Breaking News... George Voinovich Republican Senator from Ohio

[WCGreen]

Will not run for reelection.

Local News Channel reports this at the top of the 11:00 news...

[OhioChick]

1. Good. n/t

[WCGreen]

2. I might run just for snicks...

[JI7]

3. does that mean the fake plumber is going to run ?

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Ole Joe is polishing up his creds even as we speak.

If he survives his 10 day "journalism" tour in Israel, he may just run.

More yoicks to look forward to, I imagine.

[BlueCaliDem]

4. I don't know much about him. Was he a bad Repub? I thought he sided with Dems more than any other

Repub during the Bush/Repub WH and Congress reign.

[WCGreen]

6. He sided with Dems on a few occasions but he was like the

Forest Gump of Ohio Politics...

[peace13]

7. He is a two faced cry baby.

Remember Bolton. Voinovich cried to on the floor and to the press and then when the camera's were turned off the *astard voted for Bolton. It is a good thing that this man is not running again.

[ddeclue]

5. DAMN!

I was hoping that the rest of it would say "has been indicted on twelve counts of corruption"...

teaser!

:rofl:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. That is excellent news...

The rumors have been making the rounds for some weeks, I believe...

Do you think DK will run?

[camera obscura]

10. Tim Ryan for Senate 2010? Voted no on FISA and yes on investigating impeachment...

He's pro-life, I think, but he's otherwise pretty good.

[juajen]

11. I'm not sure this is LBN material. I heard about this yesterday on DU. NT

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. This isn't LBN...

It's General Discussion/Politics, and this topic is perfectly appropriate here.

[ShadowLiberal]

12. The politico article on this sounds kind of like he's quitting out of frustration with the GOP

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17324.html

From the article.

"Always a bit of a free spirit, the senator symbolizes an old Midwest pro-labor wing of the Republican Party that has suffered in recent years as Democrats have gained in the region and the often anti-union Southern lawmakers have dominated the Republican caucus. This was seen most clearly in the recent Senate debate over helping the auto industry, and Voinovich was plainly frustrated by the opposition in his party to helping the United Auto Workers."

Not really any other hints of why he's retiring, but that paragraph makes me wonder if he's sick of the direction of his party, being dominated by southern conservatives who aren't exactly a match with him and midwestern states 100% of the time. With ultra conservative southerns taking control of the party more and more and moderates like Voinovich losing power in the party it certainly must be tempting to just call it quits rather then face another tough relection campaign in a swing district only to join a republican caucus even more dominated by southern conservatives then last time.