Free Republic

As President Obama's poll numbers go south, and congressional leaders from his party continue to reveal just how far they're willing to overreach in chasing an ultra-liberal agenda, Republicans are finally seeing some light. After months-- heck years in the dark, advocating conservative ideals is beginning to feel acceptable again. But behind this tonic surge, a political identity crisis brews. Amidst the hoopla concerning the floundering healthcare legislation and a beer summit, a leading Republican quietly made news last week by violating Reagan's 11th amendment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Ohio Senator George Voinovich, who is...

Ohio Senator George Voinovich says that the GOP is "being taken over by southerners," the Columbus Dispatch reports. In an interview with with the paper, Voinovich said shrinking demographics and southern senators are alienating his conservative constituents. He cites Republican Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn as the GOP's biggest problem. "We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It's the southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'," Voinovich said....

WASHINGTON — Sen. George Voinovich's comments about the U.S. Senate's southern caucus reverberated in Washington today. But publicly, one of the southerners Voinovich criticized declined to lash back this afternoon. And Voinovich's own campaign finance records show he has had no problem whistling Dixie. The story begins with a conversation the Ohio Republican had with editors from the Columbus Dispatch. When asked about the GOP's biggest problem, Voinovich told the Columbus newspaper: "We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It's the southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, 'These...

Too many conservative senators like Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are to blame for the GOP's downfall, one of their retiring Republican colleagues complained Monday. "We got too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns," Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch. "It's the southerners." Voinovich, a native Clevelander who retires after the 2010 election, continued after the southern elements of the GOP. "They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr,'" he said. "People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"...

States offer a hodgepodge of concealed-handgun rules that prevent citizens from protecting themselves when traveling from one state to another. Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have fixed this problem by granting reciprocity for gun permits across state lines. In a 58-39 vote on Wednesday, supporters fell two short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. This was a victory of fear over facts. Thirty-seven of the 39 no votes were cast by Democrats. The two Republicans who crossed party lines to vote nay were Sen. Richard G....

Car dealer Tom Ganley has announced he’s running for the Republican Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. Ganley of Brecksville seeks the seat that will be vacated at the end of 2010 by the retiring U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio. Starting with a Rambler dealership in Euclid in 1968, Ganley has built the Ganley Auto Group, with 32 dealerships. He is chief executive officer. "I am a businessman, not someone who ever thought about being a professional politician," Ganley said at a news conference in his hometown and subsequent news release to announce his candidacy. "But maybe that’s what’s needed...

Democrats Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher both hold leads over Republican Rob Portman in match-ups to fill the seat of retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich, although neither so far seems to be firing the imaginations of the state’s voters, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted June 17.19. Brunner, the Secretary of State, leads Portman 40 percent to 32 percent with 29 percent undecided, and Fisher, the lieutenant governor, leads 41 percent to 32 percent with 27 percent undecided. Portman was a six-term congressman who left the House to take posts in the Bush administration. However, those who view...

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- Imagine that. The Senate confirmed this week, by a vote of 62-35, a gun banner who stays up at night thinking of ways to impose more gun control upon American citizens. Harold Koh is that gun grabber, and he was confirmed yesterday to be the Legal Adviser at the State Department. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans attempted to kill the Koh nomination with a filibuster — until eight of them crossed the aisle to help Democrats confirm Koh. The back-stabbing Senators are: Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Susan Collins (R-ME) Judd Gregg (R-NH) Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Richard Lugar (R-IN)...

Editorial: Short takes Friday, March 27, 2009 2:55 AM • OHIO SECRETARY of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat who is running to fill the seat of retiring Ohio Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich, has launched one of the oddest political attacks in recent memory. Brunner said that Voinovich, who voted with his fellow Republican senators in an unsuccessful attempt to block the $787 billion economic-stimulus bill passed last month, should have voted for the measure. The reason? To spare taxpayers the cost of flying Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown by military aircraft from Mansfield to Washington to cast the deciding vote....

WASHINGTON - In more than 11 years in the U.S. Senate, George Voinovich has heard his share of talk, but it's what he's not hearing now that has him frustrated. Speaking Tuesday to county presidents of the Ohio Farm Bureau in town to lobby legislators, the Ohio Republican said recent discussions on the country's economic woes seem to be missing one element. "When I was governor of Ohio, we talked about working harder and smarter. I'd like to hear more comments now about working harder and smarter. I got to tell you, I don't hear that at all here in...

Seems like S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford is taking fire from all sides today — this time from his own party. My colleague Manu Raju passes this along: Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) criticized Sanford's proposal to use $700 million of stimulus cash to pay down the state debt — his failure to coordinate his actions with other governors leaves the Palmetto State firebrand no choice but accept the decision of Congress. "Governors should have gotten their act together and they didn't," Voinovich, a former governor who is not seeking reelection, said Thursday. "They spoke with different voices and now they're going...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) released the following statement today on the inability to reach a responsible bipartisan compromise on an economic stimulus package: “Our nation and the world need an economic shot in the arm. After spending many days trying to construct a responsible bipartisan alternative to the Democratic stimulus plan, I am disappointed that we were unable to accomplish that. “My criteria for the stimulus bill were the well-accepted three principles that it be timely, targeted and temporary. In addition, I looked at the package from the perspective of whether or not the items...

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) has pulled out of negotiations on a bipartisan compromise on the Senate’s economic stimulus bill. Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) — continue to negotiate with Democrats, but Voinovich’s departure could make it more difficult for Democrats to reach the 60 votes they need to pass the bill. Voinovich left a meeting in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office around 2:30 p.m., saying he did not believe there was a deal he could agree to on an amendment that would cut as much as $100 billion from...

President Obama talks about seeking bipartisan accord ... and he reaches out to GOP senators ... but how many Republicans are even open to the need for fixing the economy through government spending? As The Washington Independent's Dave Weigel points out, that question seems to have been answered in a Senate vote last night. When Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an alternative stimulus plan that would replace all government spending in the stimulus with a series of tax cuts, 36 Republican senators voted for it. To emphasize the point, that means all but four GOPers were perfectly happy with scrapping...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The 111th Congress has just barely begun as Senate Republicans brace for more grueling elections in 2010 which threaten to further weaken the party's influence in Congress. The latest setback for the party came Monday, when Ohio Sen. George Voinovich -- the 72 year-old two-term GOP senator -- announced he will not seek reelection in 2010. That leaves Republicans with a highly vulnerable seat in a perennial swing state that has drifted Democratic in the last two elections. Voinovich's decision sent Ohio Republicans and Democrats scrambling ahead of what will likely be a competitive primary on both...

Former Republican congressman Rob Portman will announce that he is running for the Senate soon after Ohio Sen. George Voinovich’s retirement announcement, according to multiple Republican sources. Portman would give Senate Republicans an accomplished candidate who is likely to clear the primary field. “He’s great on both policy and politics, and you don’t often find that combination,” said Hamilton County Republican party chairman Alex Triantafilou. “His experience in government, his experience in Washington and his understanding of Ohio would make him a tremendous force in the Senate.”

Voinovich, a fiscal conservative who's forever warning about government spending, is about to be asked to spend heavily to get out of this mess. "In my whole political career, I've never seen anything as serious as what we're going through today, and I've never seen the anxiety and the concern about the future," Voinovich said. But with a price tag approaching $1 trillion, the package could test many of the principles that Voinovich, a two-term senator who was born during the Great Depression, has held in his 43-year political career. Voinovich, 72, acknowledges as much, saying in an interview last...

Sen. George V. Voinovich is expected to announce Monday morning that he will not seek a third-term next year, The Dispatch has learned. Although Voinovich spokesman Chris Paulitz declined comment, Voinovich is scheduled Monday to reveal his decision in a conference call with his most loyal supporters and fundraisers. Voinovich's expected decision would end one of the most storied political careers in Ohio history. During his more than 40 years in politics, the 72-year-old Republican has held the offices of governor, senator, lieutenant governor and mayor of Cleveland. The Dispatch reported Thursday that Voinovich, 72, was reconsidering his longtime stance...

Ohio Republican George Voinovich is expected to announce Monday that he won't seek reelection to the Senate in 2010. A two-term senator, former governor and Cleveland mayor, Voinovich has been a political fixture in his state for decades. But recent press reports from his home state have indicated the 72-year-old lawmaker is considering retirement, and a person close to him told Politico that the announcement will come Monday. His retirement would give Democrats a shot at an open Senate seat in a battleground state that voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 elections and elected Democrat Sherrod Brown to the...

No serious objections expected to Hillary Clinton By ANDREW MIGA and ANNE FLAHERTY – 2 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton has held lengthy private discussions ............ NOTE: this is all of the story that will be excerpted from the Associated Press. Eight words from them is enough.