Obama’s last two public visits to his state. His absence from Obama’s Youngstown appearance last Monday was particularly noteworthy because Obama spent some time criticizing Fisher’s Republican opponent, former Rep. Rob Portman.

So where was Fisher? He pleaded “private meetings” that he could not reschedule. As it turns out, he was raising money in California and visiting family, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. So it all depends on what the definition of the word “private meetings” is.