SENATE RACE Fingerhut goes on offensive

Voinovich's campaign manager disputes the challenger's assertions.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- State Sen. Eric Fingerhut, challenging U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich in the November general election, said the Republican incumbent has failed to protect the state's manufacturing base.
Fingerhut, the Democratic nominee, said during a brief press conference that Ohio has fallen behind the rest of the nation with Voinovich in the Senate during the past five-plus years and before that, eight years as the state's governor.
Fingerhut's conference was held Wednesday outside the Youngstown Business Incubator, a facility he says properly promotes and supports new businesses and industries. The event was held across the street from the George V. Voinovich Government Center, named after his November opponent.
Fingerhut pointed to the state's losing nearly 250,000 jobs in the past four years, many of them in the manufacturing sector, as a reason to change political leadership. Fingerhut called Voinovich a nice and sincere man, but says that his policies are stuck in the past, and that the senator isn't looking to the future.
"Ohio can lead the world in the 21st century, and create the jobs of the future, but only if we build a modern, state-of-the-art industrial base," Fingerhut said. "To do so, we must invest in research and development, spurring the creation of the new products, companies and industries today that will bring the good-paying jobs to Ohio tomorrow. Sen. Voinovich's priorities have left us farther behind; they are the wrong priorities for the future."
Defending record
In response, Matt Carle, Voinovich's campaign spokesman, said: "As governor, George Voinovich led Ohio through one of its greatest periods of economic growth with strong investments in education at all levels. In the Senate, he's continued to build on this record; anybody who says differently just doesn't know the facts, or isn't telling them."
Carle said that as governor, Voinovich expanded federal funding for student financial-aid programs by 105 percent, increased higher-education funding by 35 percent, and promoted Ohio Instructional Grants, the state's largest financial assistance program.
A recent state poll has Voinovich with a lead of 16 percentage points over Fingerhut. But Fingerhut is gaining ground on the senator. The same poll conducted in October had Voinovich ahead by 33 percentage points.
Specific criticisms
Fingerhut criticized Voinovich for supporting policies that caused significant college tuition increases, cuts in federal student aid, tax cuts for the wealthy, the elimination of the estate tax, and being a part of a Congress that established a record budget deficit.
Fingerhut says innovation is the key to restoring the state's industrial base. To do so, he supports cutting tuition at state colleges, providing tax cuts for student loan repayments and people starting new businesses, making research and development and the machinery and equipment tax cuts permanent, and restoring a balanced budget.
skolnick@vindy.com