Ohio Senator Badmouths GOP and the South

From OneNewsNow
By Jim Brown

Outgoing Senator George Voinovich's (R-Ohio) claim that the GOP has been "taken over by Southerners" has prompted an Ohio pro-family activist to declare he's "thrilled" that Voinovich is quitting the U.S. Senate.

Voinovich was recently asked by the Columbus Dispatch what the biggest problem with the Republican Party is. The retiring senator responded, "We got too many Jim DeMints (R-South Carolina) and Tom Coburns (R-Oklahoma). It's the southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What the h--l they got to do with Ohio?'"

Phil Burress, president of Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, says the GOP's problem is people like Senator Voinovich and former Ohio Senator Mike DeWine, a moderate Republican defeated in 2006 by Democrat Sherrod Brown.

"You have to go back in time and realize that when [Voinovich] was the mayor of Cleveland and then governor of the state of Ohio, Mike DeWine was his lieutenant governor. Mike DeWine and Governor Voinovich are connected at the hip, and you saw what happened to Mike DeWine. Voinovich is pro-life -- he's solid. He's against gambling. But when you get beyond that, he is totally confused about what the Republican Party should stand for."

Burress says Voinovich has been unwilling to fight against the homosexual agenda, noting the Senator supported hate-crimes legislation and will likely support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.