Voinovich finds a new way to work harder and smarter

Voinovich finds a new way to work harder and smarter

U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich has already provided service to the people of Ohio of historic proportions, covering more than four decades and dating to his election to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1966.

And even in announcing that he wouldn’t seek re-election next year, Sen. Voinovich did not bring the curtain down on his Senate service; he promised a great final act.

Taking note of the harrowing times the nation faces, Voinovich promised that his last two years in office — unencumbered by the demands for politicking and fund-raising that a campaign would demand — “will be the most important years that I have served in my entire political career.”

That’s an exciting prospect. Anyone who knows Voinovich knows that he is a man of principle who can focus on the job in front on him with a single-mindedness that is unsurpassed.

Crossing the aisle

And while there is no question that he is a Republican — and one of the few true fiscal conservatives remaining in either party — he has a history of crossing the political aisle when he senses that the welfare of his state or country demands it.

He has been a consistent deficit hawk, and pursuing that role got him on the wrong side of his party and Republican President George W. Bush more than once. One notable time he wavered, in voting for the extravagantly underfunded Medicare prescription drug bill, it was only after the administration lied about the numbers. Indeed, it was later discovered that an actuary whose numbers were closer to the truth was threatened with firing if he released them. Had he revealed them, there is no doubt that George Voinovich would have once again bucked his party in pursuit of fiscal responsibility.

It is surprising to note that among all the Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio congressional delegation, no one crossed party lines more often than Voinovich. According to statistics compiled by The Washington Post, Voinovich voted the Republican position 75.3 percent of the time, compared to his junior colleague, Sherrod Brown, who voted the Democratic position 96.4 percent of the time. In the House, party loyalty percentages for both Democrats and Republicans range from 85 percent to 100 percent.

Voinovich supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and has maintained that Ohio saw a net gain of jobs. But he has also been a strong voice for fair trade, and has been especially vocal in demanding protection for U.S. patents and other intellectual property and condemning currency manipulation that puts the United States at a disadvantage in foreign markets.

Family ties

One of the reasons Voinovich gave Monday for his decision not to seek re-election was his desire to spend more time with his family — his wife Janet and their children and grandchildren. His devotion to family crossed over into one of his most constant public policy positions, his opposition to deficit spending. He characterized fiscal irresponsibility for what it was, levying an unfair tax on our children and grandchildren.

Before going to the U.S. Senate in 1999, Voinovich served four years in the Ohio House of Representatives, five as Cuyahoga County auditor, two as Cuyahoga County commissioner, one as lieutenant governor, 10 as mayor of Cleveland and eight as Ohio governor.

And through those years, Voinovich established a tenet that public officials must work harder and smarter, and do more with less.

As the nation faces its greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression, it needs an undistracted George Voinovich in the Senate doing exactly that: working harder and smarter, and doing more — though his time in Washington is less than it might have been.

We’re confident that even after his extraordinary career as an elected official ends with his present Senate term in two years, he will find other ways to continue to be of service. To do so is in his DNA.