Retiring Sen. George Voinovich lets loose.
Too many conservative senators like Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are to blame for the GOP's downfall, one of their retiring Republican colleagues complained Monday.
"We got too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns," Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch. "It's the southerners."
Voinovich, a native Clevelander who retires after the 2010 election, continued after the southern elements of the GOP.
"They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr,'" he said. "People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"
The GOP's problem is that they're controlled by an element in their party that is grossly out of touch with the rest of America. Check out Obama's approval ratings by geography, per our weekly Daily Kos/Research 2000 State of the Nation poll:
On issue after issue, the South stands apart from the rest of the country. For example, check out last week's edition:
Congressional Democrats
Fav Unfav
Northeast 52 39
South 27 68
Midwest 44 47
West 41 49
Congressional Republicans
Fav Unfav
Northeast 5 84
South 23 54
Midwest 6 81
West 7 78
Democratic Party
Fav Unfav
Northeast 66 24
South 24 67
Midwest 51 44
West 49 45
Republican Party
Fav Unfav
Northeast 6 91
South 41 44
Midwest 13 80
West 14 78
This isn't South bashing, it's just the numbers. The South is not like the rest of the country. The Midwest and West are quite similar, and they are far closer to the Northeast than they are to the South. And therein lies the problem that is so clearly frustrating Voinovich -- how can a party dominated by a region so far outside of the American mainstream present a compelling national vision?