No, not George W. -- although I think the President is exiting stage right with much more class than the pathological hatred that seems to follow him. Giving advance notice (two years worth) is longtime Ohio political fixture George Voinovich.
Let the games begin!
The positioning has already started with names ranging from Ryan and Strickland and Fisher, oh my! on the Democratic side to a host of Republicans led by former OMB Director and Congressman Rob Portman.
While I like Voinovich for being independent and admire him for being unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, some critics bring up an interesting point: shouldn't George V. and the rest of the political class of Ohio bear some responsibility for the horrible shape the once-mighty engine of the state finds itself?
Voinovich, perhaps unlike any other statewide political figure, spans two generations of true governing at every level of the public's business. He's been a state rep; a county commissioner; a county auditor; Mayor of Cleveland; Lieutenant Governor and Governor, and U.S. Senator. He's been one of the few public officials in the nation to serve not only as President of the National League of Cities (1985) but also to chair the National Governor's Association (1997-98) as well as head the GOP Governor's Association and the Midwest Governor's Association. Here's a guy who not only saw history made...he was the one making it.
So what are we left to ponder as this independent thinker from Cleveland who admits to eating freshwater drum out of Lake Erie (he soaks them in milk forever and claims they taste just like walleye) hangs up his right to prowl the halls of power? Cleveland today isn't the Cleveland he left for Mike White, Jane Campbell and Frank Jackson; it is one of America's poorest cities and by most accounts remains a poster child for major municipalities that just can't seem to make it work. Ohio isn't the Ohio he left for Bob Taft and Ted Strickland; gone is the billion-dollar rainy day fund and in place we find one of America's most vigorous economies sputtering to the status usually reserved for Mississippi and Alabama. Hell, Alabama even has a more vital auto industry. Alabama. Say it out loud for extra effort.
With all that seniority and experience is Ohio awash in a flood of federal dollars similar to what Hurricane Byrd dumped on West Virginia over the past twenty years? With a state ranked eighth in population (and falling) has every federal dollar been diverted the old-fashioned way to pave over enough of the state or fix dilapidated bridges? Those yahoos in Cleveland and ODOT can't even seem to get the Innerbelt, the most precious of northeast Ohio road arteries, worked out. Bob Byrd would've had the money allocated at this point, work underway, prevailing wages paid and the grateful populace begging to name something after him. Here in northeast Ohio, Senator Voinovich has a lakefront park nobody uses except for a couple weeks in the summer named after him.
We -- and he -- really missed the boat. What happened to the political brains that built the nation into a juggernaut after the Civil War, and helped steer American in the 1900's into the waters of world domination?
This isn't all V's fault; he did leave the state in better shape, and without the condition of Cleveland after his tenure at least posing the hope of getting better we never would have seen the development that has occurred in this city by the lake now seemingly bereft of hope.
George says he wants to spend all of his time and energy over the next two years doing the job as U.S. Senator; perhaps its time for the people of Ohio to look favorably over a replacement that will do the job as a collector for Ohio's interests. While decent men and women such as George V. can help make politics more decent maybe what we really need is a Ted Stevens, a Robert C. Byrd, a Lyndon Johnson/Sam Rayburn, a Robert Taft (the former Senator, not the one taken down for accepting a couple steaks and free golf) or a Trent Lott.
If landlocked states get Naval bases then Ohio needs Naval bases; Alabama, Florida and Texas stand as the home of NASA...and if the space agency survives the Obama vision then Ohio needs to be more than just a Glenn Lewis afterthought. West Virginia now has a huge chunk of the FBI and, if memory serves, stands as the major repository of IRS computing in the nation. Are we such chopped liver we can't get a piece of this?
Someone who doesn't just rail about the bacon but someone who brings it home -- in a dump truck. Time for a return to time-honored tradition and performance: Ohio needs Senator Pork.
Let the games begin!
The positioning has already started with names ranging from Ryan and Strickland and Fisher, oh my! on the Democratic side to a host of Republicans led by former OMB Director and Congressman Rob Portman.While I like Voinovich for being independent and admire him for being unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, some critics bring up an interesting point: shouldn't George V. and the rest of the political class of Ohio bear some responsibility for the horrible shape the once-mighty engine of the state finds itself?
Voinovich, perhaps unlike any other statewide political figure, spans two generations of true governing at every level of the public's business. He's been a state rep; a county commissioner; a county auditor; Mayor of Cleveland; Lieutenant Governor and Governor, and U.S. Senator. He's been one of the few public officials in the nation to serve not only as President of the National League of Cities (1985) but also to chair the National Governor's Association (1997-98) as well as head the GOP Governor's Association and the Midwest Governor's Association. Here's a guy who not only saw history made...he was the one making it.
So what are we left to ponder as this independent thinker from Cleveland who admits to eating freshwater drum out of Lake Erie (he soaks them in milk forever and claims they taste just like walleye) hangs up his right to prowl the halls of power? Cleveland today isn't the Cleveland he left for Mike White, Jane Campbell and Frank Jackson; it is one of America's poorest cities and by most accounts remains a poster child for major municipalities that just can't seem to make it work. Ohio isn't the Ohio he left for Bob Taft and Ted Strickland; gone is the billion-dollar rainy day fund and in place we find one of America's most vigorous economies sputtering to the status usually reserved for Mississippi and Alabama. Hell, Alabama even has a more vital auto industry. Alabama. Say it out loud for extra effort.
With all that seniority and experience is Ohio awash in a flood of federal dollars similar to what Hurricane Byrd dumped on West Virginia over the past twenty years? With a state ranked eighth in population (and falling) has every federal dollar been diverted the old-fashioned way to pave over enough of the state or fix dilapidated bridges? Those yahoos in Cleveland and ODOT can't even seem to get the Innerbelt, the most precious of northeast Ohio road arteries, worked out. Bob Byrd would've had the money allocated at this point, work underway, prevailing wages paid and the grateful populace begging to name something after him. Here in northeast Ohio, Senator Voinovich has a lakefront park nobody uses except for a couple weeks in the summer named after him.
We -- and he -- really missed the boat. What happened to the political brains that built the nation into a juggernaut after the Civil War, and helped steer American in the 1900's into the waters of world domination?This isn't all V's fault; he did leave the state in better shape, and without the condition of Cleveland after his tenure at least posing the hope of getting better we never would have seen the development that has occurred in this city by the lake now seemingly bereft of hope.
George says he wants to spend all of his time and energy over the next two years doing the job as U.S. Senator; perhaps its time for the people of Ohio to look favorably over a replacement that will do the job as a collector for Ohio's interests. While decent men and women such as George V. can help make politics more decent maybe what we really need is a Ted Stevens, a Robert C. Byrd, a Lyndon Johnson/Sam Rayburn, a Robert Taft (the former Senator, not the one taken down for accepting a couple steaks and free golf) or a Trent Lott.
If landlocked states get Naval bases then Ohio needs Naval bases; Alabama, Florida and Texas stand as the home of NASA...and if the space agency survives the Obama vision then Ohio needs to be more than just a Glenn Lewis afterthought. West Virginia now has a huge chunk of the FBI and, if memory serves, stands as the major repository of IRS computing in the nation. Are we such chopped liver we can't get a piece of this?
Someone who doesn't just rail about the bacon but someone who brings it home -- in a dump truck. Time for a return to time-honored tradition and performance: Ohio needs Senator Pork.
Nice title.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you back and good to hear you are on the mend.
This retirement is going to set a lot of people in motion, and it has just started. Should be fun to watch.