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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > August > 09 > Entry
Editorial: Voinovich does his thing at his speed
Ohio Sen. George Voinovich was apparently the last U.S. senator to decide how to vote on confirmation of now-Justice Sonia Sotomayor. A couple of hours before the vote, online outlets counted him as undecided, while everyone else was in one camp or another.
He eventually voted for confirmation, saying. “Judge Sotomayor’s decisions, while not always the decision I would render, are not outside the legal mainstream and do not indicate an obvious desire to legislate from the bench.”
On the latter point, he diverged from his party majority.
It insisted the opposite, but so lamely as to lose the votes of six Republican senators generally considered more conservative than Sen. Voinovich, if only a little:
Indiana’s Richard Lugar, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, Florida’s Mel Martinez, Missiouri’s Kit Bond, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and New Hampshire’s Judd Gregg.
(Sen. Voinovich was also one of seven Republicans to vote Thursday to extend the Cash for Clunkers program; he was an original sponsor.)
It would have been odd for Sen. Voinovich to side with the fire-breathing conservatives. Indeed, it’s a little hard to understand why he needed to wait until the last minute to make up his mind, given how long Judge Sotomayor was under scrutiny. But that’s his way.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Martin Gottlieb, National Politics, Ohio politics, Short editorial
Comments
By a voice
August 9, 2009 1:42 AM | Link to this
He’s such a traitor. Bye-bye Georgy porgy!!!By aric
August 10, 2009 8:33 AM | Link to this
Voinovich: What an Idiot. Note for the record: the DDN supports him when he supports liberals and liberal causes. You were NEVER for Voinovich before.