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OH-Sen: Voinovich to Announce Retirement Tomorrow

by: James L.

Sun Jan 11, 2009 at 4:45 PM EST


Politico:

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. [...]

A Voinovich spokesman would only confirm that he will make an announcement Monday on his future. But a Senate Republican leadership aide said that Voinovich's planned retirement is "real" and an announcement will come soon.

Assuming Voiny follows through tomorrow, his announcement will be the fourth GOP Senate retirement this cycle so far (Brownback, Martinez, and Bond being the other three amigos), and will hand Democrats another excellent opportunity to pad their majority.

For the Democrats, Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and 17th CD Rep. Tim Ryan appear to be on a primary collision course, though other names could conceivably throw down, as well. Republican contenders include ex-Reps. Rob Portman and John Kasich, though it might be nice for House Democrats if someone like, say, current 12th CD Rep. Pat Tiberi gave up his seat to run for the job, as well.

Perhaps more importantly, the recent wave of Republican retirements seems to have induced a certain level of panic among Senate GOPers:

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of the biggest fundraisers for the NRSC last cycle, said the wave of retirements has caused some panic among Republicans.

"I'm really concerned because it's important we have some balance here because if we don't, one side can do whatever it wants to do, and that's not good for the country," Hatch said. "To the extent that some of these folks decide to leave and they certainly have the right to do that, we're going to have to find good candidates to run and hopefully hold onto our seats."

Finding good candidates should be Job No. 1 for Republicans right now, but the early signs aren't all that encouraging for John Cornyn's NRSC: Jeb Bush has already turned down a Senate seat that could have easily been his in Florida, and the committee has no obvious silver bullets in Missouri and Ohio. Moreover, we have yet to hear much in the way of serious buzz surrounding challenges to Democratic incumbents in 2010.

Republicans may have some wind at their backs if Obama stumbles or if the national economy slides further over the next two years, but they may not be in much of a position to take advantage of that if they end up being saddled by retirements and recruitment failures made in these early days of no hope.

More discussion already under way in Populista's diary.

Update: CNN says that their sources are also confirming the same details about Voinovich's announcement tomorrow, which will come at 4pm Eastern.
James L. :: OH-Sen: Voinovich to Announce Retirement Tomorrow
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OH-Sen: Voinovich to Announce Retirement Tomorrow | 83 comments
This makes me jittery
Could we really pull off a third no-loss season in the Senate? If so, get the wish list ready: we might have a 4 year window to pass the progressive legislation we want. After that, who knows?
Unless Bayh or Dorgan go
I think basically only Harry Reid or the guy in CO are the only ones who are even potentially vulnerable for us...
[ Parent ]
I'd say the most vulnerable seat
is Illinois.
[ Parent ]
Maybe.
Let's wait and see what happens with that one.  It's more than possible that Blago get's even more lawless, Burris acts like even more of a douche, the Democratic primary is really ridiculously ugly, and the Republics stop purging moderates (it's kinda cute how they really genuinely believe that that's  where their problems lie) long enough to give Kirk a clear shot at the nomination.
However, with Blago hopefully soon to be impeached and no signs that the Rethugs are going to stop blaming all their problems on the "County Club" Republicans (who happen to be the only reason they can ever find more than 40% of the vote outside of the Deep South), I'm not ready to hit the panic button just yet.
[ Parent ]
The Dems need to rip Kirk apart
starting with his vote against equal pay this week.  Moderates do not reject equal pay for women.  The Dems need to hammer Kirk on that issue.
[ Parent ]
Yeah
Kirk can be taken down fairly easily; he's not the demi-god some people seem to be declaring him to be.  I'm just a little worried that the Dems will be so distracted by their own drama that he'll be allowed to slip by without any negative attention for far too long.
However, like I said, the Republicans have decided that fratricide and generally rendering themselves unelectable is their new favorite sport, so he'll probably have a serious conservative primary challenger who will keep his hands full.
[ Parent ]
The one benefit
Of Illinois is there riddiculously early primary. There primary is in Feburary, so unless it gets really ugly(which could very well happen), I'm not all that worried about it.
[ Parent ]
I think we may well do so
I think for all the bluster, Reid is not going to lose to a mediocre Republican.  Lincoln (AR) and Dorgan (ND) are not going to lose to second string Repubs.  The only seats I see as vulnerable are Colorado and Illinois.
[ Parent ]
Lincoln's invincible
against anyone but Huckabee, and if Huck runs for anything else, it'll be another presidential bid (setting up shop on FOX is certainly not acting like he expects imminent political action).

They couldn't even offer up a sacrificial lamb against Pryor.

[ Parent ]
Oh, Dorgan likewise
will only have a real contest if John Hoeven runs (we're probably going to have to reckon with him at some point).
[ Parent ]
I was starting to get worried
All four of our Senate appointments have given us heartburn.  I was starting to wonder if Republicans might sneak in and steal a couple.  But now, they're going to have to defend open seats in two states Obama won and another where McCain barely won.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
McCain "Barely" Won Kansas?
How do you figure that?
[ Parent ]
Never Mind
You said "one" state McCain barely won. My bad.
[ Parent ]
Flashback to the old days
when Democrats were their own worst enemy.  

We finally got to the point where if we don't commit sucicide, the voters reward us.  The drama over the appointments is the only thing working against us now, and that has to be addressed, particularly because 2010 is the generational year.  If we pick up the five or so seats that we should, anti-progressive atitudes have no chance of dominating for the next twenty years.  We may not hold all of them, though there is no reason to think we won't, but no way would we go back to the days of only a dozen or so really good progressives in the Senate.

In terms of 2010, the only thing we have to fear is ourselves.

This announcement
tomorrow will be no less HUGE than the one in Missouri this week. This one won't be as easy to turn over as Missouri if Carnahan runs, but if we get one of our top three or four candidates in this race Ohio should have two Democratic senators in 2010.
The only candidate I see who can win or even come close against Ryan or Fischer is Portman. Ohio is now at least a light blue state, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully, more of these to come. The only race this cycle where a retirement hurts us more than it helps us is in Kentucky.
As good as this cycle has started out this year the preliminary goal for Democratic senators for 2010 has to be somewhere in the 67-70 range.
I've already got us winning five if we get our preferred candidates in Missouri, Ohio, Florida, Kentucky, and Kansas with: Carnahan, Ryan, Sink, Conway, and Sebelius.

Betty Sutton
A True Progressive in the mold of Sherrod Brown.
Not much better than Ryan
As far as I'm aware the only thing Ryan really opposes us on is abortion.  On economic and foreign policy issues he's very solid.  He's also very young and a great speaker.  I think I'd rather run him for this seat.
[ Parent ]
Actually...
Sutton is ranked much higher by Progressive Punch.
http://www.progressivepunch.or...
[ Parent ]
Ranked "much higher"
Right...

If you order by their "Chips are down" scores, which they have a two point difference, you are talking about two percent, which amounts to 20 ranks.  If you order by "lifetime scores" there is about a seven percent difference which amounts to 80 ranks.  

Yeah, she's "ranked" much higher.  But if you look at the actual punches, there isn't a big difference.  

[ Parent ]
The "Only Thing"?
I know there are a lot of forced-pregnancy Democrats out there, but respecting the people's control over their own bodies and health isn't exactly a minor policy difference.
[ Parent ]
Remind me, how many votes have there been on banning abortion in the US in the Senate in the last 20 years?

[ Parent ]
Ummmm
Every Supreme Court confirmation vote.

Look, I'm personally happy to support any Democrat over any Republican, but issues matter. And choice is big. It stands in as a good proxy for many of the other votes on personal privacy that a Senator may have to take.

[ Parent ]
You're telling me that all the Pro-Life Democrats are going to
Fillibuster Obama's Supreme Court nominees because they are pro-life and have voted for George Bush's Supreme Court nominees for the same reason?
[ Parent ]
The relevant test
is how they vote on Republican nominees. There can be problems down the road, as the Alito nomination showed us.  
[ Parent ]
Certain things happen in a Republican administration that wouldn't happen in a Democratic administration
That's where the glory lies in winning the presidential election.  
[ Parent ]
A Senate term
does not automatically end with a Presidency.

These folks tend to stick around for a while, so choose wisely.  

[ Parent ]
No, but
No matter how many appointee's you reject, doesn't mean the president is going to start nominating justices they disagree with.  
[ Parent ]
And will he vote nay on an Obama pick?
Extremely doubtful.  
[ Parent ]
See above and below
The problem isn't so much now, it's later.

Look, I think Bob Casey is a better than average Senator. I also think that his position on choice is 100% wrong, and potentially quite dangerous.  

[ Parent ]
Dangerous if a Repub Prez
with a Repub Senate were to come along.  My prediction, we won't see that again until 2020s.
[ Parent ]
Unfortunate yes,
Dangerous, no. Although Casey's is pro-life, he's not as extreme as his father was. Casey is pretty moderate on the subject. He is pro-life, but he dosen't make it his number one on his issue priority list. Plus he is in favor of the morning after pill. His father on the other hand is someone I would call dangerous on the issue. He was so obsessed on the subject that he wouldn't endorse the Clinton/Gore ticket in 1992 (which led him to be banned from speaking at the convention). If he was serving in the Senate and not his son, he would of voted down any judge Obama would of appointed who wasn't pro-life. I woudn't worry about Casey Jr. The fact he endorsed Obama during the primary says to be he'll be behind our President-elect.
[ Parent ]
Oh, no question
I like Casey and I think he's done a good job. But his policy position on Choice is potentially dangerous in the wrong circumstances.  
[ Parent ]
Wrong Circumstances
You mean Casey serving in the Senate under GOP control with a GOP President at the helm? Yes in that senario he could be dangerous.
[ Parent ]
Ryan is otherwise very progressive
I cannot see him voting against a SCOTUS nominee he agrees with 99% of the time because of the other 1%. Ryan has never appeared to be the type of person who would do that.

I think Sutton would be great, and she'd probably win, but I cannot fathom Ryan losing statewide.


Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
Yeah...
and I'll bet my life savings that Ben Nelson, Bob Casey, and Mark Pryor all vote an enthusiastic YEA on Obama's Supreme Court nominees.  
[ Parent ]
The real test is: who's willing to vote NO on
a Republican President's nominees? (On cloture, especially).
[ Parent ]
Cloture
Voting no on cloture should be reserved for when, you know, the Senator ACTUALLY wants to continue debate!

It shouldn't be used to defeat a bill that has the approval of the majority of US Senators, even if it is a Supreme Court nominee.

[ Parent ]
Then you essentially agree
with the Gang of 8.I do not, and not by a longshot. I'm pretty sure that my position is the majority position among the Democratic base.

Supreme Court nominations are special, and deserve special scrutiny.  

[ Parent ]
It's defiitely the majority opinion of . . .
the Republican base.
[ Parent ]
Nelson and Pryor would vote for a Repub pick
Casey possibly would.  Tim Ryan would probably vehemently oppose a Repub pick on workers rights and the environment and vote against.  Ryan is pretty progressive on everything else but choice, kind of like Marcy Kaptur, not as left as Kucinich (who was strongly anti-choice before running for Prez.).
[ Parent ]
For me
The Alito cloture vote serves as a pretty good proxy for who's a good Senator and who sucks. It's out of date, and I have serious concerns about how many of our new Senators would have voted no.
[ Parent ]
How was the pick going to be stopped?
We had what, 45 senators at the time?  Another meaningless throw away vote.  That vote tells me nothing ab out who is a good Senator.
[ Parent ]
We would have stopped him
by not voting for cloture. The Republicans had their nuclear option if they really wanted to use it.

Some Democrats have this funny attitude that once they think an issue is too hard to fight for, they give up. If Republicans were half as capitulatory, we might have been able to end the war in Iraq last Congress.  

[ Parent ]
Then what?
Alito gets blocked and another ultra-conservative Supreme Court pick gets nominated, then another.  It's a pointless exercise in futility.  Unless you think Bush was eventually going to send a moderate to liberal pick to the Court.  Seriously, what's the point?
[ Parent ]
Um, to obstruct
It is conceivable that a compromise could have been forced. It's been done in the past.
[ Parent ]
The nuclear option would have been invoked
if Alito was successfully blocked.  Chafee, Snowe, Collins, and maybe Specter and McCain would have voted against, but that is still 50 votes for the nuclear option.

I just wished that the Dems had the guts to invoke the nuclear option in 2010 if the Repubs obstruct on energy or health care.

[ Parent ]
I don't completely agree
Had there been a strong movement from the Senate leadership to block Alito, I think there would have been more than 25 to reject cloture.  I think some of the Dems decided that the voters were not there, Alito was not going to be rejected, and as such, they weren't going to vote to block.  
[ Parent ]
Bayh and Feinstein on a list of who's a good Senator?
Evan gives Bush the backrub while Dianne supplies a happy ending.
[ Parent ]
I said "pretty good"
not perfect.  
[ Parent ]
Bingo
Ryan would go along with any Obama Supreme Court pick.  
[ Parent ]
And after that?
Most senators serve for more than 4-8 years.

And remember that this issue deals with a host of health care and science issues. Judges are hugely important - but they aren't the only side of this.

[ Parent ]
I feel good about Ryan
I'm pretty confident he'd vote with the party against extremist conservative judges abd justices under a republican President.  If you've ever seen Ryan speak you'll know he speaks from the heart and votes his conscience.  He won't vote for a Supreme Court pick who is pro-life if the justice is against everythign else he stands for.
[ Parent ]
Ryan I like a lot
His position on abortion is unfortunate.  
[ Parent ]
But Voting his His Conscience Is the Problem Here
So you're saying he'll vote for some-forced pregnancy Supreme Court justices (provided they are populist and pro-worker enough, which you might see in a, say, Mike Huckabee appointment)? We've already got plenty of those and don't need any more - and 5 or 9 years from now he could be voting to put a few more on them on the Court.

If he doesn't respect women enough to give them power over their own bodies and health care choices, that's a problem - especially if that's what's in his conscience, and something he might hold to for decades to come.

 

[ Parent ]
Ryan is not a "forced-pregnancy" Dem
While Ryan does not support abortion, he has been a strong advocate for preventing unwanted pregancies via contraceptives and real sex education. For me, that's good enough. Ryan (and others like him) are smart enough to know that the best way to reduce abortions is to eliminate the need for them (which is not too disimilar from what Hillary and Barack have advocated).

Given how progressive he is on everything else, I highly doubt he'd vote for any right-wing court appointee.

[ Parent ]
Ryan is not a "forced-pregnancy" Dem
While Ryan is not in favor of abortion, he has been a leading advocate for reducing unwanted pregnancies via contraceptives and genuine sex education. Tim (and others like him) understand that the best way to reduce abortions is to reduce the need for them altogether (which is not too dissimilar from what Hillary and Barack have advocated).

I also doubt that, given his strongly progressive views on everything else, Ryan would support any right-wing court nominee.

[ Parent ]
I can't see it.
She has Brown's old seat; you'd probably get a lot of fuss over the prospect of both Ohio's senators being from the same district in Cleveland (though Ryan, to be fair, is basically right beside her).
[ Parent ]
Kasich?
He used to host some weekend show on Fox News I believe.  Came across as an empty-suit partisan hack.  Doesn't strike me as someone who can win statewide these days in Ohio.  Hopefully he runs.
From what I've heard
it will probably be Portman for Senate and Kasich for Governor.
[ Parent ]
Awesome
If that's the case I think we'll win both races.  Even better if one or more Ohio congressional repubs leave their seats open to run.  Tiberi running would be great.  His 12th district is very marginal at R+1.
[ Parent ]
About Kasich...
I noticed this little piece of info on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...

In 2001, Kasich took a job as managing director of the Columbus investment banking division of Lehman Brothers in 2001.

Lehman Brothers went bankrupt last year in an epic financial collapse.  Wonder how long he worked there.

[ Parent ]
I think of much greater
Concern is the fact that he hasn't been on an Ohio ballot since 1998.

Granted he hasn't exactly been a reckloose during that time, but a lowly-rated weekend TV show and some contributing on Hannity and Colmes and The O'Reilly Factor I don't think they give you great name ID.

[ Parent ]
I think he does radio too
Which would keep up his name rec with conservatives.
[ Parent ]
Almost every single vulnerable purple or blue state Republican
has checked out of 2010, can Judd Gregg be far behind?
Gregg, Grassley, maybe McCain and Specter change their minds.


Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Grassley I would bet runs for reelection.
There's no prospect of a significant challenge (he's quite popular; the only guy who even on paper would have made a first-rate opponent (but would probably not ever have run) is now AgSec).
[ Parent ]
Actually
I don't think any of those four have even made up their minds yet, have they? I know McCain has set the process in motion. But, I don't recall hearing anything concrete from the others. I think Specter may be the only one who's stated his intentions to run again. Nothing substantial though.  
[ Parent ]
Gregg has, I believe.
If it looked like John Lynch was going to run he might reconsider, but he's, at least for now, got to be favoured against Hodes, the strongest current candidate.
[ Parent ]
He'd definitely
be favored against Hodes or anyone else not named John Lynch. If Lynch ran I think he'd win regardless of what Gregg does. I also think we'd win an open seat here assuming we have a decent candidate. I don't know the guy, but maybe if retirements continue to mount and things don't reverse for his party then he'll decide to hang em up too. We can hope for that and a Lynch candidacy anyway.  
[ Parent ]
Specter explicitly stated he was running again like two years ago.
I actually mean that only McCain and Specter need to change their minds.  Gregg and Grassley have made no public statement that I'm aware of.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Gregg is a do-nothing Senator.
It doesn't matter to him who's in the majority, how many seats the Republicans control, etc. As long as he gets his $174,000/yr. paycheck, he's happy.

I am 100% confident the man will run for re-election.

[ Parent ]
Gregg has won the lottery twice
I doubt it's a money issue.  Probably power in his case.
[ Parent ]
Tim Ryan
Congressman Tim Ryan is a regular contributor to Daily Kos.
That's cool.
But did you know that potential NY-Sen-B appointee DavidNYC has been a front-page contributing editor at DailyKos for several years?
[ Parent ]
heh

[ Parent ]
I'll take DavidNYC over Caroline Kennedy

[ Parent ]
Ryan better off going for the Senate because....
OH is losing 2 CDs after 2010, which will most likely come from Eastern OH where 4 Democratic seats are most at risk: Ryan, Wilson, Boccieri and Space. Though Ryan is the most senior of the 4, he may be better off going for the Senate rather than facing a primary fight in what will almost certainly be a less democratic leaning district against more conservative democrats.  
Already put my two bits
in my diary but I have to add this to this thread as well.

Also, I hope Ryan gets the nod, not Fisher. I've been reading more about him and he seems like a pretty weak candidate. I'll stick by my Ronald Burris analogy.  

Aloha, oi
You know what?  This one isn't that surprising, for two reasons.  One:  If you haven't noticed, he started putting his foot down against his party right around the John Bolton nomination, and had to be talked into letting him through without recommendation.  Two:  He's the man who initially let Tom Noe manage funds for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, during his time as governor.  A smartly-run campaign would show no mercy in regards to that fact, and that fact has done wonders for turning Ohio towards the Democrats.
I'm Awstruck By Orrin Hatch's Words
He thinks if Republicans are bad at this cycle, and Democrats are good then it's not good for the country. I fail to see the logic of his argument. Republicans have been rather bad for the United States this past decade and on, and if retiring long time incumbents and putting in some new voices is the best way to go, then I don't see a problem with that.
The Deed Is Done
ryan v sutton v fisher
it looks like ryan is a safer, more moderate candidate because his district is purpler, but both sutton and ryan seem like young, smart, attractive candidates.  what about fisher?  any thoughts about him?

the supreme court nominee discussion is interesting although it really seems like a very rare (perhaps impossible) thing that we could stop a GOP nominee because of his/her position on choice.  the american public and the press believe it's a president's perogative to name the justices he/she wants barring scandal (hiring illegal aliens, smoking pot, sexual harassment - tho i know thomas got appointed anyway) or a too colorful academic history (bork - tribe?).

part of what makes candidates strong in purple or red states are the things that WE DON'T LIKE about them.  i am strongly pro-choice, but i know a significant percentage of PA and PH democrats are not so i assess the odds and go with the best we can get.

i also hate the dave matthews band, which tim ryan really likes apparently.  while i struggle with this, i have to admit it makes him stronger with the ohio electorate, and it may be what he really believes, so i accept it.

but which senators love Big Star - that's what i really want to know.  which ones can sing the lyrics to "ballad of el goodo"?

Gordon Smith
Although he preferred to refer to it as "The Ballad of El Gordo".

Hold on... hoooooooooold on...

[ Parent ]
OH-Sen: Voinovich to Announce Retirement Tomorrow | 83 comments

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