Most of you don't know who Sen. George Voinovich is. I do.
He's the senior senator for the state of Ohio and the ONLY Republican I have ever given my vote.
Voinovich is a native Clevelander - like myself - who gets it. Although he's a bit too extreme for me socially - I will not, however fault him for voting his conscience on social issues - he gets it in some cases.
What does he get?
As mayor of Cleveland and governnor of Ohio he understood the need to balance the needs of the citizenry with those of the business community. That may upset some of those on both ends of the political spectrum, but it's pragmatic and realistic.
He helped lead Cleveland's renaissance that continued under Mayor Michael White and he's not afraid to challenge the powers that be - even in his own party.
He bucked leaders to vote against a dividend tax cut pushed by President George W. Bush earlier this decade, for instance, and only last week voted against an amendment sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to expand Americans' ability to carry concealed weapons.
He'll retire in 2010, declining to run for re-election, but he's letting hitting his party with some closing shots on his way out the door. Among them: southerners are bringing down the GOP. That's right, he said what have all thought and thanked the gods.
We got too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns," Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch. "It's the southerners."
'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"
Columbus Dispatch